ADEREMI'S NOTEBOOK

— New Yorker has a long piece on Benazir Bhutto from 1993. Also check out the interactive timeline by NY times. Jemima Khan writes in the Telegraph about Benazir’s time as prime minister. #

EFCC chairman goes back to school (0)

Nuhu Ribadu, EFCC Chairman (André Clark Utvik/NA24)

It was always a question of when. Last thursday, Federal police head Mike Okiro said the EFCC chairman, will take a compulsory leave to enable him participate in the management course at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Study, Kuru.

Nothing wrong with sending Ribadu back to school. It is routine for high flyers to be redeployed into other roles. However, the timing is somewhat convenient. Since the begining of the year, the commission has been focused on gathering evidence to prosecute former states governors. In December, the commission arrested James Ibori, over allegations of corruption and money-laundering. The former governor of Delta state is considered a close ally of Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adu.

Ribadu built the commission from nothing back in 2003, putting momentum and confidence back into fight against corruption. The EFCC is an institution and should not be dependent on one man. As Wole Soyinka noted this is not the issue at hand;

Ribadu’s removal is not an individual predicament. The situation here does not permit of the familiar cliche of any one individual being less than an institution or agency - no, that is not the issue! The issue is that an effective agency has been tampered with, unnecessarily, but with transparent motivations that constitute an assault on the corporate integrity of the nation. The trust of the nation has been abused - that is the issue

A new chairman needs to be appointed quickly. Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, the operations director would have been the obvious choice to lead the charge. I hear he is also going back to school.

— 101 Things You Need To Relocate To Nigeria by Godson Offoaro #

— A short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was featured in the FT over the weekend. (PDF). #