Politics
…Says he has no regret
joining politics
A former Chairman of the
Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu has said he
regrets his inability to bring
about a wider ethical
transformation in the Nigeria
Police Force during his time
as the anti-corruption czar in
the country.
Ribadu, who was speaking
in a special Visitors' Forum, a
lecture organized by the
Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission, in
Abuja, said his forays as the
head of the EFCC were aimed
at giving pride, prestige and
respect to the law
enforcement profession,
adding that he wanted to
prove that there were honest
police officers within the
force.
He noted that, "For decades,
Nigeria has lacked leadership
that is able to set an example
for others to follow. I've seen
it happen in the EFCC: the
first set of people that we
worked with at the
Commission were policemen
from the same Nigeria Police
that people talk about
derisively and say all sorts of
things about.
"They were just about 14
officers that we picked, and
we decided from the very
beginning that we are going
to do things differently. We
said to ourselves: this is
perhaps the only opportunity
in a lifetime for us to set a
standard and set an example.
We will be the ones who are
going to make it; we will be
the ones who are going to,
hopefully, change the Nigeria
Police force.
"That is one of my biggest
regrets in life: our inability to
accomplish that, because we
worked very hard for four
years to set an example. And
we thought that doing that,
others in the Nigerian police
force will copy. We thought
that young men in the force
will look at us and say these
people were honest officers
who did their best and got
results, and we want to be
like them.
Ribadu added that, "Sadly,
everything changed from
2007 when some people
came from nowhere and
said honesty and hardwork
does not pay, and they
reversed it and brought in
people who do not know
anything other than making
something for their own
pockets, and it changed the
psyche of the Nigerian police
men. It is very sad indeed."
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu
Harping on the impact of
forthright leadership in any
culture, the former
Presidential candidate of the
Action Congress of Nigeria,
ACN, stressed that he has no
regrets joining politics,
adding that he will seek any
opportunity to the country
and to contribute to national
development.
According to him, honest
and courageous leadership
was central to the growth
and development of any
organization, and by
extension, any country.
"Nothing works unless you
have a leadership that is
ready to set an example and
bring out the vision and
direction for others to follow.
Leadership means setting a
standard, being a model in
honesty, competence, justice
and equity, and courage."
He further noted that the
pioneers at NERC "had
suffered similar fate in the
hands of selfish people in
government, who treated the
professionals with contempt
and sought to ridicule them."
Ribadu charged that "selfish,
primitive, crude and narrow-
minded people, who ought
not to be anywhere near
government in the first place,
found themselves in power
and authority and misused
and abused it. Every Nigerian
knew what happened then.
Few people who because
they were close to
government wanted to be
everywhere, and because
they believed there was
money to be made in energy,
they flooded the place.
"Even in my present role as
head of the Special
Petroleum Revenue Task
Force, I've seen such people;
they are all over the place: for
instance, you see an adviser
who has no qualification or
competence about gas,
writing memos about gas.
That is what they are doing
to the system, which has
affected the proper take-off
of some of these agencies."
The former anti-corruption
czar, therefore, challenged
the officials of NERC to be
professional, independent
and not allow self-interest
dictate their pursuit of their
responsibility, pointing out
that none of them should
ever plan to own
independent power plants or
distribution companies, or
even encourage their wards
or relations to operate
businesses that may come
into conflict with the
performance of their jobs.
"The starting point for
effective and transparent
leadership is that you must
learn to fight your own
selfish interest, and take
yourself out of any decision
that you will have to take.
Make sure that you have no
interest in what you are
doing as a regulator. The
moment you have an
interest, you have defeated
yourself.
"I won't want to see you,
even after you leave this
place, that you are an owner
of an IPP or you have a
distribution company, or you
have a relation that owns
any of these businesses. In
life, you have to make
choices; you can't have
everything. There are things
you simply have to forego if
you are given certain
responsibilities."
According to Ribadu, the
price for compromise on the
part of any regulator is the
failure of the industry over
which the regulator
oversees. "That is the crises
we face today in Nigeria: you
see certain individuals who
have been part of so-called
'reform' of any sector, going
back to play a part in the
sector. Somebody serves as a
regulator in the
telecommunications industry,
and goes on to own a
telecommunications
company.
"I mean, why would
someone who oversaw the
failure of our educational
system attempt to go back
and establish his or her own
school, supposedly to
provide the excellence in
education that he or she
squandered as Minister or
Director in charge of
education? You are a
Minister, a Vice President or
the President who couldn't
run our universities very well,
and after you come out you
end up having the best
university in the land. It is a
1 comment
Only time will tell if you are really a good man indeed.stop deceiving
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