FALANA & FALANA CHAMBER

Room 101,
KiriKiri Maximum Prison,
Olodi Apapa,
Lagos
Dear Bode,
Do not be surprised that I am writing this letter to you in your fist name.
The last letter I wrote to you was when you were the Chairman of the
Nigerian Ports Authority, and I addressed you as Chief, Commodore, Sir, All
in All Olabode George. At that time I needed your help to help 'release' my
goods somewhere. But now times have changed. You have lost the respect.
Bode, am not surprised at your present predicament. You and I know you are
a thief, but we both have been praying one day you will repent of your
'thiefing' ways. You and I know your stealing did not start at the
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). No. It has history. It started when you
were at Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, 1960 -1964. You were stealing from other
students, but everybody thought, by the time you were matured enough you
will outgrow it. No. You were stealing gari, sugar, kuli kuli etc. On so
many occasions you were reported to your seniors but they couldn’t do
anything as you always share the gari and kuli kuli with them.
You managed your way through the Royal Naval Engineering College without
any suspension or expulsion. You were commissioned. And in your first
posting, as Director of Weapons at the Naval Headquarters in 1987 you were
adding a few extra naira and kobo to every contract/tender than graced your
table. You went to the prestigeious Command and Staff College in Jaji and
you cheated during examination and you are caught but used your high
powered connection to escape the henious crime. You were not confident at
all, then. Once you put the extra naira and kobo on contract and commit
your various crime, I remember you always go back home praying hard so you
won’t be detected. You were never caught. So gradually your confidence
rose. And more so, as your boss at that time approved of your 'stealing'
and shared some loots with you.
It was this misfortune of your confidence that we were bestowed with in
Ondo State in your first major military (political) assignment in 1987. You
have now grown from the small boy that was stealing kuli kuli from fellow
students to a care-less military administrator. And boy you stole the state
blind. And even boasting that the 'Lagos Boy' had come to teach us 'ara
oke' some lessons. Not only did you steal with 'no respect', you turned
'small girls' of Ikere College of Education to tin gods by your association
with them. You only needed to send government cars to Ikere and all the
girls will be falling over themselves to get into the cars to journey to
Akure to 'please' you, By the time they come back to the campus they were
ready to slap their provost, because they have tasted of your 'wealth and
power'.
The obedient people of Ondo State (of which Ekiti was part) could do
nothing. Corruption was rife all over the country, so putting your hand in
the state till was not at all surprising. But the scale you were doing this
and with so much impunity was what enraged the people. We all kept quiet
and pray that the omnipresent God will catch up with you one day, very
soon.
You were 'shooed' out of the Navy. And immediately you found a 'space' in
the top hierarchy of PDP, when Abubakar midwifed democracy third time
around. No thanks to the money you stole from our dear Ondo State that you
threw around to impress the leaders of the party. All the rest is history.
Bode, you got the post of chairman of NPA, not on merit, but compensation
for your effort in ensuring your party's good showing in OODUA states. But
God knew in His infinite Wisdom that the NPA job will be your final undoing
because He knows how greedy you are. And greed leads to destruction. You
did not disappoint anybody on the scale of your greed. You handpicked your
collaborators and you started your stealing spree. Sold most of NPA
properties and inflated contracts. And with all these you were still going
about collecting 'dues' from your party governors in Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo
and Osun States. You have no shame, at all.
You became the toast of all ladies in the Lagos and Abuja social circuits.
Your 'hat' became a symbol of riches, affluence and power, But God was
only distinguishing you for a big shame that He wanted to bring on you.
Because in you He saw an individual who had no love of his fellowmen at
heart. A man with so much appetite for stealing.
Bode, you are a disgrace to your family, wives, ex-girlfriends, and
children. You are not a disgrace to your colleagues in your party or other
parties. You are one out of many of them who are draining our country dry.
You are one of the big guns who parade our cities, oppressing the common
men, with the money they stole. There are so many like you in all the
facets of the Nigerian polity, economy etc. But it is said in our adage,
eniti ile mo ba ni ole (it is the one that is caught that is a thief).
How many of our so called leaders can account for their wealth? How many of
them have not dipped their hands in the public till? So many have abused
their offices, stole billions and turned themselves to political gods. But
we still celebrate them. Very soon, if they do not come before Justice
Oyewole, they are all answerable to God Almighty.
Bode, I know you are very happy at the judgement of Justice Oyewole. I saw
a smile on your face when he delivered the judgement. A mere 30 months and
you are back at your old self. You are lucky. You remember the sentences
handed over to the Ambrose Alis, Mbakwes, Barkin Zuwos etc in the 80s. Some
had 100 years for stealing just a fraction of what you stole.
But Bode, see beyond the number of years and ask for atonement of all your
sins. Your children, wives and relations will carry your shame all their
years. You are more like Oyenusi of the old. Nobody, to my knowledge, bears
that name anymore. Your children are lucky, yours is an English name. But
from now henceforth, people will ask them, which of the Georges are you?
The shameless thief or the other George?
I shall end this here, as I am beginning to realise you are hard to
convince. In all these, you still nurture the thoughts that you were set up
because you are a top notch of PDP? Ah! You are a dunce.
And above all an OGBOLOGBO OLE
Ole, Wobia, Alajeju, Agba Iya.
I pray God will forgive you, for what you indirectly made to happen to my
goods (and other struggling Nigerians') at NPA some years back.
See you after 30 months.
Greet all the Ogbologbos in Kirikiri.


Femi Falana.