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Femi Fani-Kayode & the Mistakes of Chief Edwin Clark
By Prince
Paul Ivagba Newsdiaryonline Mon
Nov 7,2011
Fani-Kayode
It is very important at this critical time to refute the opinion
of a former Minister of Information and respectable Ijaw leader,
Chief Edwin Clark, in his November 2, 2011 petition to the Chief
Justice of the Federation, Dahiru Musdapher calling for the
urgent trial of 14 former governors and two former ministers
standing trial for alleged corruption. He went further to say
there was no reason why the courts cannot determine the fate of
the 16 high-profile cases within six to 12 months. Chief Clark
listed the ex-governors and ministers as James Ibori, Senator
Saminu Turaki, Peter Odili, Michael Botmang, Joshua Dariye, Boni
Haruna, and Rasheed Ladoja. Others are Jolly Nyame, Attahiru
Bafarawa, Adamu Abdullahi, Lucky Igbinedion, Ayo Fayose,
Chimaroke Nnamani, and Orji Uzor Kalu. The affected ex-
Ministers are Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and Babalola Borishade as
contained in Chief Clark’s petition.
I truly honour Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark’sgoodintention and
courage in exposing corruption and call for accelerated
adjudication, to drawing conclusive ends to all the high profile
corruption cases in the country which have almost become
hard-nut to crack for the judiciary and perhaps the anti-graft
agents. The elder statesman (Chief Clark), asked the CJN to
prevail on the courts to dispense with the cases of these former
public officers to prove that Nigeria is committed to
anti-corruption crusade. I also agree that it is highly
despicable that the country has found itself in a situation
where over 50 high profile cases of corruption levelled against
some former governors, ministers and legislators and other high
profile government functionaries have been pending in various
Federal High Courts and Court of Appeal for over four years due
to corrupt practices both in the judiciary and at the Bar, is
most unacceptable because it is definitely
responsible for placing
Nigeria at the bottom index of corrupt countries in the world
such as Somalia; Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc.
However, whilst pursing this legitimate and just course, Chief
Clark should be aware that this could only be ensured by the
"shock and awe" of the attack itself combined with an intense
propaganda campaign to sell the official story. Ironically, the
vast majority of those who created and promoted this propaganda
probably did so innocently, never questioning the official
version of events. The idea that the entire attack was an inside
job was simply too unthinkable for most Nigerians to consider so
to say.
The use of disinformation and diversion to manipulate public
opinion is a highly developed, vicious and untoward task which
is needless at this material time. It is well understood not
only by psychological operations experts in the legal and
national security establishment, but also by marketing and
public relations wizards. With the engineering of public
reaction to November 2, disinformation has been used with a
sophistication and depth that is historically unprecedented. A
key tool in this modern form of psychological warfare is the
"meme" - an idea that acts like an infectious agent to spread
itself through a population. Through careful construction of
memes, the perpetrators could depend on others to unwittingly
promote their cover story and conceal the truth. Their
disinformation strategy was twofold. First, they would sell the
official story to the masses through the compliant mass media,
relying on people's desire to believe the official story.
Second, they would seed
specious ideas in the community of November 2 ‘‘skeptics’’ in
order to distract and discredit them. For clarity and without
fear of contradiction Chief Femi Fani-Kayode alleged money
laundering legal quagmire orchestrated by Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) is frankly a ruse from the pit of hell.
The innocent Fani-Kayode is only paying price for defending
President Olusegun Obasanjo while he was his Special Adviser on
Public Affairs and for stepping on toes of power brokers in the
country.
It would be ostensibly unfair and preposterous for anyone to
name Chief Femi Fani-Kayode in the long list of corrupt
Nigerians, because no court of competent jurisdiction has named
him so, and not even the anti-graft agent EFCC has any
convincing or tenable evidence(s) to judge him in that category
of people with indelible stains and questionable records while
serving in the public service. Fani-Kayode should indeed be
appreciated for putting in place an excellent, dedicated and
loyal team of personal staffers whom he took with him to the
Ministry of Aviation when he went there.
