By Kunle Aremu
The National Geographic Channel is one of my favourite bouques on DSTV as it exposes one to wildlife.
But before my adventure into this visual, I had had the opportunity to visit the zoo at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
I enjoyed seeing the animals in their natural habitats; the apes, the birds, the pisces, the reptiles and of course the cats and the dog families.
The zoo reminds me of the three cats at the university then; the lion the lioness and a cub in a den that is opened into another small house where the management lures preys into these predators den.
Here the survival instinct of the lion becomes visible; its hunting capability and of course the knowledge behind the whole drama is displayed live.
Lion is a beautiful animal and like many beautiful big cats, it is very dangerous. Ironically, most preys are ugly while many predators are beautiful.
However, as beautiful and dangerous a lion is, when it is caged, it loses its pride and killer instinct. It hardly roars as it lives at the mercy of man.
A caged lion lives in a solitary confinement and will be fed by man without which it dies of hunger and shame and if given a little freedom to roam the Savanah, such a lion will lose all its battles because it’s no more a member of any pride. it’s a lone ranger. It cannot survive.
For months, Yahaya Bello, the White Lion and former Governor of Kogi State had demonstrated a rare fearlessness, when he visited the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, FCT Abuja in his flowing “Agbada”.
He strolled in the territory of the anti-graft agency and roared so loud that the social media platforms reverberated the echo of his voice.
His ovation was louder in the courtroom until the Supreme Court struck out his case and that of 16 other state governors, challenging the constitutionality of the EFCC a few weeks ago.
It dawned on the White Lion that it was a matter of time for the commission to cut his tail. His roaring suddenly went down; it turned himself up to the commission.
This time without a pride. He presented himself like a prey to the slaughterhouse and was consequently caged by the EFCC.
As usual, his media aides quickly rolled out a statement, saying that Bello had presented himself to EFCC, perhaps to rub his ego.
Of course, Bello lost his pride the day he lost his case at the Supreme court and presenting himself to the EFCC is to save a face not a sign of bravery. Can he survive in the cage the battle he could not win outside the cage ? I don’t think so.
This is because he will consequently be brought to court by the EFCC and be led to to the dock to explain himself on the various allegations of financial misappropriation.
According to sources, Bello had been hiding in the Kogi State government House since he was declared wanted by the EFCC.
For me a hiding “White Lion” is a disgrace to the cat race. Cats only lay ambush, they don’t hide but for Bello, the former governor, betrays his nickname to have run away from the searchlight of the EFCC for so long.
Investigation showed that he did not come with any entourage nor the orderlies of his successor, Governor Usman Ododo. He humbled himself and kept his pride before the officers of the agency.
He was quickly arrested and put in the chair for questioning.
The “White Lion” will be in the EFCC cage and be fed with already prepared flesh. He was alleged of money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of N80.2 billion.
According to Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, “The commission had arrested Bello. Our chief security officer arrested him and he was brought in by 12:54pm. He is having a session with investigators.
We are holding him in our custody,” Oyewale said. The White Lion is in the cage to answer questions alone not on the pride of Ododo and security agents as he did in September.
Recall that the former governor and Ododo were at the car park of the Abuja office of the EFCC, but the anti-graft agency did not arrest him then because he was still being beclouded by pride.
In April, the commission declared Bello wanted after several attempts to arrest him proved unsuccessful.
On August 20, the court of appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment. He refused and hid away from the public domain.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, would later allege that Bello withdrew $720,000 from Kogi coffers to pay his child’s school fees in advance.
The anti-graft agency also filed a 19-count charge against Bello over alleged money laundering, but then the arraignment was stalled due to the absence of the former governor.
In May, Abdulwahab Mohammed, counsel to Bello, told the court that the former governor’s whereabouts remain unknown and that he was nurturing some safety concerns.
On August 20, the court of appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment, the White Lion did not bulge, even when ruling was a “vindication” of the EFCC’s stance that Bello must face trial.
The question is will the White Lion survive in the EFCC cage?
•Kunle Aremu is a seasoned journalist and regular columnist.
