Wonders they say shall never end and
our ''obodo'' Nigeria surely has not failed to throw up
wonders in abundance. How else can one explain the decision of one
of the members of Nigeria's House of Representatives, a second termer whose
notoriety as Chairman of Committees he has chaired in the House is
well celebrated to turn born again?
Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin of all people
has decided to embrace the comity of activists in the country a week after been
thrown out as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations due to his despicable
activities! His actions in that committee according to his colleagues brought
undue embarrassment to them leading to what has been sensationally
described by the Nigerian media as budget padding.
Hon. Jibrin in declaring that he has
turned born again activist said his mission is to ensure that the National
Assembly is cleansed of corrupt politicians come 2019. That he has chosen such
a noble course is most welcome at least he will help swell the ever rising rank
of activists in the country. But Nigerians and I in particular are very
sceptical about his decision to turn activist. They wonder if his conversion is
as divine as the ''on the road to Damascus'' conversion of
Saul or is born out of a mischievous plan to hoodwink Nigerians into believing
that he is born again so as to seek mercy while inciting them to crucify those
he has made a point of duty to malign.
Hon. Jibrin in his quest to deceive
Nigerians by calling others a thief has ended up exposing himself not only as a
thief but a serial liar, manipulator and blackmailer. He understands
the psyche of Nigerians who consider any politician accused rightly or
wrongly as guilty except when proved otherwise. In trying to manipulate the
psyche of Nigerians he has failed to understand that we Nigerians cannot always
be the fools he thinks we are.
Tanko Yakassai a well respected
politician in the country labeled him a blackmailer. Others have called him
various names but I think the guy is simply a comedian. Considering my
knowledge of Hon. Jibrin, his antecedents and his ''proclivity'' (if I may
borrow the words of Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas) for blackmail, then the supposed
conversion of Jibrin is suspect because of the way and manner he has been going
about it. The motivation for his actions is borne out of hate, vengeance and
anger of been kicked out of a position he so craves for. A position which he
has used to build so much power around himself and which unfortunately for him
has slipped out of his hands. He like Lucifer has fallen down from glory and
has made it a mission to destroy others.
Activists don't go about
blackmailing people after benefitting so much from the heist for which they now
turn aroundto ueinblackmailing people. Nigerians know he was the highest
beneficiary in the''padding'' scandal that enveloped the National
Assembly earlier this year. He cannot eat his cake and have it. Hon. Jibrin
through his reckless statements intends to take Nigerians for a ride and we as
true activists who have not benefitted from such corrupt practices as he has
must come out to condemn him and tell him to his face that he cannot be
accepted into the comity of activists in the country. He should rather confess
his deeds to the relevant agencies and see if he can reach a plea bargain or
whatever they deem fit.
Why is it that now that he is no
longer Chairman he is talking? Why didn't he make all this revelations known
early this year? Why now? Even common thieves have principles but Jibrin lacks
such and can no longer be trusted for anything dignifying. It is unfortunate
that a young man like him who has been privileged to occupy a seat in the
nation's parliament should allow himself to be swallowed in the cesspool of
corruption and greed rather than be a good example to other youths.
This session of the 8th House of
Representatives in the country I firmly belive is made up of responsible men
and women and with a leader like Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, one can be rest
assured that what this unfortunate activist is bandying about is nothing but
falsehood. The House through its committee on media have disowned him, the
Gombe state caucus in the House with responsible personalities like Hon. Ahmed
Yunusa, Aisha Dukku and others have also faulted him describing his use of the
word 'padding' as a misnomer because the word does not have aplace
in parliamentary lexicon. Fellow members of his committee on appropriations the
other day came up with the revelation that he Abdulmumin Jibrin unilaterally
worked on the budget with support from his consultant.
I am inclined to believe their
position as well as that of both the committee on Media and the Gombe state caucus.
This is not a case of their word against his. This is a matter of
facts and antecedents. Who got the highest allocation of constituency projects
in the budget? The answer is Abdulmumin Jibrin. This is a fact. What was his
conduct as chairman of the Committee on finance under Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal?
The answer is deplorable. The former Speaker was reported to have
almost shed tears because of his conduct and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala the past
minister of finance under Goodluck Jonathan has her own share of ugly incidents
with our unfortunate activist.
So when he goes on his
mischievous mission of tarnishing the image of the Speaker a man of proven
credibility whose transparency I can vouch for having dealt with him through my
former boss a former Chairman of the Clearing and Forwarding union who
approached Dogara to facilitate the release of goods of members of his union
that was wrongly seized by the Customs. After using his position as then
Chairman of the Committee on Customs, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara refused to request
for any money or collect gratification for his assistance despite the
insistence of the union members. This is the Yakubu Dogara I know. Can the same
be said of our accidental and unfortunate activist? Your guess is as good as
mine.
Nwokoma Messiah is of the Legislative Writers Forum LWF
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