When Mallam Nuhu Ribadu came in as the pioneer EFCC boss, he made a whole lot of (high profile) arrests that sent shivers down every corrupt spine. Corrupt politicians and top civil servants scampered for safety and had their subordinates work overtime, trying to clean up their dirty books. Lots of people were tried (some are still being tried). Impeachment became the order of the day as state legislators were shown their own corruption score cards…meaning they are liable to go to jail but with a rider that their sins might be forgiven if the play d anti-corruption ball (impeach their governors). This was “necessary” since the governors were protected from any form of prosecution by the ever controversial immunity clause. Some govs like DSP fell victim of this ingenuity while d EFCC had to wait until the tenure of others (like Chimaroke, Kalu, Adamu, Nyame, Igbinedion and his brother Ibori) expired before commencing prosecution.

To his credit and that of the government in which he served, Ribadu was able to send some hitherto sacred cows (Diepriye Alamiesiegha, Tarfa Balogun, Lucky Igbinedion, etc) to jail. Regrettably, Ribadu seemed to lose touch somewhere along the line. His investigations/arrests especially during the third term saga and towards 2007 elections were widely viewed as politically-motivated in order to cow the opponents of his boss Obasanjo (ask Atiku, Odili etal). He was also seen to be carrying out selective justice—making scapegoats instead of doing a holistic work since “all had sinned”. He would in one breath tell the whole world that all the governors were corrupt and that he had a dossier on all of them while in another instance, he would declare that the anti-corruption body had little or no case against certain governors (especially when those govs moved to d OBJ camp).

All in all, Nuhu Ribadu upped the ante in d fight against corruption in Africa. He set the standard and contributed immensely to Nigeria’s improved status in all global corruption indices. This can be attributed to the youthful zeal with which he went about his job (he needed to show that his generation could do it) and the media hype of the “Eighth Wonder of the World” (the arrest and prosecution of the almighty Nigerian governors and IGs). He made all the right noises and got local and international recognitions for his efforts. This was the case before the advent of the Y’Aradua presidency. Umaru, in a bid to set himself and his administration free from the shadows of his godfather, OBJ had to make some surprising policy summersaults including the removal of mallam Nuhu and then followed his (Ribadu’s) “persecution” but that is not my point.

Then came Mrs. Farida Waziri, another legal and police personality. Her tenor started with little euphoria—most people felt a woman is not ripe for such delicate job. She did not even help matters with her silent way of working—little media propaganda and reduced zeal. Some other people see her as a silent achiever but her achievements seldom make screaming headlines. Probably in a bid to blow her own trumpet, she was quoted as saying that the commission under her has done more and better job than under Ribadu.

“We have lots of convictions and recovered billions of money from criminals, but I am not a noise maker and this is not a noise-making job. This job requires you to strategize, plan quietly, arrest, arraign and prosecute suspects, but in a country where many people are ignorant, they want to hear noises”,  

http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13504:we-have-done-better-than-ribadu-says-farida&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

This is subject to assessment using several criteria like d number of arrests made within the two eras—how many of them are high profile, how many can be seen as genuine arrests (not witch-hunting); how quickly did d EFCC charge those suspects to court and how many of them became convicted (plea-bargaining inclusive); how much was recouped to the national treasury after d trials (case in mind: Tarfa Balogun’s missing loot under Ribadu).

Kindly carry out your own assessment even with criteria not listed above, bearing in mind how long each person spent on d hot seat. Is madam Farida truly unsung? Pls this is not about Ribadu's candidacy!