Bawa’s scorecard at EFCC, one year after

BY DELE OYEWALE

Victor-Marie Hugo, a French poet, novelist, and essayist died more than two centuries ago but there still stands some immortal and memorial thoughts he blessed the world with before his demise in 1885. Hugo said that: “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come”.

These thoughts bear striking parallelism to the fecundity of fresh ideas, vision, and drives which Abdulrasheed Bawa, executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has brought to refashion and redefine the anti-corruption war in Nigeria. In just one year, by dint of hard work, courage, and clear-minded focus, Bawa has brought to the EFCC, and indeed, the entire nation what an average leader may not be able to accomplish in 10 years.

Whoever advised President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint Abdulrasheed Bawa as EFCC chairman has offered one of the most patriotic and generational services to our nation. Let’s start with the digitalisation of the anti-corruption war which Bawa envisioned and achieved within a few months of being appointed the EFCC boss. The Eagle Eye app is all too known now. With it, every whistle-blowing effort has become a “Jollof” affair. Through the app, the reporting of any suspected corrupt act can be done and even anonymously. Photographs and images can be uploaded and sent to the EFCC.

Since the launch of the app on July 14, 2021, the anti-corruption war in Nigeria has received a massive boost. It is imperative to place on record that the Eagle Eye app is the first of its kind in the law enforcement community in Nigeria. Today, there is simply no cover-up again. Nigerians now have every opportunity to lay bare any unsavoury conduct, infraction, or compromise of extant financial rules and regulations. The anti-corruption space is truly open through the initiatives of the EFCC’s boss.

For those who have been following the strides of operational works of the EFCC in the last year, conscious and determined efforts have been going on against the monster of internet fraud and Yahoo practices across the country. This is without prejudice to the crack-down on politically-exposed persons, banking malfeasance, contract compromises, procurement fraud, illegal oil bunkering, and other havocs of financial fraudsters against the nation.

The tempo and consistency of the furnace against these criminals are so intense that Yahoo operators are staging a fightback against EFCC’s operatives. The result of all these inspiring efforts, in 2021 alone, yielded 2220 convictions for the EFCC. It is the largest record of prosecutorial engagement of the EFCC in its 19 years of existence. The convictions cover criminals of all shades and colours. The simplest interpretation of such a success is that 2220 economic criminals were taken out of the ways and businesses of Nigerians in just one year!

Every conviction of an economic or financial fraudster is beyond the prosecutorial success of the EFCC. It is safety for businesses and their owners; enhanced confidence in the business environments of the nation, boost and ease of investment for local and foreign investors, and higher reputation capital for Nigeria.

Bawa’s leadership is strategic; focused, unassuming, dogged, and evidentially profitable for every stakeholder in the Nigerian project. The conviction records of 2021, for a nation coming out of the tumultuous and calamitous COVID- 19 pandemic, are assuring and refreshing. We have an overseer of an anti-corruption agency who is always thinking on his feet and whose commitments are sincere pursuits of the overall good of the nation.

If in 2021, 2220 economic criminals are sent to the correctional centres, you can just imagine what the record will be in 2022 and beyond. The writings on the wall for every corrupt Nigerian is that the Bawa’s leadership in EFCC is bad news for them. It is certainly not business as usual.

Now to an issue which every EFCC’s functionary will carry banners of appreciation and jubilation around! The past 10 years had been years of stagnation, hard breathing, and hard fasting for the core staff of the commission because of issues of promotion and career progression that were unjustifiably unaddressed. Bawa came like a mascot, broke the jinxes of stagnation, scattered the iron gates of relegation, and moved every staff to their deserved designations. Like soft waters in arid deserts and macadamized highways in the wilderness, the EFCC boss has brought fresh strides, gusto, and blossoming hopes to the commission.

An average EFCC staff today is a watered garden and sufficiently motivated to ply his or her job with contentment and renewed strength. It is, therefore, not surprising that their productivity is rising higher every day. The leadership of Abdulrasheed Bawa is a sweet song on the lips of his staff and buoyant blessings for the whole nation.

Beyond commendable staff welfare and loud records of operational performance, are the amazing efforts to standardize and institutionalize the anti-corruption works in EFCC, through newfangled policies and manuals, designed to berth standard operating procedures (SOP). There are 18 such policies and manuals covering every length, breadth, height, and width of the anti-corruption works. A strategic plan (2021-2025) is also in place with five carefully articulated objectives designed to take the commission to even greater heights in five years. The vision is to evolve a systemic framework for the EFCC in such a way that rules, processes, procedures undergird every activity in the commission. This way, arbitrariness; abuses; compromises, and violations of values will be totally removed from the works of the EFCC. The commission can now run on auto-pilot and good speed and good success can easily attend to the works of the EFCC.

This initiative places the commission among the best law enforcement agencies in the world, making it globally competitive and respected. Even, the harshest critics of EFCC, through this well-thought-out framework, will give Abdulrasheed Bawa his deserved credits. Only fools despise proofs.

It is normal for cynics to regard an opinion piece like this as a publicity stunt or image-making work. Such tendencies are only justifiable if the facts outlined in the piece are controvertible. The truth, really is that things are looking up in the EFCC and at a frenetic speed. You would think that Bawa had taken some painstaking courses in Harvard or Cambridge to be prepared for the sweeping reforms and institutional renaissance he has brought to the EFCC. He hit the ground running immediately he was confirmed by the senate and we really need to thank the senate for not delaying or denying us his confirmation.

In one year of effective and success- stuffed leadership, Bawa has shown that he is eminently qualified and adequately prepared for leadership. There is a silver lining on the horizon for the EFCC and the entire nation and for those that have given up on the future of Nigeria, just task a fresh look at the resourcefulness and vision-driven leadership of the EFCC’s chairman and you would certainly see the sun rising again.

Lastly, I see Bawa’s ringing successes as fresh challenges to our youths. No Nigerian youth has an excuse for criminality, redundancy, ineptitude, apathy, or failure. Like the legendary former Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser said: ” There is a role wandering aimlessly in search of a hero. … The role is beckoning on us to move, take up its lines, put up its costume and give it life…”.

This is the kernel of the whole issue. Bawa has shown that with the right attitude, focus, commitment, and passion, leadership can make a huge difference. The EFCC is moving gloriously and triumphantly into a new expanse of success. The future certainly is assured for every Nigerian that would not go near corrupt practices.

Oyewale is the head, public affairs directorate in the Port Harcourt zonal command of the EFCC