'Nigeria we Hail Thee Our Own Dear Native Land …Though Tribe and Tongue May Differ Where No One Is Oppressed'.

Ooooppppssss!!! I am still living in the past.

I believe it is now;
"Arise O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey, to serve our Fatherland, with LOVE and STRENGTH and FAITH, the labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain…."

Nigerians would think that ought to be the direction the nation is and should be going.

Ribadu could be a victim of circumstance who in all honesty did according to the dictates of his 'BOSS', with good intentions. His work was applauded by most Nigerians, especially from abroad, and by most world leaders. Through his good work, 'Nigeria' was removed from the 'Black Book' of most of Developed countries. Ribadu's situation looks like when you try spill ashes on your neighbor, most of it powders your body big time.

EFCC was set up in good faith to sanitize the country, also with good intention to minimize, not eliminate, corruption in the Nigerian society. We could only minimize corruption by entrusting some laws with some agencies for enforcement. Corruption is in every vain of human beings. If we continue to analyze the word corruption, we would find out that no one in human flesh is a saint.

However, the challenge with EFCC operators was some of their approaches that went into wrong directions due to the dictates of who was at the head of Nigerian affairs that time. The EFCC intervention was needed in Nigeria at that point in time. The direction of using it as a 'bull dog' against those against the Government then was where the challenge lied with the operators.

Any right thinking Nigerian would envisage that the new administration would reason and understand the circumstances that surrounded Nuhu Ribadu operations during that time. Believe it or not, what Ribadu did then, was acclaimed around the world which was a needed exercise for Nigeria.

What happened to Nuhu Ribadu when the new administration came into being (2009) left most Nigerians to think that the current administration approaches on Ribadu's case were uncivilized? Here was a devoted Nigerian who made sacrifices to give Nigeria a clean slate on corruption among the countries of the world and the new administration continues to treat him like an outcast, is to say the least, ingrate.

Yar'Adua's administration is not following the wordings of the National Anthem. We don't hail Nigeria for the wrongs any more. However, encouraging compatriots to answer the call when asked to serve in rebuilding the country should be the way to go for Nigerians.

The first action taken on Ribadu was to enlist him for a mandatory course so as to create room for stopping the humiliation on those that put Nigeria on the world list as one of the most corrupt countries in the world as a result of the nonchalant attitude of the operators of Nigeria public services. Nigerians at home and abroad cried to the government not to remove him as EFCC boss. The government denied Ribadu's removal and that he would be back as EFCC Chair after the completion of his course at Kuru, Jos.

While at National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, a new EFCC boss was appointed. Nigeria louder cry to heaven did not move the steeled government. However, our guts feeling was that the Nigeria Attorney General, who was the lawyer to some of those facing EFCC, would do whatever he could to dismiss those cases while in office.

Shortly before the completion of his course at NIPPS, Nuhu Ribadu was demoted from Assistant Inspector General of Police to Deputy Commissioner of Police. Nuhu, a trained lawyer, being an inexperienced Police Officer, challenged the decision of the Police Commission in court. Unfortunately the Police do not take it kindly with him.

EFCC made some moves to arrest him for unclear reasons. In Nigeria, if they want you, they would easily found a couple of issues robed against you and you would be entangled completely without any hope of getting out of it.

The type of humiliation meted to Nuhu Ribadu at his graduation for refusing to wear the demoted Police uniform rank, is what we could call jungle justice. As a result of his demotion from Assistant Inspector General to Deputy Commissioner of Police (the case still in court), he refused to wear the Police uniform as he is supposed to for the graduation ceremony; the same way he appeared in Aso Rock with his colleagues couple of weeks earlier. In the presence of his family members, friends and well wishers, he was whisked away and locked up like a mad dog in the cell.

Stopping the young man from graduation, and posting him to a desk work in Edo State, cumulated with his demotion, his removal from EFCC Chair, which is nothing anyway, is unfair to him, for working assiduously for his fatherland. Nigerians need some serious apology from the individuals that acted in such a barbaric manner, as the Presidency has denied any directive on the act.

His family, friends and well wishers were not spared the humiliation as they were whisked away from the ceremony as well. The family members that have been living in fear of their life as a result of the mafia that are in the EFCC cobwebs were subjected into inhuman treatment. The Security operatives turned their happy mood into sour memory for being loyal and worked for Nigeria.

