By Ishaya Ibrahim
As a young priest of the United Methodist Church of Nigeria in his Zing community of Taraba State, Rev Jolly Nyame might have had the occasion to read 1 Timothy 6:10 to his congregants.
He might have counselled them, as Paul did to Timothy in the epistle that: “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
That scripture may now be a painful reminder to Nyame. The love of money has indeed made him drift from the faith and caused him to be a sorrowful man.
He is a convicted felon. He would probably be gnashing his teeth and saying to himself: ‘I could have done things differently.’
He ruled Taraba for eight years (1999-2007) and misappropriated N1.64 billion from the state’s treasury through dubious stationery contracts he awarded at the twilight of his administration.
Like Nyame, the former Plateau Governor, Joshua Dariye, himself in the class of 1999-2007 governors, is also a convicted felon serving time of 14 years. He was convicted for stealing N1.162 billion belonging to Plateau State. And unlike Nyame, the Supreme Court has yet to seal his fate.
Orji Uzor Kalu, a member of that class who ruled Abia State, is serving a 12-year jail term for stealing N7.65 billion. He still has two more appeals to explore.
The three former powerful men, would probably in their prison cells, be reflecting on the vanity of life and how they would have made a real difference of it. Or, they may as well be cursing former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, for unraveling the case which has brought them to this sorry pass.
