The Nigerian Tragedy and the Unsolved Riddles of White Collar Crime.

He stole and misappropriated his state's money, entertaining no scruples. He was tried, convicted, and sent to jail for twelve years. The year was 2018. A few weeks ago, in August 2022, he was granted clemency via a Presidential pardon and was subsequently released.

The video you are watching is about the mood when he arrived in his home state, Taraba. And these are the same people he defrauded, without a modicum of regret or moral inhibition. Now they are pleading with him, seeking his forgiveness of those responsible for his prosecution and incarceration. And, kind enough, he agreed. What a highly principled fellow! Only in Nigeria. Certainly not how to be an ex-convict.

He is not alone. Nigerian communities do find grace in endorsing the fraudulent escapades of their children in public offices.

If we can eliminate the endemic culture of ethnic consciousness that defines the federal allocation of resources, a sense of pride in the Nigerian nationality will evolve gradually, without compulsion or jingle.

In a country where every tribe or community considers an appointment offer or elective position at the federal level benefiting one of their own as an opportunity to share in the nation cake, we will continue to experience the carnival you're watching in the attached video. To them, he didn't steal, he was simply smart, trying to grab his share of the proverbial national cake.

How did the question of national cake and sharing arise?

It began with the entitlement culture. Are people reaping where they didn't sow and given a pass to do so? Yes.

And that's the Genesis of the sharing culture in Nigeria because those who are watching have bought into the culture as being acceptable. They are doing it. Everybody is doing it. Why not me, now that I have a chance?

The late President Musa Yar'Adua would have been able to eliminate that culture, but death came too soon. He knew the follies of the retired Generals. He knew of the existence of a ruling class that uses religious and ethnic identity to create and further strengthen its dominance of the political spectrum. Conscious of that, he was willing to do the contrary.

First, he did what no President before him has done: Making peace with the people of the Niger Delta, by granting amnesty to the militants in the creeks, among other palliative measures. He told the world that the Presidential election that brought him into power was massively flawed. He described the National Assembly as a house of thieves that enjoys undeserving immunity. And the revolution was a stillbirth. The man died.

Though President Jonathan who took over from him was a noble man, he acutely lacked the wisdom and sterner stuff of Yar'Adua to continue on the path of a systematic dismantling of the old political order represented by the Obasanjo of our time.

Though he was able to manage the economy, he failed abysmally in fighting corruption. He couldn't break away from the past. His naivety energized them. The helplessness he displayed following the release of the Aigbojie Aig-Imuokhuede investigatory panel report regarding the petroleum subsidy scam was unseemly.

His biggest problem was he didn't know much about Nigerians - he did not know the political player and was unable to pick strong advisers and daring Lawyers to run the Ministry of Justice and the EFCC. It was a missed opportunity.

And he took sharing to a new low. There's no way on earth you can explain or justify the colossal amount of money in hard currency handed over to Retired Col Dasuki to influence the 2015 Presidential election in his favor.

The overwhelming expectations that he will fight and eradicate corruption catapulted President Buhari into power. Today, he has exacerbated corruption and nepotism, and he is not even aware of it.

Right now, we need credible leaders in power who would be comfortable taking discussing selflessness and the "Nigeria First" attitude before the people. A situation where no Minister can travel out of their secured location at Abuja and take a message of hope, self-redemption, and patriotism to the Nigerian homes, demands a sober reflection. Sooner or later, someone has to do it. And that's the choice we have to make by voting credible Nigerians into leadership positions.