The debate is currently on as to whether the newly inaugurated federal government should probe the former one or not, and what benefit, if any, could possibly accrue to the nation should such a step be taken. For example, the President of the Coalition for Right Judiciary and Equal Rights, Taiwo Akoja, was reported as having advised President Buhari not to engage in probing the government of President Goodluck Jonathan as such a move, in his opinion, would be “diversionary and [constitute] a feeble excuse for failure”. Indeed, our new President himself, based on some of his pronouncements so far, seems to be giving the impression that he would not be interested in probing anyone. He has practically assured all those who are afraid of being thrown into prison as well as some who have already started fleeing the country that they have nothing to fear. It would appear that a line would just be ruled across all that has gone before, and governance would begin afresh from there.
It is my personal, considered opinion that choosing to simply wink at all that has happened over the last six years, pretending that it all amounts to “an act of God” (something we Nigerians have devised as a way of absolving those in authority of their responsibility), would constitute a serious disservice to the nation and a slap in the face of the millions of Nigerians who voted for Muhammadu Buhari, hoping that he would, in a sense, avenge them of all the untold hardship and unnecessary suffering they had been subjected to, particularly in the last six years. Indeed, it is our duty as citizens to insist that those who betray the trust we gave them in choosing or accepting them to oversee our affairs be held accountable. As a matter of fact, it is a question of morality; otherwise, we are saying that it is right for individuals to divert into their own pockets the funds which should have been used to provide services to the people. We are thereby telling those who will come after such (so called) leaders that they too have nothing to fear; that might is right. We are letting the world know that we are a nation that places little value on human lives: we confer on our leaders the right to trample upon us, cause us to die on terrible roads and ill-equipped hospitals, prevent our children from gaining a good education, force us to live in darkness and spend our days in idleness. To probe is to hold people accountable; not to do so is to say that people are free to do exactly as they please.
One is bound to ask, who REALLY is afraid of a probe, and why might the APC government not be too enthusiastic about it? There are suggestions from various quarters that the stone which such a probe plans to aim at the past PDP administration might actually, like a boomerang, turn around to hit some unintended, close-to-home targets. It is generally expected that the one who seeks to find out what skeletons are hidden in other people’s cupboards had better not have any in their own – or in the cupboards of those who are around them. President Buhari, therefore, may actually find himself between a rock and a hard place. While his personal uprightness and incorruptibility are generally attested to, the same cannot be said of some of those who surround him and provided the well-decked durbar horse upon whose back he rode majestically to victory at the polls. Could he conveniently probe the Jonathan administration and close his eyes to APC-led governments, some of which have equally been accused of grave acts of graft and corruption? Could he dare throw this boomerang?
Herein lies the crux of the matter, in reality, and this is why our nation continues to grovel in serious lack and most of our people in abject poverty. Whose hands are clean enough to open this can of worms? Yes indeed, we have had individuals probed and made to account for their actions before, either by the EFCC or ICPC, but it is generally believed that such instances can occur only with the consent of the highest authority in the land; when the nod is not given, nothing can happen. More importantly, however, is the fact that many of those who should be held accountable for their actions enjoy immunity and are thus shielded from facing the lawful consequences of their misdeeds. Individuals who are known to have committed grievous illegal acts are sitting in our National Assembly making laws for those of us who are law-abiding citizens! We have elected and appointed officers, from the local government level right up to the Presidency, misappropriating the people’s resources, and they are safe from prosecution. Thus, impunity continues to thrive, and the citizens are held captive.
Let a cry go out from Nigerians everywhere that we have had enough. We, the people, hereby refuse to continue to accept this unjust and unnatural system that the political class has instituted and entrenched in our land. We demand that those to whom we have entrusted the management of our affairs be held accountable at all times for every single action they take on our behalf. We demand an end to immunity. As a matter of fact, it is not the President’s responsibility to probe people; let the law take its normal course.