Are you old enough to cast your mind back to remember the above book? Friends or people who pretended to be friends, in search of a box of buried gold. At the end, only the ugly was standing and he also gave the bad his own share. Nigeria is a country where most politicians share the same vision of tracing the national cake, with the intention of taking it all for himself. Now, in Nigeria my country, who is the good (if any), the bad and the ugly? Everyone is talking about poor Colonel Dasuki, the messenger of corruption.

Dasukigate has now revealed that Nigerian politicians and millitary leaders are in it together, in search of the national treasury and when they find it, either one takes it all for himself or in the case of Dasuki, share it evenly among themselves. What a generous man Dasuki is? I implore all Nigerians to put their knives back into its sheath, as it is not yet time to kill Dasuki (if only we want to kill him). Unless we are fools, whatever Dasuki has done is a peanut, compared with numerous Dasukis since 1970. Every past government of Nigeria has its own Dasuki. There had been a National Security Adviser in each government since the time of Gowon. National security adviser’s office is one, what of the rest of other offices? Are we now saying that the NSA dictates for defense minister, internal affairs minister, petroleum minister, etc? Let us get real. What is happening now is a revelation, and this is why I say that whatever Dasuki has stolen is a tip of the iceberg.

Nigeria, let us not kill Dasuki yet. In fact, we are not killing Dasuki. However, we will offer him an amnesty for him to name all the partners of crime. To start with, all the governors of central bank of Nigeria, dead or alive, must be called upon to give account of their stewardship. The CBN governors know what really transpired between them and various governments. I bet you, Jonathan’s government was not worse than Yara’dua’s before him, Yara’dua’s government was not worse than Obasanjo before him, Obasanjo, Abdulsalam, Abacha, Babangida, Obasanjo again, Shagari and Gowon. I can exclude Gowon, Murtala and Shonekan. Gowon’s government was just flamboyant. Obasanjo was the first to tell Nigeria that he took a loan of NGN144,000,000 in 1979 from Nigerian banks to start Otta Farm. Has he paid it back? Abacha may be corrupt but it was him who saved Nigerian banks. He commissioned the Vision 2010 policy. I lost my money in Savannah bank but Jim Nwobodo received NGN100,000,000 from Dasuki. Does Jim Nwobodo care about millions of Nigerians who lost their livelihood in Savannah bank? Does Obasanjo care about innocent citizens of Nigeria who were made bankrupt by the closure of Savannah bank? Shame on Nigeria and the so-called leaders.

Nigeria must go back to redefine the word CORRUPTION. Nigerian problem is stealing from government purse. Corruption is about anything that influences the decision of someone, especially those that are privilleged to take decision on behalf of the country or organisation. Stealing is taking what does not belong to you either boldly or by slinking around. I believe that Nigeria’s legal system and wording should be changed. Can I seize this opportunity to ask, what is the punishment for corruption in Nigeria? Here you go, this is the reason why we must not kill Dasuki yet. However, I put the same question in a different context. What is the punishment for stealing in Nigeria, either with or without fire arm? When you have discerned the meaning, you can then see the reason why we cannot condemn Dasuki yet until we get our house in order. I am by no means suggesting that we should let Dasuki go. There are so many Dasukis and they should be gathered or invited to tell their own story as dasuki is now telling his. Is Dasuki’s story not musical? So shall others before him be. We must remember that Dasuki is just a messenger of corruption. He is not the master, he is just a servant.

I urged all Nigerians to be patient. Remember the story of Tortoise who began to complain of foul ordour and demanding to be released immediately when he had been in the pit for many years. Nigeria, our problems are many and I call for calm. Dasuki is not the first and may not be the last. Nigerian legal system and judiciary are in a mess. it needs overhauling. I will suggest that while the DSS is investigating about the so-called corruption, there should be audit of all governments from 1970, after all, Nigeria is blessed that we have more than five (5) of the past heads of state still alive and healthy. In many countries, you can only find one or two; if that is not a blessing to Nigeria, please tell me what it is. So, we still have opportunity for accountability. I rest my case. He who has ear let him hear.

By: Oguchi Martins Egbujor