Once upon a time, the pulp fiction writer, who wrote under the pseudonym James Hadley Chase, alias Ruthven Todd, wrote a book with the evergreen title: The Guilty Are Afraid.
Twenty-three years after the death of the inimitable writer in 2001, the name of the book continues to ring a bell in the minds of some of his global readers, including yours truly, who decided to write a piece with a heading that closely resembles The Guilty Are Afraid, except for the addition, Not Afraid in Nigeria.
Well, in Nigeria, the guilty can only be afraid if they happen to be ordinary persons who have no godfathers or anyone to come to their aid. But if they are someone who are somebody, or have people of influence in the corridors of power, they can challenge their accusers to “prove their case” against them. They may even have someone or some people who “believe” or “see” themselves as “powerful” in the country to “defend” them.
Such is presently the case of a Nigerian in a very high place, who, despite the weight of the allegations made severally by different people against him, has not only insisted on his innocence but has some people defending his supposed innocence against the accusations.
The Junior Minister of Defence, Honourable Bello Matawalle, who was a former governor of Zamfara State, is currently facing weighty allegations of being a sponsor of bandits and their criminal activities in the northern part of the country. But despite the gravity of these allegations, the minister has remained “glued” to his position, insisting on his innocence. Not only that, he has one of his predecessors, in the person of Senator AbdulAziz Yari, and a chieftain of the ruling party defending him.
But if such allegations against a ranking government official were in a more developed country, such an official would have resigned from his post and focused on clearing his name. But it does not happen on these shores, because, as Dan Bello would say, “This is Nigeria.” Such things happen in Nigeria and perhaps a few other developing countries.
The controversy-surrounded minister will never be sacked in Nigeria, nor will he have the presence of mind to resign voluntarily until he is proven innocent by a competent court. In fact, Nigeria is a country where the victim is often accused of being responsible for his predicament, even if the predicament involves making the ultimate sacrifice.
A former minister, who went on to “win” an election into the Nigerian Senate after his ministerial appointment, once had the inhumanity and temerity to accuse some dead persons of being responsible for their deaths. He accused them of starting the “stampede that led to their deaths.” He remained as a minister and continued to enrich himself from the commonwealth because this is Nigeria.
The present governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, accused the immediate former governor and junior minister of defence of sponsoring the bandits and their heinous crimes in the northwest. The governor added that, but for the support and backing the bandits were getting from some powerful people, including his immediate predecessor, they would have been dealt with a long time ago.
He also accused the former governor of misappropriating billions of naira belonging to the government and reported it to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has, however, refused to act on it.
Making his own allegations, Ustaz Mustafa Bello Asada, an Islamic preacher in Sokoto, severally accused the junior minister of complicity in the banditry ravaging the northwestern part of the country. In a number of these allegations, he showed a video recording of people, including the bandits, among whom was the infamous Bello Turji, who alleged the direct involvement of the minister right from when he was governor of the beleaguered Zamfara State.
On his part, the bandit Bello Turji made several damning allegations of the involvement of the junior minister both now and when he was the number one citizen in Zamfara State. He alleged that the minister was not only arming the bandits but was also making periodic payments to some of them. At the time of making one of the allegations, the bandit sat on a motorcycle boasting of his invincibility because of the support he got from “high places.”
In another video clip, the accused bandit, Bello Turji, was very insulting to Mr. President and the governor of Katsina State, calling them by name and throwing all manner of abuses at them. The “offense” of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is his avowed determination to end banditry in the country. As for Malam Dikko Radda, PhD, CON, his “crime” in the eyes of the hated outlaw is the establishment of the Community Watch Corps to checkmate the bandits in the state.
Professor AbdusSamad Umar Jibia also accused the former Zamfara State governor and junior minister in the Ministry of Defence of conniving with the bandits. He quoted Sheikh Asada copiously to support his allegations.
“Among the allegations Sheikh Asada made against Matawalle is the minister’s support of one Haruna Dole. According to Asada, Haruna, a famous bandit kingpin with more than 500 rifles under him, was arrested and taken to the Police Headquarters in Abuja. According to Sheikh Asada, Bello Matawalle, then the governor of Zamfara State, made a phone call and asked for Dole’s release. The criminal was released to one Bashar, who signed and received the bandit on behalf of Governor Matawalle. He said the document carrying the signature and picture of Bashar would still be available at the Force Headquarters.
“According to Sheikh Murtala Asada, Matawalle is also a friend of Turji. Asada mentioned a visit Turji paid to Zamfara State Government House when Matawalle was the governor. During the lunch Turji had with the governor, it was Matawalle himself who personally served the criminal. He later gave him an undisclosed amount of cash and allowed him to go back to the bush and continue with his criminal activities. Another bandit kingpin who was friends with Matawalle was Chedi. According to Asada, Matawalle bought a house for Chedi in Gidan Dutse Quarters in Gusau. Uncomfortable with it, residents of Gusau protested and made a mob attack on Chedi that ended his life.”
But defending himself very recently, the minister challenged his direct successor and the other accusers to prove their allegations. In his defense, he alleged that the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, “is my boy,” adding that “Zamfara is a complex state with terrible individuals harboring devilish ideas.”
“The people who oppose me do so because I go after them,” he claimed, noting that those individuals were politicians who wanted to score cheap political points in the state. He further alleged that those accusing him of sponsoring banditry might be involved in the very activities they are accusing him of. He also claimed to be “the only governor who swore on the Holy Quran, declaring that I have no hand in banditry. If I had any involvement, I asked God to deny me even a second of grace.”
The Defence Junior Minister then challenged other politicians, including General Ali Gusau and current Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal, to take the same oath. “None of them could take the oath, and if they don’t, it means they are part of it,” he alleged.
In defense of the embattled minister, another former governor of the state, Senator AbdulAziz Yari, said in a statement signed by his Director General on media, Al’mansoor Gusau, that “Matawalle had done his best in tackling the insecurity challenges plaguing the state, including reconciliation with the bandits’ leadership, just like any other governor in the northwest region, and Dauda should have taken a similar path in dealing with the bandits rather than engaging in blame games, which he said was unnecessary as it would not solve the problem.”
A frontline member of the Kano State chapter of the All Nigerian Congress (APC), who was a former Commissioner of Rural Infrastructure, Alhaji Musa Iliyasu Kwankwaso, said in a statement that the sitting governor’s position on the war against banditry was diversionary.
According to him, “Matawalle’s record and background are impeccable, and his appointment as minister is a testament to his integrity,” appealing to the Zamfara governor “to cooperate with the federal government and the Defence Minister to combat banditry in Zamfara and Northern Nigeria.”
Despite claims of innocence from both sides, there is an argument that an illegal airport operated in Zamfara State, where precious minerals, illegally mined, are taken out of the country secretly to foreign destinations for sale.
A bullion of gold said to be worth N8 billion was seized at an airport in Ghana. It was alleged to belong to a former governor of the state. Nothing more was heard about the gold or what became of it.
Mr. President ought to free his cabinet of “controversial” ministers. He should not shy away from doing the right thing when he makes changes to his cabinet, which are expected in the coming months.
May God rid Nigeria of bad rulers and give us leaders who would govern not with the desire to illegally accumulate wealth but with His fear in their hearts.
Labaran wrote from Abuja.
