Muhammed Nuru Yakubu
For senator Abba Moro -former minister for Interior under the Jonathan administration and now a senator from Benue state, penultimate week must have been one of his finest hours in the aftermath of the ill-fated National Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment exercise and the subsequent EFFC’s court action brought against him.
At last, a bold sense of relief is in the air. To his relief, the court has provided a basis to lessen the burden of public angst and complicit stigma on the recruitment tragedy where scores of lives were lost due to stampede in the course of the exercise.
Of particular interest and central to Moro’s bold relief is the clearly worded judicial pronouncement which absolved him of any criminal liability on the series of charges brought by the EFCC.
Wriggling from the tightening grip of rash public opinion which was largely emotional than a dispassionate assessment of the situation until the court stepped in to stamp its judicial authority on the matter comes with a bold relief and a soothing grace of innocence.
Savoring a brand new image from the ashes of overgrowth of misplaced public perception on the hurriedly assembled pack of charges and subsequent prosecution by the EFCC is what Abba Moro needs now to consolidate his footing in the nation’s polity as a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Regrettable as the tragedy was because it involved loss of precious lives yet the overhang of the unpleasant scenario obstructed insightful interrogation and holistic appraisal of the situation. It robbed off negatively on knowing what proportion of blame was truly due to Abba Moro and those which were clearly and totally off the mark. Until now, the dominant picture that loomed large in the horizon among other complicit fault line imagery was that of Abba Moro –being the head of the exercise and the supervising minister.
Going by the verdict of the court , the EFCC’s action seemed burdened by a compulsive perfunctory drive calculated to pander to public angst and emotion and dictated the approach which formed the key context in which the charges were drawn -. The court didn’t mince words when it averred that: “the evidence adduced by prosecution witnesses contradicts the charge as the Ministry secured all the necessary approvals from relevant authorities for the recruitment exercise. The said recruitment process was not arbitrary, but was approved by relevant authorities. It makes no common sense in the light of the evidence before the court, to hold that the exercise was an act of deception. On this charge, the no-case submission by the defendants succeeds, the judge said.
“The prosecution did not conduct a proper investigation. It is only when a thorough investigation is conducted that it can unearth the facts. Suspicion is just what it is; no amount of suspicion can amount to a prima facie case. I therefore discharged the defendants on this count,”
Within the boundaries of defined mandate surrounding the ministry he supervised –the area of dispute, fortunately for Moro, is a raft of unproven allegations planked on willful mortal failure which the court has now dismissed. It is clearly not for lacking in proper understanding of the functions and duties of the office, or the capacity to navigate through the difficult and delicate spots which bear the requirements necessary for fulfilling the goals and objectives for which the ministry exists.
But for the unfortunate accident – Moro had demonstrated a robust and convincing capacity of performance fitness and left no one in doubt on his firm grip of the right treasure of knowledge and experience to drive the process of realizing the goals of the agency with proven professional depth
On the planning and execution which resulted into a stampede – the role of extraneous factor in the whole incidence cannot be discounted. Under the circumstance there is an abundance of blame to go round. We must admit the presence of external factors –a part from the attendees and another part from the presence of unforeseen circumstance vetted by exigency where unpleasant incidents atimes plot their way into the fine details of plans and programs of action.
By the very irregular and spontaneous nature they stage themselves into reckoning in our mortal planning, accidents have come to define themselves as destined and intricate realities in our lives. Even as sure as their ever- threatening presence is acknowledged –we can never be too clever in hedging against accidents. Forces beyond our control arrive with their own hazy styles and dynamics unfit for clear reading of mortals, preparatory to making plans for destructive contingencies.
Walking through the treacherous terrain of the unemployment specter is one of the most harrowing encounters for anyone saddled with making arrangements to open up space for the teeming number of desperate youths to assemble for participation in an exercise leading to employment.
That the exercise involves mobilization of desperate youths in large numbers makes it worse. At the chronic level of unemployment- records show that more than tenfold of expected numbers would show up. Under such circumstances –simple observance of rules and procedures and disciplined public mannerism in mass movement and crowd control are not our favorite attitudes.
Don’t Nigerians have a history of being too hasty and appear to be always on the run, with pathological distaste for organized behavior at any assembly point?
Our unruly attitudes in crowd assembly are severely marked by pathetic endemic culture of impatience and disrespect for orderliness -on the queue at Bank’s ATM centre, Road traffic , stadium or market place–any potential outlet with attraction for human gathering are always cyclic specter of disorder, chaos and indiscipline.
Organizing a simple violence-free election has been our bane- violence has become a significant feature in our electioneering process. At the last count –rarely has any large gathering, equivalent to the type seen in the NIS recruitment in which the organizers extracted disciplined, and orderliness from participants.
The NIS recruitment tragedy –mapped in the theme of resident and recurring culture pervading in the country is not an exception but fits regrettably into a subsistent pattern of indiscipline, disorderliness at any assembly point involving huge gathering.
With our abysmal record in organized and disciplined behavior in crowded places, it’s arguable that Abba Moro and his team did not contemplate the risk of having thousands of desperate youths agitated by the prospect of employment.
Moro and his team –may have placed reasonably necessary expectation of discipline and orderliness on the crowds which is not totally out of place; but the charge of willful lack of plan to contain unexpected fall out of disorganized behaviors of the gathering is invalid – stampede is not uncommon in such a situation.
Even less likely is the terrible state of public infrastructure as had been seen in other instances of stampede when overwhelmed by spontaneous reaction of a surging crowd. Not even in advanced climes with far superior readied state of infrastructure and experience in crowd control is stampede a rule out.
Regrettable as the incidence is and contemplated in the realm of disasters which nations experience once in a while -Abba Moro having apologized to the nation and suffered the bruise of public rage has paid his dues.
From the outcome of the EFCC prosecution, it’s tempting to conclude that the initial spontaneous deluge of public outrage that greeted the stampede could well have informed the quick assemblage of multiple charges and not out of critical appraisal of the situation with reasonable conviction of guilt and apparent negligence.
Though the court decided that it needs to expose Moro to further judicial scrutiny on the aspect of the loss of precious lives, but from the flow of its judicial reasoning and unprejudiced assessment of the situation in the earlier charges, Moro is almost certain to get a reprieve– a refreshing contextual addition to the earlier charges in which the position of the court was anchored on holistic and encompassing judicial objectivity –as Kenneth Ikonne –his lead counsel in the election tribunal would argue .
Mohammed Nuru Yakubu can be reached through: Email: [email protected]