Consequently, divine intervention, which he claims came
as "a consequence of continuous and deep intercession by the
most dedicated and selfless group of prayer warriors that I have
ever come across in my life was indeed worthy of commendation.
They prayed for those horrific crashes to stop and they stopped.
God answered those prayers and the blood of innocent Nigerians
stopped flowing in
unnecessary and avoidable plane crashes. Considering the forces
that wanted the crashes to continue, this was a miracle that was
second to none. We must give thanks to God"(The Christian
Explorer Magazine, 2007).
Again Fani-Kayode increased the capital base of domestic
airliners in Nigeria in order to ensure bigger, safer and
stronger airlines in the country and he also fought corruption
by exposing a massive N6. 5 billion naira ($55,000, 000 usd)
fraud that took place in the aviation sector just before he came
in as Aviation Minister. For this Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was
widely acknowledged and commended but he also earned himself
many powerful enemies. As Minister of Aviation he also insisted
that Nigerians should be treated with dignity, fairness and
respect by all foreign airline operators. He did this with
ruthless zeal and the foreign airliners complied fully whilst he
was in office. Again as Minister of Aviation he ensured that the
largest, most advanced and most sophisticated domestic airport
terminal (MM2 Domestic Airport Terminal in Lagos) which was
owned and built by his colleague, Cambridge-trained lawyer and
businessman, Dr. Wale Babalakin
S.AN , was not
only built and completed but was also fully commissioned and
made functional under his watch as Minister of Aviation.
This was despite immense opposition to the project from the more
retrograde and conservative forces within the aviation sector
and the country. This was a great achievement on the part of
Fani-Kayode and an excellent example of the public and private
sector partnership policy which was one of the hallmarks of the
Obasanjo administration. This airport terminal is undoubtedly
the largest and the best equipped domestic airport terminal on
the African continent and is certainly the best terminal
(whether it be international or domestic) in the whole of
Nigeria. On June 30th 2008 Femi Fani-Kayode was invited to
appear, together with all the other former and serving Aviation
Ministers in Nigeria, before the Senate Aviation Committee to
defend, explain and give an account of their tenure as Ministers
of Aviation. Fani-Kayode was articulate, factual and accurate at
the public hearing, substantiating his forceful assertions with
facts, figures, documents, bank
statements and due process certificates for every
contract that he awarded. He also proved that he left an
unprecedented and staggering N7. 2 billion ($60, 000, 000 usd)
in the accounts of the ministry's special intervention fund by
the time he left office. He submitted a detailed analysis and
report on the problems of
aviation in Nigeria to the committee and his submission
shed a lot of light on the workings of the aviation sector and
even exposed what he referred to as "a vicious blood cult"
within that sector. Femi Fani Kayode assisted the Senate
Committee in its work by providing essential documents and
explanations on virtually every question that he was asked. He
did an excellent job at the public hearing (see C.D. of the
Senate Aviation Committee public hearing 2008) and was given
commendation and applause by many of those that witnessed the
proceedings.
Of particular interest to many members of the Nigerian public
today are his days at the Presidency. Without mincing words
whilst he was in charge of Public Affairs at the Presidency
Fani-Kayode was President Obasanjo's chief ideologue. He was
loved, respected and admired by those who supported Obasanjo but
he was intensely disliked and feared by those who opposed him.
This was as a consequence of the passionate and aggressive way
in which Fani-Kayode took on Obasanjo's many traducers and
defended the President. The office of Public Affairs within the
Presidency had effectively become a shadowy and powerful weapon
of war in Obasanjo's arsenal whilst Fani-Kayode ran and headed
it. He reported directly to Obasanjo and he was regarded by the
President more as a trusted son rather than an aide. For this he
paid a price (and still paying price) and he often admitted the
fact that his job at Public Affairs had cost him many friends
and relationships. During the Senate Ministerial screening
session in 2006 when he had to appear before the whole of the
Nigerian Senate in order to be screened before his nomination as
a minister could be confirmed, he shed some light and offered
some explanations on his role as Special Assistant to Mr.
