There is something political about the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, even if he may not kindly admit it. But considering the number of times he has appeared in the media for nearly two years since he assumed the NSA office, only the undiscerning would say the former EFCC boss just wants to mind his business without being publicised.
Earlier this month, Ribadu, while addressing the media, purported to have found a lasting solution to the ravaging kidnapping issues in the country. He said the solution lies principally with the victims: “Please, stop giving money to these kidnappers,” he appealed to Nigerians. He explained: “Families gave money to them, but it did not lead to the release of the captives.” Politicians are quick to offer solutions without addressing the issues that led to the problems in the first place, the more to get wide applause from the populace for “doing something”. Not surprisingly, therefore, the NSA would rather not address why the kidnappers have operated like ghosts over the years, disappearing from one place and appearing in another place, only to disappear again and are neither found nor arrested for prosecution. Nor would he address why only the rescued ransom-paying victims of kidnappers are paraded on television, and the abductors who received the ransom are not seen. Nor even would he assure on the unmasking of the ghosts for the world to see if they are truly humans or spirits. But it could be that Ribadu has started to reap the reward of his appeal to Nigerians to stop paying ransom to the criminals. Well, unconfirmed reports last week said some daring thieves towed away a Hilux in his convoy. Some have said that it was a signal for “stay off our path, man”. Well, time will tell.
Still on the ghostly kidnappers, a retired Brigadier General, Maharazi Tsiga, was picked up from the confines of his Tsiga village home in Katsina State and then held for 56 days while his abductors negotiated with families, friends, and former colleagues linked to him, after which a considerable amount of naira changed hands. Only the released brigadier-general has been seen convalescing in his home. His abductors remain at large and on the loose, apparently aiming for their next captive. No wonder they are ghosts that can’t be spotted, arrested, exposed and used as a deterrent for the would-be ghostly kidnappers. What a situation!
It was obvious that some person or persons in high places were unsettled by the stoic determination of the Kogi Central representative in the Senate, Mrs. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, to continue to spill the bean on the sexual harassment she alleged was committed against her. It became the case of the beleaguered lady seeking on whose head to break the coconut in her hands. So, by all means, she had to be stopped. Enter Justice Binta Nyako, the controversial arbiter who, until lately, had handled the State versus Nnamdi Kanu case at the Abuja Federal High Court. On Friday, April 4, at the court, the presiding Nyako restrained Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and others from granting media interviews while the suit filed by Akpoti-Uduaghan is still pending before the court. Everyone knew that the lady senator was the only target of the ruling. But in case anyone was still at sea on what the court pronouncement meant, Justice Nyako stated magisterially: “There should be no press interview by all parties and counsel as regard the subject matter of this case, no streaming or social media post, no TV interviews and there should be total media blockage.” The ruling sounded so curious. The case against Kanu, which Justice Nyako had presided over for years, was nothing if not a media affair in which she revelled absolutely. So, when did she start to feel that “total media blockage” would help a case and even thereby block herself off the publicity she covets so much? It has not stopped being asked why controversial cases always find their way to Justice Nyako’s chamber; just that no answer has surfaced.
Benue State Governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia last week made a I-am-going-no-where vow after speculation made the rounds that he is dumping the All Progressives Congress that threw him up as the state’s numero uno in 2023 to join the Peoples Democratic Party.
The clergyman was however, not prepared to leave anything to chance as he launched a fight-back. “The speculation is coming from mischief-makers and they do not wish me and the state well,” he said. But how could he say he is going nowhere? If he leaves partisan politics for the rabble rousers, he would surely carry on with life effortlessly. The vineyard, his abode, is still there, isn’t it? Being a bona fide resident in the vineyard is what separates the dove (that he is) from the hawks (that surround him). If not for the quest to “serve my people and make a difference”, anyway, why should a dove flock with hawks?
Reports last week said the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, rumoured to have been removed as the nation’s chief electoral umpire and promptly replaced, was sighted bidding farewell to his trusted allies at an official event. His second five-year tenure would soon be over, anyway, and is most unlikely to be renewed.
Already distrusted by so many as he is disrespected and vilified by many more, a fresh opportunity surfaces for the Bauchi State-born 63-year-old academic to rewrite his own trajectory by bequeathing a legacy that would be difficult, if not impossible, to erase. But first, he must of necessity help Nigeria to unravel the “independent” in INEC with a view to determining whether the eleven-letter word is justifiable any more. He can then go home to enjoy his retirement or return to the academic community that he came from.
