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Why Obasanjo described late Akanbi pioneer nationalist

 

Since the demise of the pioneer Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi, the testimonies on the lips of many Nigerians concerning his person has further affirmed that the Wakili of Ilorin emirate lived a life of selfless service to humanity.
One of the most heartwarming attributes directed towards the departed Justice was that of former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo who in this speech revealed why he considered the jury to champion the agency fighting corruption during his administration.
“For me to be here today, Justice Akanbi telephoned me that he would come to see me. I protested, but rather than telling me to come, I saw him in Abeokuta the following day.
“He invited me for the launching of his autobiography, not only by words of mouth but with a formal letter of invitation. Sir, I thank you for that visit and have come to ‘retaliate’.
“Justice Akanbi is a stickler to protocol, decency, order and propriety. And knowing Justice Akanbi as I know him and as I hold him in reverence, high esteem and respect, his invitation took preference and priority over other assignments for this day.
“I did not hesitate to put aside other things for today on my calendar and here I am to honour a man of integrity, honesty, humility and correctness in all sense of those words.
“Justice Akanbi is an icon, a paragon of rightness and rectitude. He is a role model and a nationalist. I have, therefore, chosen to address a few issues of concern to most African countries today and I want to examine these issues from the standpoint of Nigeria.
“When I came out of prison and I was persuaded to run as President of Nigeria, corruption was one of the priority items I chose to confront. I got advice and help and the first draft of the first bill to be put before the National Assembly within the first fortnight of my assumption of office as President of Nigeria was prepared.
“Kanu Agabi, an incorruptible lawyer, who later became a member of my Cabinet, worked on the first draft and the process of seeing the bill through the National Assembly. It took almost eighteen months for the bill to be passed into law. And it came out watered down from what I proposed to the National Assembly. Some members of the National Assembly commented that if they passed the bill as I forwarded it to the Assembly, most of them would end up in jail. If I sent the bill back to straighten its cutting edge, it would be killed completely. I decided to work with what I had.
“It was no use to have the law without the fearless and scrupulous implementation and application of it. I started to shop round for the right person to help me to head the new organisation called for short ICPC (Independent Commission against Public Corruption). Out of ten people I consulted, seven advised me to go for nobody for the job except retired Justice Mustapha Akanbi.
“With such clear and overwhelming recommendation, I thought that the way was clear. It was only left for me to invite Justice Akanbi and give the job to him.
“Then, I met a fresh obstacle. Justice Akanbi would not want to take the job. Not out of fear but because of the plan he had made for himself on retiring from the bench. I used all the power of persuasion at my disposal but the man was adamant. However, I learned a lesson early in my life that good things don’t come to you easily. You have to persist to break the resistance. I put my lesson to work and Justice Akanbi then gave me two conditions which I immediately accepted.
“One, he would not go beyond one term of five years and two, I would have to grant him time to go to Mecca for prayer and back before taking up the assignment.
“Above all, there must be the fear of God. If you fear God, you will not, as a person let alone as a leader, deliberately do evil, condone evil or excuse evil. You will be a person of sterling character and espouse great values. You will realize that you have to give account, not only here on earth which, of course, you can attempt to cover up, deny, purchase people to bury it or keep them silent but before God, there is no hiding place or cover-up in any way and everything will be brought to judgement. Justice may or may not begin here but it ends in the great beyond. And nobody can evade or avoid the day of judgement.
“Justice Akanbi, I felicitate with you for producing this chronicle of your life for posterity but more importantly, I felicitate with you because the three concise qualities of leadership that I earlier mentioned are quite evident in your life. And long may you live.”

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