Lai Mohammed just made a big mistake

Lai Mohammed should not have refuted the comments accredited to him by his ‘enemies’ – the information minister was quoted, by some section of the media, as saying that the economy had gone out of Buhari’s control. Instead, he should have insisted that the economy had spiraled out of Buhari’s control, and that the President cannot make it if the elites do not support him. Buhari wouldn’t have had a problem with this since he told us this week, in Malabo, that he would not hesitate to deal with the elites who have milked the country dry.

It is very unlikely that Buhari will succeed if the elites don’t help him. Never mind that it is said that the bulk stops at the President’s table. If you think I have just made a faulty generalization, well, my view is that the fight against corruption, which the President believes would help spur economic growth, would require huge sacrifices. In this article, I will argue that it is extremely difficult to make these sacrifices if you are among the top 5% in Nigeria.

Let’s start with the middle class before we get to the business and political elites. Supporting Buhari in his fight against corruption will come at a great personal cost for anyone in the middle class. You might have to ask your accountants and attorneys to ‘shut up’ when they advise you on how to ‘reduce’ your tax. You would have to learn how not to put pressure on that your former classmate who has been appointed a minister. It might not be ‘wrong’ to do some of these things, even though it is morally inappropriate.  Also, you could argue that people still do these things in the West, but you have to make abnormally sacrifices to redeem Nigeria. If you think this is a trivial example, what about the next example?

I suspect most elite lawyers do not share Buhari’s agenda on the fight against corruption – they are just telling the President what he wants to hear. The other day, Mr. Mike Igini told us of how a senior lawyer jokingly asked him if INEC wanted to use the card reader to chase lawyers out of business. The lawyer argued that if the card reader works well there might not be need for their services – there might not be litigations at the end of elections. Though he pretended to be joking, I suspect he meant it. Most lawyers are afraid they might go out of business if the fight against corruption is successful, hence, they don’t honestly support the fight. If you think I have just committed a fallacy of defective deduction, take a look at my next point.

Why have you not seen senior lawyers falling over themselves to do pro bono cases for the EFCC?  I hope you saw over 90 senior lawyers storming a court to represent one of their own. I am sure some of these lawyers never knew the details of their colleague’s case before storming the court to protect him. I wish hundreds of lawyers could storm our courts to support the EFCC.  The Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption (PACC) was actually soliciting for funds, the other day. PACC says the country doesn’t have money to pay for some legal fees concerning some high profile corruption cases. Yet, our rich senior advocates are not offering to give free services. Apparently, they are not convinced that the government is broke. I must state here that Femi Falana seems to be honestly supporting the EFCC. I recommend he leads the proposed Assets Tracing, Recovery and Litigation Fund. This Fund is proposed to help the government raise money to fight corruption.

It is not only Ricky Tarfa that attracts scores of elites lawyers in court, Senator Bukola Saraki attracts elite lawmakers as well, any time he goes to the Tribunal. A friend, Paul, believes that those Senators that always accompany Saraki have no other motive other than to intimidate the Tribunal Judges. I tried to explain to Paul that the Senators were just showing their solidarity because they feel Saraki is being political persecuted.  Well, Paul has refused to buy my argument. He believes that instead of subtly intimidating the Tribunal, Saraki’s colleagues should encourage him to go clear his name, as fast as possible.

Let me use this opportunity to state clearly the Ricky Tarfa and Saraki are still innocent according to our constitution and should not be subjected to any form of media trial. But there is a problem here. Paul told me that he really loves those media trials. Why does he love them? Paul believes that these media trials make the kind of Judges the CJN has been warning to sit up. He believes that if these Judges know that the public is watching them they would be more careful. I tried to explain to Paul that this was jungle justice, but he replied by telling me to shut up.

The EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu, looks very worried. He has been making some sensational statements. He says he is ready to die fighting corruption. He has also blasted senior lawyers and some ‘unpatriotic’ Nigerians. I am sure after getting the political support that has been lacking in the EFCC, he never expected to get the kind of resistance he now getting. Now the problem is no longer the unwillingness of the government to fight corruption, it is with ‘unpatriotic’ Nigerians – the elites, as it were.

Lawyers are not the only people not helping Buhari, elite businessmen are also guilty. Dr Ifeanyi Ubah told us, the other day, that if he is given the opportunity he would expose them. Elite businessmen are speculating on the Naira. Some rich Nigerians have been advised to hold on to their dollars because the Naira will soon find its level. We have 20 billion dollars lying idly in various domiciliary accounts in Nigeria. The guys who are supposed to be regulating in the CBN are not helping matters. The other day, Buhari accused some directors in the CBN of sabotaging his efforts to stabilize the Naira. Little wonder, that Godwin Emefiele, the bank’s governor, has just suspended some directors.

What about the clergy. Yes, the Catholic Bishops have thrown their weight behind Buhari’s corruption fight, but some other clergies have not. There are a couple of things the Church can do to fight corruption, which they are not doing. Let me mention a few. One, encourage whistleblowers. Instead of going to the police, a whistleblower can give his evidence to his Bishop. The Bishop can take it up from there. Bishops have access to Buhari, even Fr Ejike Mbaka can present the case to Buhari. Two, preach and vigorously promote modesty. Winning a contract doesn’t mean God loves you more than the poor man at Ajegunle. Three, ask questions anytime huge tithes or offerings are made. The other day someone sowed a seed with a stolen car. Four, institute an anti-corruption Fund. There could be offerings for the fight against corruption. These monies can be used for rigorous sensitization.

That reminds me, Lai Mohammed tried to justify the President’s constant foreign trip. But I think the President and his handlers have misinterpreted the global economy.  They are thinking like my friend’s wife who is a marketer in a new generation bank. Sophia knows that you can’t stay in your office and get deposit, you have to move around. But, the gospel truth is that whether Buhari travels or not, FDIs are likely to come to Nigeria if we keep our house in order. Presently, in Europe, banks now give negative interest. What does this mean? Instead of getting interest on your savings, you are asked to pay the bank for keeping your money. This policy by the ECB would likely result in capital moving to developing and emerging markets, where the ROI is high.

My thesis is that Lai Mohammed would have taken advantage of this false accusation to take a swipe on the elites. He had no cause to be afraid because the Vice President told the elites that this government cannot make it without them, but I am not sure if most of them have changed their ways.