INTEGRITY DROWNED

LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY LASU, LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 9 -- In the acrobatic dance of shame, the dancer is mopping up lies from his brow with his handkerchief of tattered integrity, the tune is so melodious that even in his tangling clothes of misery, he can’t seem to stop. Strange but true, the tune of justice is so melodious that once it is being played, the prospective dancer whether for or against his will, must dance to the tune.
Farouk Lawan is dancing to the tune of justice, and true enough, so is Femi Otedola the oil magnate. These gentlemen, who have once walked the halls of fame, are now traveling down the dungeons of anger.
The Gambo Dan Musa- led House of Committee on Ethics and Privileges which is investigating the scandal can be rightly said to be adding fire to Lawan’s already burning case. Lawan had appeared before this committee in what can be described as a mock trial. The atmosphere was described in The NEWS as convivial. No serious questions were asked, and our acrobatic dancer was able to get away unchallenged with the outrageous insistence that he collected ‘money’ and not ‘bribe’ from Otedola.
The fairness of the committee is in question, as the convivial atmosphere was killed during Otedola’s turn and in its place was a devouring one. As it is known, an angry drowning man would have no qualms pulling his attacker down if he could, Otedola has no intention of going down alone. Prior to his appearance before the committee, he had released an audio tape containing part of recordings between Lawan and the business man on how the former Mr. Integrity would receive his over $2 million of bribe payment. The fast drowning oil magnate also implied that he had 16 audio tapes and seven video tapes of their dealings.
‘Busy in the chambers at the time’ was Lawan’s response according to the 81 second tape released when he was informed that his $2.5 million balance was sitting in a plane somewhere. And the name and number of one ‘TJ’ was given. Practical enough, Lawan’s advocate Mike Ozhekome, dismissed the tape. But like a phoenix, Otedola keeps putting up a fight no matter how many times his evidences were killed.
Upon the heels of arriving the national assembly, the Zenon boss along with his lawyer distributed a 6 paragraph protesting that the sitting should not be held behind closed doors; and since then, it has been a roller coaster of audio tapes been released to the press. If an ethics committee has been set up, and they do not know the right thing to do, holding a sitting of such in camera and letting Lawan get away with boisterous claims to a difference between ‘money’ and ‘bribe’ then there’s nothing ethical about the committee or any of the sittings.
Lawan should just resign and face his crime, step down nobly, you were once a source of inspiration to the youths on integrity, and since that has been taken, you could carve a niche for yourself in the act of nobility. While Otedola can stop fighting, he has done enough. We have seen and heard enough disgrace to last us a lifetime. Nigerians need to hear something positive; it’s been a long time coming!