President on Public Affairs. When asked about the fact that he
attacked and hurt many Nigerians as a result of his defense of
Obasanjo and whether he had any regrets about doing so, He said
the following: ‘‘President Obasanjo is a great man and I have no
regrets about doing my job effectively though I do regret it if
anyone was hurt in the process. I was simply doing my job and if
I wasn't prepared to do it I would not have taken the job in the
first place. I did not wish to hurt anyone and I do not believe
that anyone should take whatever may or may not have been said
personally. If I did hurt anyone then I am deeply sorry and I
hope that they will find it in their hearts to
forgive me as I have
found it in my heart to forgive them for what they have said
about me and Mr. President. Many of those that I clashed with
and joined issues with on behalf of President Obasanjo were
either old friends of mine for whom I had , and still have ,
tremendous respect or those that I have always looked up to from
the day that I was born. But I had to do my job and my job was
to defend Mr. President night and day and take on his enemies
and detractors. Even though he is not an angel President
Olusegun Obasanjo is the most vilified , misunderstood and
misrepresented leader in Nigeria today and yet this man not only
loves Nigeria but he also believes in Nigeria and Nigerians ,
just as he believes in Africa and in
Africans.’’
Precisely in June 2008, Fani-Kayode and some others were
arrested, detained and interrogated for a few days by the EFCC
(Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) over the 19.5 Billion
intervention fund of the Aviation sector. After a thorough
investigation all charges against Chief Femi Fani-Kayode were
withdrawn from the court by the EFCC as it was clear that there
was no evidence that he had anything to do with the
misappropriation of the intervention fund. As a matter of fact
it was established clearly that he was the one that actually
exposed the scam. All others that had been originally arrested
and detained with him were later charged at the High Court but
Fani-Kayode was not amongst them. However 6 months later, on the
22nd of December 2008,
Fani-Kayode was re-arrested by the Economic Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged allegations of money
laundering. He was arraigned on a 49 count charge for money
laundering. This was clearly politically
motivated and provided more evidence of the persecution that the
Yar’Adua regime was unleashing on all those that had once worked
closely with President Olusegun Obasanjo. Amongst those that
have been subjected to similar persecution, who have been
declared wanted because they are out of the country and who are
also being prosecuted in absentia are Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir El-Rufai.
Again these charges are politically motivated. In my view there
is absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing or money laundering
against Fani-Kayode and neither do I believe that El Rufai stole
the billions that the EFCC is claiming. We await the verdict of
the Courts but Fani-Kayode has sworn to stand and fight and
clear his good name. Out
of my dispassionate stance over this legal tussle I wrote
sometimes in September this year (2011) about the fact of the
matter in the print, and internet blog/magazines concerning
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Mr Festus Keyamo and
EFCC and other vicious
protagonist in this matter:
http://www.sharpedgenews.com/index.php/perspectives/253-femi-fani-kayode-worst-injustice-ever-endured-by-a-man.
Democratic theory generally posits that society needs a
journalism that is a rigorous watchdog of those in power and who
want to be in power, can ferret out truth from lies, and can
present a wide range of informed positions on the important
issues of the day. Each medium need not do all of these things,
but the media system as a whole should make this calibre of
journalism readily available to the citizenry. How a society can
construct a media system that will generate something
approximating democratic journalism is a fundamental problem for
a free society, as powerful interests tend to wish to dominate
the flow of information.
In addition to this half the world is composed of people
who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have
nothing to say and keep on saying it".... Robert Frost.
Speech is Human Nature; used in the way in which God intended
would alleviate the necessity of preaching on the dangers of the
tongue. The tongue is dangerous
and we need to examine the importance of keeping such a
dangerous weapon under control. Dynamite is stored, and moved
with great caution, because of the knowledge we have of the
power that it possesses to destroy. Likewise, all believers be
it Christians or Muslims, we have something as powerful as
dynamite; yet, very often it is handled as if there is no danger
at all, we must all work for the good of Nigeria and also in
search for truth so that posterity can judge us rightly.
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