Patriotism With Usman: Dasukigate – An Unpatriotic Exit

By
Femi Adeoya
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When one is saddled with a responsibility by his/her own country, he/she is expected to see it first as a national duty and to willingly accept the  ‘burden’ regardless of any sacrifice he/she may be making by such an acceptance. He/she, as a patriotic citizen, must put the collective interest of the country first before anything else. When Col. Sambo Dasuki rtd., was appointed as the National Security Adviser to the then President Goodluck Jonathan, little did we know that the Office of the National Security Adviser would be transformed into an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) for the disbursement of cash to political cronies, allies and the big wigs. It is not a crime in itself to disburse monies for political campaigns in order to win elections considering that there are necessary expenses to be incurred in the electioneering process, in actual fact, it is one of the essential ingredients second only to the integrity of the politician in question. This is why fund raising is an integral component of the political behavior during elections. 
 
 
Dasuki’s appointment was favored by majority of Nigerians due to the excessive bombings that characterized that period by the Boko Haram insurgents. It was assumed that having a National Security Adviser ( NSA) from the north will help in winning the war since it was expected that he was better placed to understand the sociopolitical behavior of the people and the terrain. The fact that he is from the Sokoto royal family and a descendant of Uthman dan Fodio endeared him to many among the elites and the masses alike. For someone with this background, society expects from him, only the best. With his ascendance to the position of NSA, nothing in particular changed in the fight against the insurgents. The attacks continued unabated and the propaganda also continued unhindered. Nigerians especially those of northern extraction took it upon themselves to bear the situation patiently due to his pedigree which they expected will represent some high integrity. And so it was that even when the scandal of $9.3 million dollars involving the CAN president Ayo Oritsejafor’s jet (supposedly donated to him by his congregation as a birthday present)  and an additional $5.7 million surfaced, Nigerians could only grumble when the NSA claimed that the money belonged to the federal government and was meant to purchase arms from South Africa. It was glaring to Nigerians that carrying cash of $9.3 million and an additional $5.7 million in a private jet to purchase arms from the black market violated all standard practices by a government and amounted to flaunting of all money laundering laws but Nigerians were still willing to bear with the NSA.
 
 
 
 
Nigerians bore and excused everything and were willing to bear and excuse more until the NSA went to Chattam house to make a case for the postponement of the elections by six (6) weeks. The six weeks that could not and would not have changed the outcome of the election but delay it. If anything at all, the force with which the government tackled the insurgents in the six week period was never seen before in the preceding six years and the progress they made only further fuelled the suspicion that the government never in the first place, wanted to bring the insurgency to an end. This was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.  
 
What is today known as the Dasukigate is the $2.1 billion arms scandal where the monies meant for the purchase of arms and military hardware for the nation’s military to fight the Boko Haram insurgents were diverted and distributed to party members and political gladiators for the purpose of winning the 2015 presidential elections. Apart from the magnitude of this unethical behavior there are legal and jurisdictional issues. Where did these funds come from? Were they duly appropriated by the national assembly? Were these funds disbursed in line with the money laundering laws? These are some of the posers that have bothered a lot of Nigerians. An important information that surfaced during the course of the Dasukigate was that part of the Abacha loot to the tune of $322 million was transferred to the Office of the National Security Adviser in flagrant disregard for our existing fiscal regulatory laws. Again it has been alleged that millions of dollars in cash were moved from the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) without debiting any account, some of which were disbursed in “Ghana must go” bags and suitcases. The damage this can do or has done to our economy is best left to economists to decipher.
 
 In all of this, there is every need to look at the larger picture. Sambo Dasuki claimed to be acting on orders or approval from the former president who has denied that so far. Nigerians are asking how all these monies can be distributed without the consent or involvement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, the former Minister of Finance and the Former President.
 
Some of the resultant consequences of the Dasukigate was that it culminated into the displacement of more than two (2) million Nigerians, many separated from their family and loved ones for life with little food, shelter and health care, more than 13,000 dead, farmlands destroyed and uncultivated, people live in unfounded fear and the economic life of the people of the North East and invariably Nigeria at large, is in shambles.
 
All those who were named as having received or benefited from the distribution and disbursement of the money meant for arms may not be privy to the source of these funds and thus the enormity of their crime cannot be equated with the distributor who knew the source of the funds. As far as the recipients are concerned, money was doled out to them to carry out assignments which they may or may not have performed  and it was not their business to trace the origin of the funds as long as they were told the money was coming from the government or those in government and for what purpose.
 
As for Dasuki whom the courts have admitted to bail and who met all the bail conditions, his re-arrest at the gates of the Kuje prison and his continued detention by the DSS is illegal unless fresh charges are brought against him.
 
In concluding this piece, there is need to state that Sambo Dasuki should have taken the patriotic option by putting in his resignation when he was ordered (by his superiors or his mind) to divert these funds for purposes other than they were meant. This singular action would have sent shivers down the spine of whoever gave the order and whoever succeeded him and Nigerians would have regarded him as a patriotic citizen who took a patriotic exit as against blind loyalty. There is also need to commend the efforts of the Nigerians especially those who spoke out against corruption and vice even when their own were involved in partaking in the largesse. This is the sense of Justice and patriotism that Nigerians must continue to cultivate. If you consider the pedigree of Sambo Dasuki, you will understand the sincerity and collective sense of purpose displayed by Nigerian s who have since distanced themselves from the Dasukigate and whoever else had a hand in the terrible nightmare. 
 
There had to be a fall guy in the $2.1 billion saga and Sambo Dasuki took the fall which led to his unpatriotic exit from the corridors that matter. It may be unfair to let him bear the burden alone.
 
Usman A. Usman writes in from Kaduna. You can contact him via email at usmanusman1ng@yahoo.com or twitter @usmanusman.
 
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