Eminent businessman and former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has charged the governments of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and other developed nations to support the anticorruption war of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. He urged the countries to help expose Nigerians who have looted the nation’s resources.
Kalu added that previous administrations paid lip-service to the war against corruption. According to him, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which was established by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes offenders, became an instrument of political witch-hunt and victimisation, noting that the pioneer chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, allowed himself to be used by Obasanjo for unpatriotic motives.
Kalu made these remarks on Tuesday, while hosting a group of African graduate students of the National War College at Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. The businessman-cum-politician, who has a pending case with the EFCC said: “Before venturing into politics I was an accomplished businessman beyond the shores of Nigeria, having built a conglomerate with vast business interests in trading, aviation, publishing and oil and gas.
“During my stint as governor of Abia State, despite the slim resources then, I improved the lives of the people through the execution of a wide range of projects including free medical and educational schemes across the 17 local government areas in the state.
“In less than six months into my first tenure of office, the then President Obasanjo, who was on a working visit to the state named me “Action Governor” based on the massive rehabilitation and construction of roads embarked upon by my administration.
“It is unfortunate that due to my campaign against the third term bid of former President Obasanjo, he used the federal might against me. He directed Mr. Ribadu, former EFCC boss to clamp down on my businesses including SLOK Airline, SLOK oil, Southgate and Hallmark banks.
“It is saddening to note that Obasanjo who was using the EFCC to crush his enemies spent $16 billion on power without any significant improvement in electricity supply in Nigeria. What about the $74 million Halliburton bribe to Obasanjo and his cohorts. It is only in Nigeria that a corrupt person can label another person corrupt. “In 2005, President Obasanjo wrote to the UK and US authorities to indict me of financial crime but I was declared innocent by former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and former US President George Bush.
“I am a victim of political blackmail as I ruled Abia State with my conscience and the fear of God. “However, I am happy that the current leadership of the anti-graft agency under the new Nigerian government has been focused on delivering on its mandate without fear or favour.
“I wish to appeal to the western world to help Nigeria by exposing those Nigerians who have looted the country’s resources to invest and buy choice properties in Europe, USA, UAE, Asia and Middle East. “The international intelligence agencies have a critical role to play in fishing out those who have stolen the common wealth of Nigerians.”
On the issue of Boko- Haram insurgency, Kalu applauded President Buhari for keeping to his promise of restoring peace in the North-East. “The president used his experience as retired General to devise combatant means to crush the terrorists. The Nigerian military deserves commendation for their gallant strides in the devoted fight against terrorism.
“I salute the courage, boldness and patriotism of the military personnel who have contributed to the success of the anti-terrorism war. “I want to admonish the Federal Government to reconstruct the villages that were destroyed by the deadly Boko Haram insurgents through the provision of a special intervention fund for the North-East and Plateau State,” he said. Speaking on the pro-Biafra agitators, Kalu lamented the marginalisation of the South-East in all ramifications, noting that 46 years after the civil war, the region has not been fully integrated into the Nigerian nation, adding that the poor state of federal roads and other social amenities in the South-East is alarming and disturbing.
He said: “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are borne out of the grievances of Ndigbo. Even though there is a law in the United Nations that recognises the right to self-determination, as I have mentioned in the past, the approach of the IPOB and MASSOB are faulty as dialogue is a better medium for the people to express their concerns to appropriate authorities.” On Buhari’s frequent visits abroad, the former governor said: “No country can exist without the support of others.
Mr. President’s visits to different parts of the world are in best the interest of Nigeria. “In the area of investment, the President has been able to woo foreign investors to Nigeria by giving them confidence. Image is key and Mr. President has done well in redeeming the damaged reputation Nigeria had in the global community. “Just recently, the Nigerian government signed an agreement with the UAE to ensure the repatriation of stolen wealth housed in Dubai.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on President Obama to pay a working visit to Nigeria in order to further strengthening the bilateral relationships between Nigeria and USA.” The former governor poured encomiums on the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador James Entwistle, the former and incumbent British High Commissioners to Nigeria, Sir Andrew Pocock and Mr. Paul Arkwright respectively for promoting diplomatic ties between Nigerian and their home countries for the sake of social, economic and political development of Nigeria.
Kalu, who is a big player in the upstream sector of the Nigeria oil and gas industry said: “In view of the drastic fall in the price of crude oil globally, the time is now for the Nigerian government to roll out entrepreneurship programmes in the agricultural sector in order to diversify the economy.
‘The era of white collar jobs is over, everyone has to go into farming for the sake of Nigeria’s ailing economy. “I personally have diversified into commercial agriculture with the establishment of a large farm covering over 10,000 hectares of land in Ugwueke in Bende LGA of Abia State.”
Kalu, while decrying the state of the Nigerian economy, called on the Federal Government to set up an independent economic management team in the face of the global economic challenges to advise government on a road map to reposition the local economy, adding that government must provide the enabling business environment for local and foreign investors. On the Abia North Senatorial rerun, Kalu said: “The rerun election was marred by widespread irregularities perpetrated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and it agents. “The same atrocities that were committed at the March 28, 2015 election was again repeated at the March 5, 2016 rerun poll.
“However, I wouldn’t want to go into further details as I have protested the controversial result at the tribunal through my legal team.” Nigerian born Habib Kamil of the prestigious institution, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, expressed appreciation to Kalu for giving them an insight into the state of affairs in Nigeria with particular reference to politics and the economy.
