Emefiele And The Irony Of Life -By Richard Odusanya

Courtesy of the blunders and mismanagement of Godwin Emefiele, the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Meffy, crippled the economy and left the nation on the brink of collapse. This is in contrast to the words of John Stuart Mill, which goes thus: “It is part of the irony of life that the strongest feelings of devoted gratitude of which human nature seems to be susceptible, are called forth in human beings towards those who, having the power entirely to crush their earthly existence, voluntarily refrain from using that power.”

Emefiele, ‘Meffy’ suspended as head of the central bank in June and detained by the security services, mindlessly mortgaged his conscience and his inglorious era has gone down in history as the atrocious and the most irresponsible CBN governor in the history of Nigeria. Surprisingly, In a nation where soothsayers are seen as the oracles of the Almighty, not one of them predicted his incarceration and the consequences of his atrocious behavior.

To say “He was a young fool, and now he’s an old fool” is to make a distinction without a difference; as CBN governor, he was surrounded and sought after by people he thought were friends. But his freedom is now stalled because no one wants to provide the ‘small’ amount of money or stake his C of O for a bail bond.

Meffy, was granted bail by Justice Hamza Muazu on Wednesday, 22 November, subject to the provision of a 300 million naira (roughly $333,000) bond and two sureties with properties in the upscale Maitama district of the country’s capital Abuja – after six months of imprisonment.

The court also asked him to produce two guarantors with landed properties and proof of certificates of ownership in the costly capital city.

Meffy, was suspended as Central Bank governor by President Bola Tinubu on June 9 and arrested by the secret police the next day. He has remained in prison since then as attempts by his lawyers to secure his bail until Wednesday were unsuccessful.

He was charged over alleged abuse of office, misappropriation/fraud, and possession of firearms, all criminal offenses under Nigerian law. Ironically, the illusion of permanence is the greatest tragedy of life:

Where are the Businessmen; where are the Senators; where are the Cabals; where are the Top Politicians; where are the Anchor Borrower’s Farmers; where are the Suit wearing Banking Chief Executives; where are all those who gave him awards upon awards; where are the beneficiaries and all those he helped or enriched?

Let me conclude this contribution that focuses on ‘Irony of life’ with the golden words of Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period. Plato remarked as follows: “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”- Irony of life to everyone – don’t count your friends until when you need them.

Richard Odusanya
odusanyagold@gmail.com