Nelson Emujimi
January 9, 2016 – There’s a Yoruba proverb which goes thus, “Agba kii wa loja, ki ori omo tuntun wo” literally meaning that the role of elders in any society is to guide and mentor the young ones and to emphasize this fact, the same Yoruba culture also asserts that, omode ko le ni aso ti ti, ko ni akisa bi agba, meaning that, no matter how many clothes a young man has, he cannot have rags like elders.
The recent revelations of how elders who are supposed to be the compass of the society and imbibe moral values in the young ones to shape their future and that of the society for good, have been exposed as partners in the crime against humanity of the diversion and pilfering of security funds which resulted in the loss of innocent lives, maiming of limbs, displacement of millions of people, psychological trauma and undermined national security, makes one wonder and ask, what manner of elders are these? What kind of society do these “elders” want to bequeath generations unborn?
Unfortunately, these old men who have denigrated old age and the wisdom that accompanies it for a pot porridge, by collecting blood money, have been so shameless in justifying their action, instead of showing remorse, return the stolen money and apologize for their ungodly roles as conspirators in this sin against God and man.
If we recollect, when Chief Falae was abducted by some criminals on his farm in Akure late last year, his abductors demanded a ransom of N100 million. In describing his ordeal, even Chief Falae called the abductors criminals, but with the recent revelation of how Chief collected N100 million of the security funds to support ex president Goodluck Jonathan political ambition, it has come out clear that like we use to say, it takes two to tango and for these criminal elements, we now know better.
However, one is shocked and disappointed that Chief Olu Falae’s immediate constituency, the Afenifere Akure group who threatened fire and brimstone when he was abducted by some criminal elements, have kept mute over the “commendable” conduct of one of its leaders. What manner of a group?
One also recollects, that when the former Kano state governor and ex minister of education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau visited him at home in Akure, in the wake of his release from the abductors den, Chief Falae hallucinated that war would have broken out if he had been killed by his abductors. Trust Nigerians, chief became the butt of jokes over this comment and today, we have been proved right by his exposure as a collaborator in the pilfering and sharing of security funds.
As we await more revelations, one expects that the last may not have been heard of the ignoble roles these “elders” played in perverting our values and commercializing our democracy as a bazaar for the highest bidder, when politics is supposed to be for public service and good. Only God knows how much they were paid not to present a Presidential candidate of their party for the general elections.
In law, the receiver of stolen goods is as guilty as the giver, so the justification or explanation of not knowing where the money came from, cannot hold water. Whoever has received funds meant for security under any guise for whatever assignment apart from what the funds were appropriated for, should be arraigned not only for stealing, but treason and crime against humanity.
As the war against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration gathers steam, one can only admonish the authorities to ensure the prosecution of all those who participated in the sharing of the security funds in the courts in order to recover our pillaged and plundered commonwealth from criminals who have abused their status and are undeserving of the respect and privileges that come with old age.
What a tragedy that in our clime, old age is synonymous with shameful conduct.
