The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, yesterday vowed that after the 2015 general elections, he would expose some Nigerians, including prominent traditional rulers, who he said are currently deceiving Nigerians.
The revered Oba also said the revelations would expose the top secrets of some Nigerians who are pretending to have a clean record.
The Lagos monarch, who was apparently referring to a statement credited to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, that only two out of the country’s renowned monarchs are free of corruption, yesterday warned that his revelations, which cannot be disputed by those who are presently pretending to be clean, would shake the country.
Recall that Oba Sijuwade had while responding to a statement credited to a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, said: “Two among the three Obas mentioned by him (Tinubu) were the best friends of the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, and among them, one was on the pay roll of the late army general while the other successfully lifted crude oil allocated to him by Abacha.
“You can ask them, Abacha gave me money on more than one occasion, but I refused. And if you want to talk of the annulment of the 1993 presidential election won by late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, these two or three traditional rulers should be properly investigated because they were neither here nor there”, the traditional ruler said.
Tinubu had while paying tribute to Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, on his 80th birthday said: “The good Obas in Yoruba land who are forthright, firm and always stand by the truth are not up to five, they are just three-Oba Awujale, Oba Akiolu and one other”.
But Oba Akiolu, while delivering his address at the public presentation of the book, ‘Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa’ written by Kola Olaniyan, said as a Commissioner of Police during the heydays of the Abacha junta, he knew those who were involved in shady deals but are now pretending to be clean.
According to the Oba, 90 per cent of Nigerians are guilty of corruption, adding that most times, the most corrupt ones would be the first to accuse others of being corrupt.
His words: “The monarch that made the statement that I lifted crude oil will be shocked when I make certain revelations after the 2015 general election, and I think he should close his eyes in shame because as at that time, I was still serving in the Nigerian Police Force, and I wondered how I would have such time to be involved in crude oil lifting”.
Akiolu, therefore, urged Nigerians not to put the blame for the country’s woes on President Goodluck Jonathan because the problems had long existed before he came to power.
He noted that what Nigerians should do now was to join hands together and tackle the problems, saying: “We should not blame the administration of President Jonathan totally on the menace of corruption.
“The problem is not caused by one person. So don’t blame President Jonathan 100 per cent for the problems in Nigeria as about 99 per cent of us are guilty of the syndrome of corruption. So everyone should be involved in the fight against corruption”, Akiolu stated.
He also said: “All hands must be on deck to assist the government to bring the problems to an end. We should forget the past and face the future by contributing to the future of the nation”.
Oba Akiolu also called for collective efforts to combat the scourge of Ebola virus, insurgency and corruption.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Lagos-lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), who was chairman of the occasion, commended the author’s efforts at coming up with the book at this time in the life of Nigeria.
Falana, while acknowledging that the present administration has recorded a milestone in recovering over $2.9 billion of the Abacha loot, noted that the government was yet to account for the whereabouts of the funds.
Commending the author for “a great job”, Falana said corruption had crept into all facets of national life, noting that the government has not treated Ebolo or insurgency in accordance with the law.
“The author looked at the issues of corruption and human rights in Africa and wonderfully linked them. Human rights are not respected because of massive corruption in the continent.
Said the activist: “The government is not addressing the Ebola crisis under the law. There is a Quarantine Act enacted in 1926, which says carriers of dreadful diseases should be fished out and quarantined.
“But, at the moment, we do not know how many people are affected in the country.
“Also, Boko Haram is being fought in a corrupt way. All dead soldiers’ names are unknown. Immediately a soldier dies, his family is ejected from the barracks within two weeks.
“Jonathan’s administration has killed the good work against corruption. It is only Abacha that has been harassed, of all those accused of corruption and it is because he is no longer alive.
“No country has succeeded in receiving loot like Nigeria. We have done well in tracing the over 140 Abacha bank accounts across the world and we have recovered $2.9 billion, although we cannot trace the recovered money”, Falana said.
Shame to the present leaders in this country!