Renowned activist and Convener, Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Comrade Razaq Olokoba has assured the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Abdur-Rasheed Bawa of full support of Members of the coalition across the length and breadth of the country for the good work the commission is doing under him.
Olokoba, a Chattered Public Administrator (CPA), member, Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM) and National President of Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), made the assurance during a chat with a couple of newsmen in Lagos Saturday where he asserted that, with the good job the commission has been doing since the emergence of Bawa as its Head, “the EFCC deserves commendation and not condemnation.”
Citing an example, the CSOs’ boss expressed excitement at the huge amount of stolen public money the commission recovered under Bawa’s leadership, describing the feat as amazing, impressive and commendable and so, Bawa and the commission under him deserve commendation for the good work he is doing. “In fact, he, in addition deserves all the support from the CSOs and the people in general,” Olokoba declared as a matter of fact.
Speaking further, the young youth leader expressed the conviction that, all the government agencies doing yeoman’s job like the EFCC in the country should be protected collectively by all the citizens, stating that, “in Nigeria, we have numerous agencies that have recorded land mark achievement and thus deserve the compliments of the people and one of such agencies is the EFCC under the visionary workaholic detective, Bawa Abdur-Rasheed.”
The emergence of the commission, Olokoba admitted, “has affected positively how we do things in Nigeria and it has had positive impact on our ways of life,” expressing the delights that, “the public sector has become more cautious and careful in their day today activities while mismanagement of fund is one of the misdeeds the EFCC has found out and stamping out progressively.”
It is against this backdrop, the activist continued that, “public officers and civil servants have become more careful and more responsible in the way they handle public funds while the Private sectors also have become more refined in the ways their affairs are conducted because the fear of Abdur-Rasheed Bawa and his Commission have become the beginning of wisdom for all and sundry.”
The public commentator and political analyst concurred that, “We have seen the effect of the numerous good works of the commission on the affairs of the country, and that is why we took a decision at the level of the civil societies to mobilise as many of us as possible to rally round the EFCC to create a buffer and support the outfit because between now and the last five years, particularly since Abdur-Rasheed Bawa came on board as the Chairman, we have noticed tremendous improvement in what the commission is doing.”
At this juncture, “we want to commend the commission and urge it to continue to do the needful in the sense that carrying out its activities should not be hindered or deterred by any form of blackmail, protest, resistance or intimidation against the good work it is doing,” Olokoba admonished, assuring the commission that, people are in support of what they are doing and that Nigerians are happy about its activities.
While giving kudos to the Abdur-Rasheed Bawa’s led, the renowned political watcher described the EFCC as one of the civilised agencies in the country and even in the world, pointing out that, “the organization carries out its duties with utmost level of civility and we commend Bawa for upholding the civility outlook that he has sustained so far and we want him to realise that Nigerians are comfortable and appreciative of his commission’s duties.”
The representative of the Nigeria’s Civil Society Organizations therefore urged the EFCC boss, Bawa, not to relent in his efforts at, cleansing up the country of graft without minding whose ox is gored in the process.”
In conclusion, Comrade Olokoba has this to say:
“We commend them and we will roll out more of our activities to sensitise the citizenry about their activities with a view to letting them see reasons the commission should be supported, assisted and cooperated with in its onerous task of cleansing the country of economic saboteurs. The civil society groups, of which I am one of them, are quick to condemn bad government and so, it is part of our responsibilities to also commend any agency of government that is doing well like the EFCC is doing under the leadership of the youthful Abdur-Rasheed Bawa. We also have to let him know that we the teeming youth of this country are very proud of him because he has actually made us proud through his outstanding performance in his current duty post.
“We will sensitise the people to realise that, too much criticism against the government even if the government is doing well can derail such government most especially when the criticism is destructive instead of being constructive. So, we want to encourage constructive criticism accompanied with proposal for solutions because unnecessary criticism can derail a government or agencies that are even on the right track.
“For those criticising the EFCC for running after the people stealing our money, the question is what proposal are they bringing up to be deployed by the commission in its efforts at retrieving our stolen patrimony?! This would be better than blind condemnation of the officials of the commission or calling for its leadership change.
“So, our recently formed coalition of numerous civil society groups is already planning on a strategy that would bring the people to appreciate good works of agencies of government like the EFCC with the sole aim of endearing them with such agencies and identifying with them for the good of the society we live in. We will reach out to the people through all the available information dissemination platforms to give proper orientation about what the EFCC stands for and by that engage the public on the proper way to identify with the commission.
“We therefore urge the commission to always be quick to respond to our enquiries when the need arises to clarify some issues with them as we will create a platform through which we intend to reach them as often as occasion requires. We want to take that as our responsibility to furnish the public the correct information about the agency and we are determined not to relent in that effort.
“Nigerians should realise the importance of using the fund for a particular venture is judiciously utilised on that particular venture so that our public money would not end up in private pockets again. We want to see a society where the younger generation would not see corrupt practices as normal ways of livelihood.”
