BACKLASH: Only Good Men Shall See The Angel

AS it were, there was no angel anywhere in the Arabian tale. But the con character, Abdul, who perhaps understood man’s propensity to be sanctimonious and self righteous invented one and proclaimed that the celestial visitor would be visible to only good men. No evil man was destined to see the angel. Nobody wanted to be pronounced unworthy of fellowship with the angel, and so, all that went returned with account of the good time they had with the Abdul’s angel.

Many people may not know this, but there has been an angel in Aso Rock Villa since May 29, 2015. And as it was in the Arabian tale, so it is now until tomorrow comes. Only good men and women are destined to see the angel in Aso Rock and those who visit the place and see President Muhammadu Buhari instead of an angel from God are evil men and women, short and simple. As it is turning out, the evil people in Nigeria are not many. Most people are seeing an angel in Abuja. Even me, I have been advised by well wishers to lower my gaze and see the angel in Aso Rock.

In fact, members of the failed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) constitute the only clan (of evil men and women) in Nigeria that does not see the angel in Aso Rock. Their vision is apparently blurred by 16 years of excessive exposure to Lucifer, the fallen angel, who sometimes looks and acts like Angel Michael. They are still seeing Lucifer in Aso Rock Villa, instead of the angel that has since taken possession.

Angels don’t make mistakes. When they do, they cease to be angels and become demons. Mere mortals also do not question angels. The courage to question the worker in Aso Rock Villa has therefore vanished among the critical segment of society. Even the prodigious Professor of letters who came very close to approximating the conscience of the nation in times of trouble is also seeing an angel in Aso Rock. Prof is solid in every respect. In spite of allusions by his detractors, age has not affected his vision as such and if he is also seeing an angel instead of a retired General who is now a democratically elected president, then there is better substance here than the scenario in the Arabian tale.

The main work at Aso Rock currently is what commentators have described as Dasukigate. The arch angel who has been searching for real thieves since seven months ago just caught one! That is probably why the catch is being celebrated in the media and everywhere like the National Day. It can be likened to the long search for oil deposits in the Chad Basin. A real discovery someday after the almost endless search shall surely be celebrated the same way the Dasukigate is being celebrated across the country.

A bird in hand, the sages say, is worth even a thousand in the bush. Also, a thief in hand is worth a thousand in the street. The federal investigators are holding on tight to Colonel Sambo Dasuki, who they claim to have caught red-handed. The initial charge of treason is receding, as the charge of corruption takes centre stage. Perhaps they, the EFCC prosecutors and their DSS counterparts, did not just know what to say to convince the court how the possession of five or so riffles and an amoured SUV by a former National Security Adviser who had not had time to do a proper hand over to his successor would constitute a capacity to overawe the Federal Government.

The corruption charge therefore has provided a more effective handle to a somehow tricky case. The salacious details of cash disbursements in spite of the cashless policy of the Federal Government even under Goodluck Jonathan have gotten everybody talking. And everybody is sounding sanctimonious and saying the angel in the Villa has started manifesting his celestial attributes.

Indeed, only angels can tread the path Buhari has chosen. This whole matter of Dasukigate is not larger than what it is, which is the utilisation of security votes by the executive arm of government since the start of this democracy. Any other interpretation will take us far beyond the given circumstances. And no human, beginning from 1999, and we can actually extend it to the very beginning in 1960, has had the vision and courage to probe the security votes of the Prime Minister, Premiers, Military Heads of State, Military Governors\Administrators, Presidents and Governors.

It should therefore be recorded that this is the first time in Nigeria this kind of thing is happening. It shows, indeed, that an angel has taken charge of affairs at the very top. The federal investigators have their job well cut out for them. They are to work from the answer to the question and pronounce Dasuki guilty even before he has the opportunity to speak in a law court. And so, conclusions are being drawn anyhow to support claim that instead of arms procurement and other security issues, the billions in United States dollars were disbursed by Dasuki to finance the re-election bid of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

So far, the script has unfolded, as intended. The Nigerian audience, like the Roman mob, has lost capacity for critical evaluation and rolling with the speaker on stage. But the plot is too simple; lacking completely in the necessary intricacies that will lift the Dasukigate to a high anti–corruption drama. Everywhere in the creative world, simple or linear narratives do not add up to high art. We can take this point to Prof. Wole Soyinka in Abeokuta for adjudication and I can bet my December salary and Xmas bonus, he would pass the same verdict.

In other words, the Dasukigate is not a complete story, yet. Clearly, and no matter how it is cloaked, what is being investigated is the source of funds for the Jonathan campaign as if he was the only presidential candidate that spent big money in the last election. The starting point therefore is to contract an international audit firm to look into the campaign budgets of the big two in the last presidential election. The auditors shall work to establish principally two things. One is to ascertain the actual money spent by each party in political advertisements and allied matters and establish if PDP really outspent the APC and by how much.

Two, is to establish that all monies spent by the PDP were stolen from the public treasury while monies spent by the APC came from the pockets of private individuals such as Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Muhammadu Buhari himself and others too many to name. These facts shall surely complicate the plot beyond the current linearity and lift the Dasukagate to a high drama that will enjoy the endorsement of the Prof.

The auditors may just cap their work with facts on how the monies disbursed were used. That is, to establish if the payments as listed by the EFCC were made in lieu of services and goods delivered or they were irredeemable federal grants to the beneficiaries. That way, the source of the money with which arms were procured to rout Boko Haram just before the general elections, for instance, would be known. The narrative in the public space is that neither goods nor services came with the disbursement of the billions by Dasuki and that the beneficiaries just carted their respective shares and walked home feeling cool and suddenly rich!

Even with all that has been churned out, it should be added that no court in Nigeria has listened to the Dasuki case. All the value pronouncements have been according to the EFFC, which has a new boss who might also be in a hurry, in this season of angelic workers, to make his own mark.