“Hannibal is at the Gate” was a popular phrase used to instill fears into children by the Romans during and after the historic invasion of the Roman empire by a North African General, Hannibal.
Hannibal was a General of the Carthage Army who crossed the Aalps to defeat a massive Roman Army.
More than Spartacus the Thracian, Hannibal was a name the Romans would forever remember because of the fear and commotion he caused the Roman empire at the peak of Its military strength.
Hannibal, to the Romans, at that time was terror to the Romans just as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have demonstrated his readiness and commitment to be a terror to Corruption and the corrupts in our society.
The former President, Muhammadu Buhari and rightly so, opined that corruption in our society is a monster we have to fight and kill before it killed us albeit, it could not be said that he was not eventually overwhelmed in his quest to kill the monster.
The fight against corruption requires determination, tact and a system craftily designed to tackle the menace.
It is not a one man show. Neither is it a war dominated by unnecessary play to the gallery.
Buhari showed the determination to fight corruption, no doubt.
The difference in approach however, by Tinubu is commendable and remarkable.
I do not intend to draw a comparison between the two Presidents. In fact, it is too early to so do.
It is however not too early to note that Tinubu, from day one has been going in the right direction.
He is calculative in approach, tactical in procedures and methodical in execution.
His handling of the Emefiele saga and recently, the Abdul Rasheed Bawa cases are commendable.
The two of them occupy sensitive National positions whose activities are guided by Laws and tenures guided by statutes.
Yet, most especially, in the case of Emefiele, because Bawa’s case is fresh, there have been no steps taken by the concerned to approach the Courts to intervene. The interventions by the Judiciary have frustrated a lot of investigation of high magnitudes in the past and that is due to lack of tact and loopholes deliberately or inadvertently created in the process. Surely, Tinubu is getting it right.
One of the biggest challenges in the fight against corruption in the past is the unnecessary but deliberate distractions created through Media trials.
In the past, those in the Anti corruption Agencies’ radar must have gotten the hint of their impending arrests through the Media. In the process, those concerned always activated series of distracting strategies aimed at frustrating investigations and if necessary, trials.
President Tinubu have cleverly avoided this unnecessary distractions.
He has been calm and systematic in his approach to rid the Country of corruption and he deserves kudos for this.
What remains is for the president to put together a system that is designed to combat corruption on Its own and he had indeed started. His Government’s policies on foreign exchange, the removal of petroleum subsidies and other steps taken so far to block loopholes in Government’s transactions are steps in the right direction.
Government’s biggest partners in the fight against corruption is the Judiciary. The President must ensure that he gets the Judiciary on the same page with him moving forward.
With what the President have demonstrated this few days, it is safe to say that we now have a new Sheriff in town.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
