If anyone is still wondering why the war against insecurity and corruption has remained intractable and may remain so for a long time in Nigeria, there is no need pondering further. The heroic welcome accorded Hamisu Bala, better known as Wadume, by the people of his native Ibbi, solves the puzzle.
The media – both conventional and online- was awash with reports of a large crowd of residents of Ibbi, the headquarters of Ibbi local government area of Taraba State, who trooped out to welcome ‘Wadume’, a kidnap kingpin who just finished serving his jail term.
Rousing welcome
According to media reports, there was a procession round the town, culminating in a festive gathering at the traditional ruler’s palace, for Wadume who is widely described by residents as a ‘philanthropist’.
Curiously, the procession in a public demonstration of joy peaked at the palace of the Emir of Ibbi, Alhaji Salihu Danbawuro, the custodian of the cherished culture of the Fulani and Hausa who are predominant residents of Ibbi. This suggested clearly that, like his subjects, the royal father approved of the heroic welcome accorded Wadume. Sad!
I am very sure the founder of Ibbi, Buba Wurbo, will be grinning with anger in his grave by now. He most likely would be fighting himself and asking when it had become part of the cherished culture of the good people of Ibbi to give a rousing welcome to a convict who has made life brutish for some of his victims with untold criminality.
Like Wadume, I am sure the convicted billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, who has been sentenced to 21 years imprisonment by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Special Offences Court, will upon serving his term, be treated to a rousing welcome by his Nnewi people. Then you wonder what sort of legacy we want to bequeath to the future generation?
But it is what it is. Nigerians hate thieves and corruption only when it is practiced by someone who is not from their community. That is the tragedy of our existence which also explains why the anti-graft war will forever remain intractable.
Because we have abandoned the study of history in our schools, coupled with a generation that couldn’t cares less about reading historical events, it is fitting to remind some of our readers, most of whom are the so-called Generation Z, about who Wadume really is.
His road to jail
In 2019, the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police arrested Wadume for alleged kidnapping crimes and was taking him to Jalingo for onward journey to Abuja when he escaped in a controversial circumstance after exchange of guns between policemen and soldiers attached to 93 Battalion Ibbi/Takum Road in Taraba State.
The soldiers manning a checkpoint opened fire on the police team, killing three officers and a civilian. In the course of the shootout, Wadume escaped but was later re-arrested at his hideout at Layin Mai Allo Hotoro area of Kano State, following a manhunt launched by the police special forces and IRT led by DCP Abba Kyari. He was thereafter put on trial.
After the trial, he was sentenced to seven years in prison but his sentence was backdated to 2019 when he was first arrested. An official of the Kuje correctional centre said Wadume has served his seven years and hence the release on Saturday, April 6.
The type of heroic welcome Wadume got reminds me of how the residents of Ibbi town acted when the police stormed the community to arrest him. They attacked the policemen for daring to arrest one of their own, not minding the enormity of the offence for which he was accused.
I recall that a panel set up to probe the killing of IRT men recommended that the army and police should further investigate Captain Tijjani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed, Corporal Bartholomew Obanye, Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Ibi Police Division, ASP Aondoona Lorbee and Inspector Aliyu Dadje. There is nothing to suggest that these personnel were investigated.
Identifying with crime
Clearly, the rousing welcome suggests that as far as the residents of Ibbi are concerned, the enormity of Wadume’s gory and thoughtless acts notwithstanding, he is still, to them, a hero. They should bury their heads in shame!
But is this brazen association with crime peculiar to Ibbi residents? Certainly not. Former Delta State governor, James Ibori, also received a rousing welcome when he finished serving his jail term of four and half years in a UK prison.
In 2012, Ibori pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court to charges of fraud and money laundering. Of course he was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
The former Delta governor was released in 2016 after serving half of his sentence before and after conviction. He returned to Nigeria in early 2017 to a rousing welcome in Delta State.
Only recently, some groups shamelessly came to root for the reinstatement of Betta Edu as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. Betta was suspended over allegations of corrupt practices in the ministry under her watch. The list is endless and points to one fact, we support corrupt practices so long as we have affinity with persons involved.
Ours is a society with an intolerably high level of moral decadence that has been sanctioned by many. We are in a society where nobody cares about how you make your money. The concern is for you to just make it. The end justifies the means. If not, how can one explain the sort of welcome accorded Wadume who was jailed for escaping from lawful custody and dealing in prohibited firearms?
Is it not ironic that we treat thieves and corrupt individuals with levity and lament when we are faced with the stark reality of their actions like lack of drugs in hospitals and dearth of critical infrastructure?
We reward thieves and like Professor PLO Lumumba aptly noted, whereas in Japan a corrupt person kills himself, in China, they will kill him, in Europe they will jail him, in Africa, he will present himself for election.
I can bet with my last coin that were it not for constitutional restriction barring ex-convicts seeking elective offices or holding public office for that matter, Wadume will contest for an elective position and the people of Ibbi will vote him without hesitation.
Now more than ever before, the task ahead of the National Orientation Agency(NOA) is enormous. But can anything change with the agency considering the fact that Nigerians seem to have unanimously agreed to condone crime and identify with criminals?
Wadume’s rousing welcome is suggestive of the moral decadence we currently face. It shows clearly that our moral value is headed south at a neck breaking speed and we seem unperturbed.