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (third left) and some members of his family and others participants in the course at the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic studies (NIPSS), in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, just before he was prevented from ceremony.

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (third left) and some members of his family and others participants in the course at the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic studies (NIPSS), in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, just before he was prevented from ceremony.

To add more insult to the injury, he is being posted to Edo State as DCP.

Haba! Is this the country where no one should be oppressed? Is this the country where compatriots should rise up to defend the country? Is this the country that calls itself the Giant of Africa? Is this the country that has produced the best intellectuals for the rest of the world to tap from? Is this the country of Awolowo, Abubakar, and Azikwe's dream? Is this the country where those abroad would like to return with their children to make their contributions? Is this the country that has done so much to keep and maintain peace all across Africa? Is this the country that would like to be known as being blessed with abundant human and natural resources with little or no natural disasters? Is this the country that claims to be the most religious country in the world? Is this the country in the Africa continent that has produced the first Black President in the United States of America? Where are the gods of the land?

Is this how Yar'Adua wants to establish "… more robust bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States of America, and more productive partnership between Africa and the United States of America in the quest for a more stable, secure, just and equitable world," with Barack Obama, the US President-elect. What a country.

Where I always have some concerns about Nigerians is not being objective in reacting to some issues at hand. It is unfair to Ribadu for what this man has gone through, just to have worked for Nigeria under a tight policy. It is ironic to hear from some sycophants to say that he got what he deserved because the ways and manners he handled those under EFCC investigations. I do not think a Nigerian lawyer, of SAN status, should think that the arrest of Ribadu was lawful because he has to be "served his own cup of coffee".

Chief Chris Uche, (SAN) is of the opinion that what are being done to Ribadu are right, because, according to him,

"You would remember that few months ago, he chased some lawmakers into the court premises in Abuja. You would also remember that people were being arrested in places that should be respected. And what is even interesting is that Ribadu should go to court to seek the enforcement of his fundamental rights."

Does that mean when you work for certain Government agencies in Nigeria, you should not seek redress of your fundamental human rights, or you should give up your rights as human beings when your rights are being violated? Ribadu's family should have been spared the discomfiture. I will say this again; disrupting Ribadu's graduation stinks to the highest heavens.

It bugs down to what is killing the country, if your chicken spills my coffee, I'll break its eggs mentality. I will repeat again, we are all humans and no one is a perfect being. But those that step forward and make sacrifices should be acknowledged

There is no gainsaying that Ribadu did not change the course of history for Nigeria. Unfortunately Ribadu's work implicated the most powerful little caucuses of Nigeria overnight billionaires from public service. It is an ingrate for any Nigerian to say that Ribadu has to have a taste of what he did to some Nigerians.

If the Presidency denied any knowledge of the acts, which sent the Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa to NIPSS on Friday after the Uganda President, Yoweri Museveri delivered the annual lecture. Who ordered Ribadu's family to be kept in the Toyota Sports Utility Vehicle driven out from the NIPSS premises? Ironically Andaaooka was reported to have accompanied the barbarians to Kuru, Jos to perform their silly acts.

The point here is that if the Presidency denied any knowledge of the act, it means there is a big dent in Yar'Adua's administration. There are some holes he has to wedge in his administration. It looks like anyone can do whatever he or she pleases especially when the AG is still in charge, under the disguise of Rule of Law.

Possibly, due to the greed imbedded into some security agencies in the country, those that have tasted the painful pill of arrest in the past, under Ribadu, could have been behind the disgrace meted to Ribadu, his wife and six children. Could it be some past ex-governors, or some bankers?

The barbaric acts of the Nigeria Police and other security agencies in Nigeria seem to be getting away with their unruly acts. This cut across the Navy, the Army, and mostly the Nigeria Police from all reports across the country. Recently a Naval Officer watched his 'boys' when a young lady, whose father is a retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, was mercilessly brutalized; the uncontrolled harassment on the highways by the Nigeria Police; luckily the Ogun State Governor's security details spared Iyabo some embarrassment from using the same tactics on her, when she punched one of them in Ogbomosho recently.

Nigeria should be a country where highly devoted Nigerians should be encouraged to serve their fatherland for the generations yet unborn. The rule of law of the President does not seem to affect Nigeria law enforcement agencies. The President might have to swerve his Rule of law policy to that direction.