By Ebele Orakpo

I must commend President Muhammadu Buhari for his determination to probe and bring to book corrupt public officials and at the same time, recover our stolen moneys,” said Tunji, a commuter in the Apapa-bound bus.

“Yeah, that’s a step in the right direction. I salute his courage and pray that God gives him the grace to succeed,” said Bayo.

“Yes, his intention is good but for God’s sake, enough of the noise, the unsubstantiated accusations and counter-accusations by hid foot soldiers.

Please they should settle down to the real business of governance and stop all the noise or else, they will be proving right the saying that empty vessels make the most noise. Quietly gather your facts, start the probe and stop the noise pollution,” said Sunny.

Noise pollution

“Ah, ah, bros, in as much as we all want the government to settle down to the business of governance, certain things need to be done first which include recovering our looted funds and punishing all the thieves,” noted Tunji.

“I read somewhere recently that the fiery lawyer, Femi Falana praised ex President Goodluck Jonathan for fighting corruption without making much noise,” said Rose.

“Oh really? Why the sudden u-turn? The Igbo say if a young woman marries two husbands,  she  will choose the better of the two,” stated Sunny.
Said Ugo: “I have always advocated the death penalty for thieving public officials. That is the only meaningful deterrent, nothing else will work.”

“No! That will be going to the extreme!” said Tunji.

Replied Ugo: “Of course, so is the stealing our common wealth. Do you know how many people they have sent to their untimely graves and mental institutions due to their greed and selfishness?

Do you know how many children’s lives and future have been truncated by these wicked souls? Moneys meant to be used to provide basic necessities are misappropriated.”

“But why are we so greedy? Honestly, this primitive wealth accumulation beats me hollow,” said Rose.

“It is called the spirit of deprivation. You can see it in all of us. We always feel things will never be enough so we fight and grab everything. For instance, in a class of 100 students, 80 seats are provided so people get to class very early to secure seats for themselves and their friends who are yet to come. A lecturer brings 50 copies of handouts for 100 students so the first 50 get and the rest will have to make photocopies. In the homes, a mother puts two pieces of meat for three children so they struggle and fight,” said Rose.

“That is all so true! You just hit the nail on the head,” said Tunji.

“My take is that there should not be sacred cows and due process must be followed. No witch-hunting and nothing should be done out of hatred. Don’t judge and condemn people on social media. Prosecute them in a court of competent jurisdiction. If possible, let the trials be televised live.

All this throwing of figures around is childish; let people with evidence against public officials come forward and let the accused be tried, not just in the immediate past administration. I hope he will be courageous enough to probe even those who sponsored his election if there is any evidence of corrupt enrichment against them,” said Rose.

“For this war to be successful, we need to change our mindset as a people. It is not enough to recover the loot and dump the looters in jail, we need a real change from the inside,” noted Sunny.