In the year 1810, Robert Southey’s poem, “The Curse of Kehama”, gifted us the expression of chicken coming home to roost. He had said, “Curses are like young chicken: they always come home to roost”. The poet had been influenced by Hindu theology and Zoroastrianism. Over the years as the work attracted more global critical acclaim, its theme caught the imagination of writers and critics alike – the perpetual struggle between good and evil.
In African traditional religion as in Christianity, Islam and other major religions of the world, there are rewards for doing good and sanctions for evil deeds. Good and evil are themes that can be traced to the very beginning. In our various cultures, there are several traditions and sayings whose purpose is simply to drive home the unchanging message: What is bad is not good.
It is in the above context that plebeians like us continue to thank God for little mercies. In the midst of inequalities, inequities and iniquities, it is still true that good and evil are like boomerangs, they will find their way back to their source. Whatever we sow we shall reap. That gives a good feeling. In the era where so-called men of God have all but auctioned all the rooms in heaven to the highest bidders, at least, let there be one area, no matter how insignificant, where the same rules apply to all of us, where all partridges will be of the same height in the field and any bird that perches on a mound of earth in order to appear taller than the rest shall be brought back to ground zero.
When I learnt that Diezani Allison-Madueke, former petroleum minister, had been arrested preparatory to being arraigned in a London court along with her accomplices for fraudulent activities in the oil sector which have cost Nigeria over $50 billion, I knew that God was still on our case even if Boko Haram had been doing its damnedest to convince the world otherwise.
In the last four years, no minister had been fingered in so many shady deals as Diezani. Of course allegations have no force of law, and the lady in question was the most powerful minister in the Jonathan administration. In the run-up to the last presidential elections when ex-president Obasanjo reportedly said that Nigeria was being held in the jugular by five female presidents – Mrs Patience Jonathan, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Petroleum Minister Diezani Allison-Madueke, Aviation Minister Stella Odua, and President Jonathan himself who was adjudged the weakest of the five!
Now, one of those five ‘female presidents’ is going to face the London courts to explain how she exported her crime to their country. That is a different ball game. Had she been arrested here at home, she would have awarded a contract for the renting of a crowd of sympathisers, distributed brown envelopes to the media in order to spike negative perspectives, hired legislators from the national assembly to escort her to court and probably added a dose of culture and tradition by using women organisations and their exotic dancers to create a spectacle in court and accuse the male-dominated system of misogyny.
And then some appropriately compensated sympathiser somewhere would have brought in the religious angle and relate how Christians, especially those from ‘minority’ tribes, were becoming endangered specie. Then, her retinue of senior lawyers would distribute themselves round all the courts, including customary courts, seeking injunctions and counter-injunctions all aimed at stalling the trial.
Former Delta State governor, James Ibori had invented the template for evading the law in Nigeria. He dribbled the system and stayed beyond sanctions until he exported his behaviour (as they all always invariably do) to the UK where he has since been eating free beans at the pleasure of Her Majesty’s government.
Nobody is asking for Diezani’s lynching. All that Nigerians want is justice, especially when they routinely use the Google search engine to check out the advertised lifestyle of Diezani’s kids.
How did it happen that the sum of $4.5Billion which was supposed to have been deposited into the Federation Account by alleged accomplices Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko’s Atlantic Energy were traced to foreign accounts in LGT Bank, Switzerland, with account number 2006431? More funds were traced to an account held by Atlantic Holding Ltd in LGT Bank with Account number 2005108 and Atlantic Energy DMCC Ltd with account number 2006822 in LGT Bank, Switzerland.
The details of the findings so far are frightening. I understand that one of Diezani’s accomplices is already singing like a canary bird in an attempt to avoid eventual tenancy in a penitentiary. That person has offered a plea bargain of $500 million (a la Naija-style where you steal one billion and pay back fifty thousand Naira).
In addition to Diezani and her acolytes, all those involved in the petroleum subsidy fraud will also have their day in court, including Transfigura which is allegedly unable to account for $80million,
Ontario Oil which defrauded the oil sector of $135million, Aiteo $150million and Sahara Energy $120million. Some NNPC officials involved in the deals will also be herded before the courts.
Nigerians want to see whether the usual lawyers’ tricks for which our system has become notorious will be at play. But they hope not. In the UK, Ibori’s counsel is also in jail because he committed some crimes on behalf of his client. Let’s also beam our searchlight also on lawyers who pervert their trade.
Now I know that curses are like young chicken: they always come home to roost.
Need to avoid pile-up after terror attack
After the recent Boko Haram twin attacks on Kuje and Nyanya in Abuja, Police boss Solomon Arase has ordered his men to embark on serious surveillance and checking of vehicles. They must avoid creating their habitual traffic pile-up which traps thousands of vehicles and is a tantalising target for any terrorist. I don’t want to imagine a bomb going off in traffic jam! Let’s be more creative going forward.
This article was originally published on Daily Trust