Eneh John
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”-Friedrich Nietzsche
In the light of the above, it smacks of sheer hypocrisy by the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to stage manage a rally, in the name of an anti-corruption march.
What the EFCC displayed yesterday, was a charade. It is nauseating, to see the agency march against corruption.
The EFCC as presently constituted, is enmeshed with high level of corruption, alleged bribery and lots, taking place under the watchful eyes of Ibrahim Magu as the head of the commission.
The EFCC’S fight, is too selective, to be taken serious. In totality, the commission merely engaged in a fanfare.
Several petitions are left untreated in the commission. Like we can rightly note, its anti-corruption fight has been a mere media trial.
The continuous attention the EFCC gets in the media, has killed the work zeal in the agency.
Notably, Magu’s EFCC, will rather remain relevant in the media, than get down to thorough investigation.
In one of my Petitions to the EFCC acting Chairman, where i had raised vital issues of corruption in their Port Harcourt office, a place now constituted to frustrate cases, Magu has paid a blind eye to it.
The Abuja head office is not left out. People like us, had long discredited the commission and its activities, on account of non performance and selective trial.
Aung San Suu Kyi opined that, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
Magu should first, purge the commission of corrupt officers and restructure the organization.
An EFCC operative told me, “this work no be our papa work, some of us wey we start this work together don die, some have left.” this is the kind of operatives that constitute Magu’s EFCC.
It goes to show, reasons why Magu cannot be made the substantive Chairman of the commission.
If i may ask, what has Magu’s EFCC given to Nigerians, that is worth celebrating as the Acting Chairman?
The Abuja office of the agency, is now a sacred place, where people are restricted from accessing.
Magu and his hypocritical operatives have turned themselves to demi-gods, where only the high and mighty and money bags can reach them.
For us, who have had business at different times with the commission, we know what goes on there.
The EFCC can continue to deceive gullible Nigerians with its hoax fight against corruption.
I will not stop my advocacy, that the right thing be done and measures taken to rid corruption first from the EFCC.
Only when that is done, a genuine anti-corruption march can be called, where spirited Nigerians like us will heed to the call.
For now, it is a voodoo journey by Magu and his co-travellers.
A REPUTATION FOUNDED ON INTEGRITY MUST BE NURTURED BY TRUTH.
Eneh John is an Investigative Journalist and Publisher of Trail Reporters News
A friend was replied to the clamour from the restructuring of our public institutions by some well meaning agitators that “those who will head these restructured institutions, are they going to come from the moon?”. It took only a cursory glance at the lip service at the EFCC for me to fully why my friend gave that response.