While Nigeria and its government is squirming over the abduction of school children and their teachers who have stayed in captivity with their abductors, under the terrible unclement wheather of burning sun, wild rain falls, insects bites, desease and threat of death, now more than 50 days, the citizens of that great land remember confusion their supposed first lady during a gathering of their extremely unpopular party APC faithfuls, gift of cars to women leaders of the party. That bo mention is made by her of these abducted children and their teachers really seriously irked Nigerians.
That passed.
Then again, boom, a few days ago, this same insufferable first or last lady came out to the public to encourage enterprenueship amongst the the women of the land by offering them pittiances as incentives to start businesses. Then the joke. What businesses did she in her first ladyish great wisdom advice? Frying akara, roasting corns and making what is called quilinquilin, groundnut snacks.
While the nation shake their heads in disdain, disgust, disbelief and even shame, another even more giddy happened.
This type of script is familiar to Nigerians, if not in Nigeria that we are fantastically corrupt, how can just an ordinary Person called Prince Adeyemi appears from no where and creates a phantom agency, with a fancy nomemclature like President Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. Then he creates a letter haed, writes letters and even holds meetings with ambassadors and foreign dignitaries on behalf of the government or the nation. He then further went on and gets this mirage of an agency into the national budget. He secures an office complex in the national secratariate, opens a bank account with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Employs about two hundred staff.
Then, the house of cards came crashing down. The man is arrested. Now the government wants us to believe this fantasy tale. They want us to believe this was just one mystery man waving a magic wand in the heart of the nations seat of government, and abracadabra, things a government organisation appears. One wonders really what they take us for.
Now, let us look at the undeniable facts. This man opened more than thirty commercial bank accounts. Then he walks into the Central Bank of Nigeria and opens a government account for his supposed ghost organisation. One can not imagine how difficult it is for a Nigerian to open a simple savings account. Yet, we supposedly dumb Nigerians are asked to believe that this man strolled into the Office of the Accountant-General and got staff deployed to his phantom Corporate entity.
Then there developes are dark side to this twisted tale, one of the accomplices, Tanimola, suddenly died in a freak fire accident in a hotel room five days before the arrest. An obvious attempt by someone to erase evidence and permanently silence witnesses.
Now we are told the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, knows nothing about it. They say it is all a scam. But the stench is too strong to ignore. We see the photos of these people at events, shaking hands, building false credibility. It is a game of optics. Adeyemi claims he paid four hundred million naira to secure a position to the COS. He has Two hundred million more yet to pay.
What burst the bubble? The prince claims that, from his multi billion Naira federal allocations, the COS, has demended a 43% cut. He disagrees with this sharing formulea. Then his gang members yell scam. If this is a scam, who were the people collecting the money? Why is the Chief of Staff’s name attached to every major allegation of rot? They want us to look at the imposter and ignore the men in power who create the ecosystem where such imposters thrive.
In any serious country, this scandal alone would not just be a reason to vote Tinubu out and send him back to Lagos; it would be grounds for the entire presidency to be locked deep inside Kirikiri Maximum Prison. How does a ghost agency make it into the national budget? How does the state apparatus facilitate a fraud of this magnitude? This is not just 419. This is a state-sponsored heist against the Nigerian people. The presidency is sweating, trying to kill this story with press statements, because they know this truth is a tsunami that will swallow them whole.
