IBRAHIM MAGU: THE NIGHTMARE OF NIGERIA’S CRIMINAL CLASS! By Sharon Faliya Cham

 
Apart from President Muhammadu Buhari himself, the next other person that is most hated and feared by Nigeria’s criminal class is Ibrahim Magu, the controversially suspended head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). And the simple reason why these two gentlemen are hated by that class of rogues and criminals is because of their well-established credentials of sound integrity, love for accountability and probity.
More than any other public agency in the Buhari administration, the EFCC under the leadership of Ibrahim Magu became a nightmare to the notoriously corrupt individuals who looted, plundered and crippled Nigeria to her toes, particularly between the inglorious era that spanned 1999 to 2015 where the country earned so much money but had so little to show by way of infrastructure, electricity, food production or even security. By the time that sad era ended in May 2015, the country was so broke that federal workers were being paid their monthly wages after billions of Naira have been borrowed from banks while about 27 states were owing workers’ wages by up to 14 months!
The rot left because of massive looting and plunder was so thick and intense, and it was the fortune of the Buhari administration that it got a steadfastly committed Ibrahim Magu to help it cleanse the rot and recover what was looted by that mindlessly soulless criminal class. And for the first time in Nigeria’s history as well as the history of the EFCC itself, we saw looted funds and properties procured with looted funds retrieved from individuals as high as a former First Lady, former Chief of Defence Staff, former military service chiefs, former governors, former top oil executives, former ministers, and both former and serving lawmakers. The mandate of the battle against graft given Magu by President Buhari was so total that even corrupt top bank executives were hauled into detention, and its intensity did not even spare an SGF as well as a Head of Civil Service of the Federation that were appointed by the President.
Obviously, since Ibrahim Magu was so committed to this honourable mandate, such that he did not spare even top officials of the administration that appointed him to lead the patriotic onslaught against graft, it will naturally be expected that he will become a subject of attack and conspiracy for removal by suspected corrupt elements serving themselves in government, or from a coalition of former powerful corrupt individuals in conjunction with current powerful corrupt individuals who want to get rid of him so that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari can be reshaped in their own image and likeness. The former crooks would want unhindered freedom to enjoy their loot while the serving crooks would want unhindered freedom to loot and become stupendously wealthy like the former crooks. With Ibrahim Magu in their way, their common interest could easily compel them to form a common front in order to get rid of him, and then possibly have their lackey in place that will suborn the EFCC to their ignoble whims. Of course, one of the alleged sins of Magu by his traducers is the so called charge of insubordination levelled against him by the Attorney General of the Federation, which clearly gives us an inkling about the desperation to suborn and control the anti-graft agency for non altruistic reasons.
It is for this reason that President Muhammadu Buhari needs to be tactfully careful with the way this mind gripping Magu affair is handled. And it needs no restating that Magu’s record and achievements in office thus far have put Nigeria in global reckoning as a nation that is serious in fighting corruption and waste. America’s FBI has lauded him for his tremendous cooperation and successes in tracking and nabbing internet scammers that have been giving Nigeria bad press overseas, and this is apart from the acknowledgement and respect he has gotten for this country in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Both the African Union and the ECOWAS subregion have given plaudits to President Buhari for his war against corruption with Ibrahim Magu as the arrowhead. So, where did we get this idea of frustrating and getting rid of our best while those performing woefully and giving the administration a lot of scandals and bad press are left sitting pretty in their offices?
At the moment, national public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of Ibrahim Magu compared with his traducers, especially among the President’s support base, which makes it extremely needful for the President to be very wary of those around him, whose selfish interests could alienate him from his base. A detailed tour of social media commentaries as well as chats in both private and public places since the persecution of Magu began have convinced me of his popularity among patriotic Nigerians, especially Buhari’s base. His popular standing was even enhanced when it emerged that the so called charges levelled against him were simply planted in the media without him being asked even once by the Presidential Panel to defend himself in spite of the fact that he was always brought to the venue of ”hearings” prior to his bail, all of which beg the questions: Why was he not asked to defend the allegations raised against him? Why was he brought to the venue of his probe daily, and made to sit outside for several hours without him getting questioned physically to respond to the charges? And why were the fictional charges against him planted in the media, and made to look like he wasn’t able to defend them whereas he was not even asked just a single question about them?
Even the method with which he was picked and detained was questionable, and when you add to it the fact that he wasn’t even questioned about the charges then you get to the fact that his traducers merely staged this high octane drama just to remove him and get their pliant lackey in his place who will in turn surrender the EFCC to their dictates and interests. For this reason, all voices of reason must rise loudly in defence of Ibrahim Magu whose reasonable service has brought reasonable accolades both for the Buhari administration and Nigeria in general.
Saving Ibrahim Magu from the onslaught of the criminal class should be seen as saving Nigeria’s reasonable gains and prestige, which were acquired in the last five years through the sleepless efforts of this man. Whatever mistakes he may have made are pardonable in the light of his monumental achievements, and even if there were mistakes, the emerging sins of his traducers are such that Magu’s mistakes are beautiful roses compared with the putrid stench of the sewage tanks they carry. Simply put, Ibrahim Magu should be rather encouraged and empowered to further cleanse the systemic rot they love by letting him haul them into detention rather than allowing them put his brave neck in their guillotine. It is their necks that should be there, not Magu’s.