By according a heroic welcome to the jailed former National Deputy Chairman, Southwest of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George last Saturday, top guns of the ruling People’s Democratic Party have shown implicitly to all Nigerians that corruption pays. George was convicted on 26 October 2009 along with five others by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Ikeja High Court on 35 of the 68-count charge bordering on contract splitting, inflation, abuse of office, and disobedience of lawful order.
To the utter bewilderment of the still sane Nigerians, hundreds of PDP supporters were mobilised to give a heroic welcome to George. The crowd was backed by bigwigs in the ruling party including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, Oyo State Deputy, Governor Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, former governors in the Southwest, serving ministers, PDP governorship candidates, presidential aides among others.
Speaking with journalists, PDP chieftain and a former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope unabashedly said contract splitting was done by people in position of authority. It means that PDP big guns don’t read any criminality in the act. “The PDP leaders have demonstrated most bizarredly that morality of any sort is not worshippable anymore. Their idea of Nigeria is a nation where anything goes.”
In a half page advert published today in the Compass, the sacked governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni blamed the sentencing of the former Nigeria Port Authority chairman on enemies, saying those who have cut the branches of a tree laboured in vain as the tree has grown new branches. However, outside the PDP camp, it was knocks and more knocks for Bode George and the PDP as Nigerians continued to condemn the rousing welcome party organised for him.
The celebration which was more like a carnival began three days before George was released with various advertorials in some national dailies welcoming him back into the society. In its reaction, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said the celebration of George by the PDP sent a wrong signal to the youths of the country that it is alright to steal or mismanage public funds “since it can even turn them into a hero like Bode George.
“There is nothing wrong in rehabilitating a prisoner. But turning the occasion that calls for penitence and soberness to a carnival of sorts is a disservice to Nigeria, and a clear signal that the wobbly anti-corruption war of the Goodluck Jonathan administration is finally dead. It also ridicules Nigeria in the eyes of the world.”
The party said though some clowns are now comparing him with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, George was sent to jail for stealing funds meant for ports management and not for his political ideologies like the late sage. “Let us remind Nigerians that partly because of Bode George’s grand larceny, it now takes five times the number of times it should take to clear a container; while the Apapa Ports can hardly handle some ocean-going vessels bringing in imported fuel, thus heightening the possibility of fuel scarcity.”
The Assistant Secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Denja Yaqub, in his reaction said he was “yet to overcome the shock of the celebration of the completion of the two years jail term by ‘Thief Bode George’, jailed two years ago on 26 October, 2009 by a Lagos High Court for stealing public funds as Board Chairman of the NPA.
“As at this moment, this thief is an ex-convict and a judicially confirmed criminal. He came out shamelessly celebrating with his possible accomplices like Obasanjo. How long can we continue like this?” Contacted through Facebook, a social networking site, the President of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, said “Corruption is condoned by our rulers because they are desperate at acquiring and holding on to power at all costs.
“What about keeping an Attorney General of the Federation like Adoke in office after withdrawing almost all corruption cases from various courts? What about bribing former coupists with life allowances for them and their families? “For Goodluck Jonathan, he has just begun to confirm people’s fear that he doesn’t have a mind of his own by accentuating such immorality like welcoming a convicted rogue back to the PDP fold with fanfare and pageantry.
“He has started to pollute the remainder of his credibility by being unsure of his ability to win election without the corrupt elements — convicted or fugitive ones. Can this Jonah really make any difference? His whole life is consumed by the desire to win the April election. Nigeria needs better luck than Jonathan’s goodluck.”
Other Nigerians who commented on the issue expressed their dismay over the way the PDP handled George’s release. Titus Ajayi said: “the way George was celebrated is sickening. This country has been thrown to the dogs but God forbid it that Nigeria will go aground in my generation. However, kudos to the officiating priest of Christ Church, Marina, Ven. Aduloju for calling a spade a spade during Bode’s thanksgiving.”
Another Nigerian, Victor Oguns, said ordinarily the release of George would not attract attention but for the fanfare exhibited by some people who he described as shameless. “This has shown that neither Jonathan nor PDP is interested in stamping out corruption in this country. It is clear now that only the citizens of this country can free themselves from the shackles of corruption and under development.
“The message they are sending to the youths of this country is that corruption pays and that it is okay to steal public funds and abuse positions of trust,” he said. Toyin Adeyemi said: “the attitude of Jonathan and his unwitting support for that shameless jamboree in welcoming Bode George clearly shows that Jonathan’s government is a government that promotes corruption and pat thieves on the back for a job well done for stealing public money.”
By Eromosele Ebhomele & Jamiu Yisa
Culled from PM News.
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