About a week ago, the news of a celebrity fraudster emerged in the media constituting nuisance. I think any issue that outshines Covid-19 in the media must be one with large impact but the case of a fraudster and its media attention is worrisome. A Nigerian and worldwide fraudster who has whined and dined with Nigerian politicians was arrested in Dubai and we are here littering the media to project our ineptitude in dealing with corruption.
For the fact that Hushppupi has rolled with our so called leaders, his arrest here will be like one chasing shadow. The agency that will arrest him and the judges that will sit on his case are also ‘Hush-puppies’.
The gang of fraudsters were responsible for Dh1.6 billion ( about N169 billion ) fraud involving over 1.9 million victims. Items worth N15.845 billion ( Dh 150 million ) were also seized
13 luxury cars worth N2.640 billion ( Dh 25 million ), 21 laptops, 47 smartphones, 15 memory storage devices, 5 external hard drives and 800,000 emails of potential victims were also recovered from the gang.
The Dubai Police said, Hushpuppi and his gang specialized in hacking corporate emails and then send fictitious messages to the clients of the companies whose email accounts they have hacked in order to redirect financial transactions and bank details to their own accounts.
From the above fraud analysis, the only different I see between Hushppupi and Nigerian Politicians is method of operation. While Hushpuppi defrauds cooperate companies, Nigerian politicians are defrauding the poor masses.
For instance, Orji Uzor Kalu was convicted by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday, December 5, 2019 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for N7.65 billion fraud. He was convicted for defrauding the government of Abia State where he was a governor for 8 years using his company, Slok Nigeria Limited. Many Nigerians raised encomiums on President Buhari led administration for waging war against corruption without taking sides. For real, the administration deserves encomiums for jailing a serving senator who is a member of the ruling party.
But on the flip side of it, the Supreme Court, in its verdict delivered on May 8, 2020, held that Idris who convicted Kalu gave the judgment without jurisdiction. This amounted to the judgment being annulled on the ground of technicalities. My God! Judgment was not annulled base on falsehood but technicalities. So, all the charges against Kalu were real and true but were annulled because the judge had been transfered to appeal court when he made the judgment. Kalu who enjoyed all bonuses and allowances while in correctional center is now back to the senate building enjoying the stench of cool breeze. What other kind of ‘Hushppupi’ is more than this ?
Worse still, Kalu on arrival from prison was welcomed by his co looters. A delegate headed by the senate president sent to Uzor Kalu to welcome and celebrate his arrival. 12 years jail term has ended in couple of months.
We had similar example in the case of Maina. Maina was accused of fraud, money laundering and operating fictitious account; he was initially declared wanted by EFCC and later got arrested and charged to court on 12 counts including 2.1 billion naira pension fund scam. Before Maina was arrested, I want to belief firmly that he has undergone series of training on how to feign illness in order to display it perfectly in court and when he finally appeared in court, he acted everything correctly and scaled through. What a baddest Hush-puppi!
Till now, I still don’t know the name of bank built in Tinubu’s house that called for a bullion van. During electioneering, a bullion van was spotted in his ambience. The matter has been buried because the purpose of the bullion van was achieved. What a country made of hush-puppies.
How about the Hush-puppies displaying comedy skits in Edo state? Obaseki, a qualified and best candidate in 2016 did not merit gubernatorial seat again but Ize-Iyamu who was painted blue black with derogatory remarks in 2016 is being regarded as the Messiah now. The clash of personal interest has ushered in a division. They are not after good governance, they only want to hushppupi the masses.
We are retarded as a nation because of our system of government. The jabberwocky nature of our dear nation is caused by the nefarious grandeurs occupying the throne of power and authority. Before we can get things right, we must get the hush-puppies defrauding our resources arrested. But, who will channel the arrest of other Hush-puppies in Nigeria ? No one, not even the EFCC boss that was indicted of corruption by Attorney-general of the federation. Drama in the league of Hush-puppies.
Things have fallen apart and Mr. President is not strong enough to hold the center. Some easement we require, unarguably, though we argue against desire.
Kudos to Dubai police, we have more hush-puppies in Nigeria under the guise of politics.
Busy Brain is an opinion writer, poet, journalist, researcher and Public Relations Practitioner
Busy Brain Writes From Borno State, Nigeria
