Hon. Femi Ghajabiamila was a former opposition leader of APC in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2015; today he is the leader of the House of Representatives, still in APC.
His antecedent during the period he was in opposition according to his admirers spotlighted him to the general public because he spoke the minds of many Nigerians.
This may have been the reason he endeared himself not only to his constituency in Surulere Lagos but to his numerous admirers around the nation.
“A bold and outspoken member of the Lower Chamber, who has already carved a niche for himself, as an accomplished politician” one of his loyalists told me. From 2003 to 2018 he still serves in the House, proving beyond any reasonable doubt that he is a gifted and poignant orator.
Quite recently, Femi is in messy news, for reasons other than House affairs, but on domestic issues. A Non-governmental body (NGO) from his Surulere constituency had written petitions against him to the Anti-graft Agencies, demanding that he be probed as to how he gave a (vehicle) gift to his wife at his wife’s 50th birthday anniversary recently. The vehicle, an (SUV) allegedly cost Femi £475,000,000 (Seventy-Five Million Naira).
The NGO is asking the Anti-graft Agencies to find out how Femi came by such huge sum of money. The agencies should determine whether the money has been properly earned by him, or was it laundered? From constituency projects?
Nigerians across the political divide are pissed up over this news because many Nigerians today can no longer afford the three square meals a day. Many have been driven into poverty because of the current recession in the land. And even some mothers who can no longer cope with the devastating economic crisis have resorted to selling their children, showing that there is much hunger, deprivation and anger in the land.
Tongues are now wagging and questions are being asked whether this could happen in Nigeria at this time of great need when politicians and public office holders are being looked upon to fix things up in Nigeria, before all of us die of hunger and disease.
In the small, gossiping world of Nigerians at this age of social media, political and public life, remain little secret for long. And it appears in Nigeria that public office holders are becoming more and more careless about money and their public behaviour.
In Ghana, Mr. Watson’s report of 1948 had said “It would be idle to ignore the existence of bribery and ‘corruption in many walks of life, admitted to us by every responsible African to whom we addressed the question. That corruption may spread as further responsibility devolves upon the African, is a possibility that cannot be denied. No nation can rise to greatness on such foundations (although) its existence cannot be accepted as a barrier to self-rule”. That was Watson speaking after hearing evidence of massive corrupt practices in Ghana in 1948. The British that colonized Ghana discovered to its dismay, massive corruption among their African protégés.
What Watson’s report goes to show, is that venality is such a common feature of political life, that it is no longer surprising that Buhari has determined even at the risk of his own life to fight corruption to its logical conclusion.
Cynics may say that since all politics by their nature are corrupt that corruption in politics requires no special explanation.
Surely politicians in office will either minimize the importance of corruption or deny that it exists at all since the corrupt activities are transacted beneath the surface at times defying their critical frame of reference.
In spite of that, however, questions are still asked, who gets what out of the system and how; the means by which private estate are built up on daily basis and maintained by illicit transactions; the manner in which rival baronies of wealth within the system settle their differences, all surely affect the development and durability of a political order in every nation.
In many respects, it appears the scale of corruption in Nigeria is probably greater than that which exists in some other African states or indeed than that in many wealthier countries of the world. This is because of the protection being provided by our own defalcations. In Nigeria of course, money speaks more persuasively..More detail http://thebeaconewsnigeria.com/2018/08/that-gift-of-sev…-for-a-dear-wife/