The crucifixion of Fashola

The crucifixion of Fashola 27 Aug 2015 5:33 AM  Less than three months after he left office, ex-governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, is being put out for public crucifixion. In the past few weeks, a series of allegations against him has erupted like skin rash in a hot weather. The charges are not only embarrassing, they also debunk the narrative of the “best governor” Fashola built and sustained for years. He was accused of spending N78m on a personal website; the current Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration of Lagos State cancelled the 50-year lease Fashola granted to Afriland Properties for the redevelopment of the Falomo Shopping Centre, Ikoyi, saying they discovered that the decision was “grossly detrimental to the interests of the people of the state.” Now, it seems almost a regular affair that one Fashola misdemeanour or the other will surface on the Internet. If he was not accused of overspending to fix boreholes, he would be found to have spent so much money on “toilet facilities.” Fashola responded only once and that was to state that he had moved on and the “pigs” that want to wallow in the mud could go on and do just that. Well, the prerogative to “move on” does not belong to him. He remains obliged to the public to respond any time he is called to account for his deeds in office. Ideally, one should be excited at what seems to be the evisceration of one of the most popular Nigerian leaders because it ought to mean that indeed change has come to Nigeria; that indeed there are no sacred cows who will be spared the knife of justice. Yet, one is Nigerian enough to know this is just another episode in the Nigerian anticorruption soap opera; we have seen all these happen in the past. Televised anti-corruption posturing. It will excite everyone and even speed up our adrenalin but at the end of the day it will not go beyond the entertainment value. A country that takes its anti-corruption agenda seriously does not resort to trying suspected officials in a court of public hysteria. The various anti-corruption agencies would, instead, be quietly carrying out investigations and only speak publicly when they have enough evidence to successfully prosecute. For me, it is curious that though Fashola led Lagos for eight years, the allegations of corruption against him have largely been denominated in some measly millions making it seem like he was some petty thief. If someone governs an economically viable state like Lagos for two terms and such person is corrupt, it would make sense if we talk in the realm of billions of naira. In Nigeria where people carry out billion dollar heists, which self-respecting politician still helps himself to such disgraceful amounts of money? Did Fashola himself not go to court once to stop a probe initiated against him by a faceless group called “The True Face of Lagos”? Those allegations then were far more grievous than the relatively tamed ones we are being fed in trickles. (By the way, where is “The True Face of Lagos and why have they not re-instituted their allegations now that he no longer has immunity?) Why is the public proclamation of Fashola sins restricted to comparatively paltry amounts? Are those amounts he is being accused of mismanaging the worst thing he actually did or someone somewhere is afraid that if the big ones are pulled out into the public sphere, it will bring down the roof on everyone including the Lords of hypocrisy who with their distended bellies of corruption, sit in high places to constitute themselves as arbiters of public morality? When Fashola responded to the N78m website issue, he mentioned that his spending was sanctioned by the legislature; the House was dominated by his party members throughout his stay in office so they should have a case to answer as well. Yet, through all his public vilification, the party has kept a treacherous distance. This cannot be about their values after all they defended former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, when he was hounded by his successor. Yes, the buck stopped at Fashola’s table but is it possible that he was solely responsible? Corruption in Nigeria may be endemic but it is never a personal affair. One person does not just steal and walk away with bulging pockets. It is, rather, an unholy fraternity of people united by debased values. The public ridicule of Fashola reminds one of ancient Romans and how they used crucifixion not only as discipline and punishment but also as a means of social and political control. The point about stripping men naked and killing them in such a spectacular manner is for others to learn what the powers that be can do to a subject who overreaches his/herself. The same Fashola that was in 2011, used to market his fellow ACN governors to the South-West; the same Fashola whose image of a relatively younger, urbane and charismatic politician was used to shore up that of President Muhammadu Buhari whose image had been weighed down by his lack of clues on public issues and his age; the same Fashola who has been used by his party as the face of progressive ideologies is now being thrown like red meat to the public. He seems to have served his purpose and now should face death, metaphorically. The APC can argue that they are going through an internal purge and that Fashola is a fecal matter that must be excreted from among them but will fail to convince. If this were about justice, there would be some method to the process. Any state that goes about an anti-corruption agenda like Nigeria is doing – making loud noise in the media about what has been stolen and constituting endless probes – is seriously unserious and is likely to achieve nothing. Up till now, there has been no policy document or a blueprint guiding the steps of the leadership. There seems to be a failure of coordination and that is why the President says one thing and the rest of his party says another. People have had to resort to consoling themselves with the nostrum of the president’s “body language.” That is why I remain unexcited about all the revelations of what Fashola has done. They sound exciting but it is a train that will not leave the station because the tracks have long been removed. What we are left with is to enjoy the drama while it lasts. When “they” are done with Fashola, they will bring him down from the cross. Whether he will resurrect after all these remains to be seen.