The Thieving NIPSS Participant

Comfort Obi

The story was as shocking as it was shameful. Carried on page three of the Daily Trust newspaper of June 12, its title was damaging. “NIPPS Course Participant Caught Stealing in China,” it said. As I read the headline, I thought the computer had played a fast one on the newspaper. How can a Course Participant at the respectable National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, steal in China? So, I proceeded to read the story. As I did, I was overcome by shame.
I don’t know now why nobody took up that story. But I can hazard a guess. There were many competing stories, especially political stories. Everything was happening in quick succession. And media commentators were busy lapping them up.
First was the interview granted by Mrs. Maryam Abacha, wife of the late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha. She said her dear husband was as clean as a whistle. In sum, the Obasanjo government had lied against a dead, helpless and defenceless man. And so one is tempted to ask: Who stashed away all the hundreds of millions of British Pounds and American dollars being “repatriated” from London, Switzerland, Germany and many other places to Nigeria? But really, I understand Maryam. She was playing the role of a faithful, loving wife. But there is a group of Abacha defenders who one cannot understand.
The group is made up of three ex-Heads of State, namely: Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, all Army Generals. The three suddenly woke up, and found Abacha a clean man, a saint. Yet, one can understand Buhari. In the midst of all the outcry against Abacha, Buhari comfortably worked with him. He was the boss of Abacha’s Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which did nothing for either the Niger Delta, or the South east. It did more for Consultants, most of whom became instant millionaires for other reasons than the goals for which the PTF was set up. But Babangida and Abubakar? I don’t quite know where they are coming from. And I don’t know the reason(s) behind their undiplomatic and insensitive defence of the Abacha regime.
Their defence came at a time one could dismiss as cruel. Yes, it was at the 10th anniversary of Abacha’s death. But it fell almost the same time as the anniversaries of the mindless murder of Kudirat Abiola, and the death, in government custody and under Abubakar's watch, of Chief MKO Abiola, the man who we can now definitely confirm won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Then there were the confessions of Professor Humphrey Nwosu, Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC). Presenting his anti-climax of a book, an account of the annulled June 12 election, in Abuja on June 12, Nwosu stated the obvious – that indeed Abiola won the June 12, 1993, presidential election. But what next? The man is dead. And his country seem to have forgotten him. So, all the above, happening about the same time as the Daily Trust story, may have contributed to it being ignored. Yet, it is a story which damages Nigeria's image. And it is a story which should make Nigerians all over the world bury their heads in shame. It is a story which is difficult to comprehend. I don’t know how many of you, dear Readers, saw the story. I will do a brief re-cap.
Deinbo Allen-Briggs is a Director in the Research Department of NIPPS. He is also a participant in the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 30 of the Institute. NIPSS, for the records, is a top Institute. It is reserved for top Civil Servants, the Military, the Police, Para-Military, members of the Private Sector and any other top person who is qualified, and is so privileged to be selected to attend.
Along with his course mates, Allen-Briggs travelled to China on a study tour, and checked into a Hotel in Beijing, the Chinese capital. After their tour, they checked out. But as they made to leave, officials of the hotel raised an alarm that one of the cameras displayed in a hotel shop had been stolen. Everybody, including Allen-Briggs, denied knowledge of the missing camera on interrogation. So, the hotel officials decided to conduct a search. All the hotel guests were asked to stay where they were as the search was being conducted. Now, are you imagining the scene? So they stayed. When it got to Allen-Briggs' turn, the camera was found on him!
I don’t know how his course mates survived the shame. Or how officials of the Nigerian Embassy in China handled this big embarrassment. Daily Trust did not say. It only said that Allen-Briggs has “confessed to the alleged theft and might be disciplined when a formal report is sent to the Institute by the Nigerian Embassy in China.” Maryam Amedu, Public Relations Officer of NIPSS, confirmed the incident.
Questions: Did Allen-Briggs come back to Nigeria with his course mates? If so, why? Since he allegedly turned a common thief in China, he should have been arrested, tried, and if found guilty, be made to have a taste of the Chinese jail. Where is he? In detention, or back to his office as a Director, and to class as a course participant? That will amount to, excuse this cliché, rubbing salt upon injury. What is he telling his wife and kids? To think that a man at that level would so mindlessly disgrace his country?
I don’t know what to attribute this disgraceful behaviour to. It is not that this guy cannot afford a camera if he so desires it. So, why steal it? Greediness? Perhaps. It explains why some of our leaders continue to acquire money, and more money, even when they have acquired enough to take care of their generations to come. They acquire properties until they lose count of what they have. And they are not the only ones guilty.
At public places, the airports for example, toilet rolls are stolen from toilets. So, we have a situation where Cleaners at airports put toilet rolls inside their pockets, and uncurl it to give to anybody going to the toilet. Atimes, they hang it outside, and direct one to take from there. It is not covered. So, everybody touches it, and we use. Worse, that gives the Cleaners the opportunity to greet one ten times, with a smile, indirectly and atimes directly, asking for money.
But back to Allen-Briggs. He has painted his colleagues, country and citizens with tar. So, what to do? He should be dismissed from NIPSS, both as a staff, and a Course Participant. Thereafter, he should be prosecuted. If found guilty, he should receive the maximum punishment. He deserves no less.