10042018 - Why I'm seeking a 2nd term — BUHARI

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018
IN what will pass as a befitting
climax to a trial drama that began five
years ago, the long arm of justice
eventually caught up with pension
thief, John Yusuf, as the Court of
Appeal, Abuja Division on
Wednesday March 21, 2018 jailed him
for six years and also asked him to
refund N22.9 billion of the N32.8
billion police pension money he stole.
Yusuf thought he had escaped justice
when, in 2013, he was sentenced to
two years in jail, with the option of
paying a paltry fine of N750,000 by
Justice Abubakar Talba of the Federal
Capital Territory High Court.
Following Justice Talba’s ruling which
understandably triggered national
outrage, the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, had on
April 26, 2013 approached the
appellate court to set aside the
judgment of the lower court.
The anti-graft agency had asked the
appeal court to rule on “whether the
A comeuppance for the pension thief
trial judge exercised his discretion
judicially and judiciously when,
having convicted the respondent of a
three count charge of conversion of
over N3billion contrary to section 309
of the Penal Code, His Lordship
imposed two years imprisonment
with an option of fine of N250, 000
on each of the three counts”.
The EFCC questioned the judge’s
discretion in imposing the sentence
on the respondent who readily
pleaded guilty and paid the ridiculous
fine.
Ruling on the substantive matter, the
Justices of the Court of Appeal held
unanimously that having pleaded
guilty to the three counts ( 17, 18 and
19) and converting the N24 billion to
personal use, the sentence of the trial
court does not, therefore, serve as
deterrence to both the convict and
others.
The position of the Appeal Court in
this regard is certainly welcome. The
John Yusuf corruption trial was a
highly-celebrated one, but most
skeptical Nigerians had felt that it
would be swept under the carpet or
allowed to fizzle out as usual. We
commend the EFCC for its tenacity
in pursuing the course of justice for
the millions of Nigerian pensioners
whose life-long savings had suddenly
become a honeypot for crooked civil
servants employed to manage it for
the overall interests of the pensioners
and the national economy.
This feat has demonstrated, once
more, that the arm of the law is long
and far-reaching, even in Nigeria.
Nigerians have short memories on
such big scandals. Many had already
forgotten all about it, but the memory
of the law is steadfast. That is because
the law enforcement mechanism was
alive to its responsibilities in this case.
Kudos to the EFCC and also to the
Court of Appeal.
We call on the anti-graft agency and
the courts to leave no stone unturned
until every recoverable kobo of this
stolen pension is recovered to give
the pensioners justice.
I
“ N September 1960, an NPC
delegation from Gboko
heading for Wukari for a
provincial party conference was
ambushed by an angry mob
mainly from the Mbatie clan, near
Yandev. The action was partly in
retaliation for repeated
government denial for the
opposition UMBC to hold its own
meetings. The NPC convoy was
forced to retreat to Gboko to seek
police protection. The second
attempt encountered another
ambush and the police opened
fire and Gbantiogh, a man from
the Mbalagh clan was killed.
Following this incident,
widespread violence broke out in
most parts of the division.
On September 3rd the Muslim
village of Gidan Uga was razed,
ostensibly for its overwhelming
pro-NPC sympathies. The
following days witnessed
indiscriminate burning and
looting in most parts of Tiv
division and were particularly
directed against government
functionaries and NPC
supporters. The arsonists
assumed a special characteristic
of their own. Although they did
not wear special uniforms, they
blackened their faces, festooned
themselves with palm leaves (the
party symbol of the UMBC - AG
alliance) and frequently shouted,
‘Tarka’, ‘Awo’, as battle cry. They
assumed the name of Adzov
(spirits) by which the rioters
absolved themselves of
responsibility by invoking the
spirit of the ancestors.
It is clear from the foregoing that
resistance to political oppression
The unending Tiv/Fulani
crisis (2)
stood at the centre of the Tiv
revolt. Thus, using legal and
administrative measures without
redressing the fundamental
political questions could only
exacerbate rather than resolve the
contradictions. It was only in the
middle of September that some
efforts were made to address the
political problem with the
dissolution of the Native Authority
(the Council of Ten). Although
this went a long way in calming
tension, it could not however,
immediately resolve the problem
because inherent sectional
cleavages and some unresolved
chieftaincy disputes had crept in
to compound the prevalent
schismatic tendencies. In the
course of the conflict, violence was
especially directed against
property. The crisis was so severe
that according to the Government
White Paper: “At the beginning
of the disturbances the
administration broke down
completely.” During the crisis
5,000 people were known to have
been arrested out of which 3,882
of them were convicted.
In all, some 50,000 people were
estimated to have directly
participated in the arson. These
figures are definitely high by any
imaginable standard of civil
unrest whether in Nigeria or
The Tiv NA Council
was dissolved in 1959
and from this date
onward, no local
election was held to
elect representatives to
the central and District
Councils; this meant
that UMBC supporters
who formed the
majority of Tiv
population were denied
their rights to vote
anywhere else in the world. For
the next three years, the political
and legal reforms which
accompanied the 1960 revolt
went a long way in calming the
otherwise restive population.
However, the outbreak of yet
another unrest of no less
disruptive character in 1964 called
Atemtyo meant that the earlier
reforms did not permanently
resolve the issues. Added to this
is the palpably vindictive
character of the settlement of
compensation of the 1960 riot
victims. The Fletcher Commission
which assessed the 1960 riot
damage estimated the cost at over
half a million pounds. This
amount, by a directive of the
Northern Regional Premier, Sir
Ahmadu Bello, was to be paid up
by every adult male tax payer in
the area to the tune of two pounds,
eleven shillings (£2.11) per head.
The average Tiv man was
infuriated by this decision because
its enforcement clearly exposed
the intense political bias and
insensitivity of the Northern
Regional Government and the
NPC functionaries against pro-
UMBC clans in Tiv Division. For
example, in Abinsi, Gboko and
Katsina-Ala (UMBC stronghold)
where no riot took place and,
therefore, no property was
destroyed the people were forced
to pay the special levy, whereas
Makurdi (a pro-NPC base) was
exempted although many people
from the area were convicted of
participation in the riot.
Suffice it to say that compared
with the 1960 riot, the 1964
incident was very severe in terms
of the extent of personal violence.
The reason for the outbreak of
violence in 1964 was, apart from
the above factors, largely due to
the fact that the grievances of the
UMBC were not addressed by the
NPC government. At an UMBC
meeting in March 1960, a
catalogue of the party’s
grievances were discussed and
subsequently embodied in a
petition to the Premier of the
North. Among the grievances
raised were the following: 1) The
appointment of NPC loyalists to
the dissolved Tiv NA by the Tor
Tiv when the members of the NA
ought to have been popularly
selected by the kindred and clan
heads, representing their
people’s wishes; 2) The
appointment of NPC members as
District members as District Heads
and Court members throughout
Tivland; 3) Dismissal of UMBC
supporters and appointment of
NPC supporters as tax collectors
in place of those dismissed; 4)
Refusal of the NA to grant
contractors and trading licences
to UMBC supporters;5)
Discrimination in the allocation in
the award of scholarship by the
NA; 6) Discrimination in the
allocation of jobs to UMBC
supporters; 7) Indiscriminate
sacking of clan and kindred
heads, e.g. Tarka Nachi, clan
head of Mbakor; and 8) Lack of
attention to UMBC request and
complaints by NA councilors. It
should be noted that the Tiv NA
Council was dissolved in 1959
and from this date onward, no local
election was held to elect
representatives to the central and
District Councils. This meant that
UMBC supporters who formed
the majority of Tiv population
were denied their rights to vote.”