According to the president who spoke at the opening of the 22nd annual conference of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), “…If our numerous resources were appropriately managed, corruption duly checked, patriotism deeply imbibed in everything we do, the spirit of rule of law was observed, and the citizen’s political freedom was ensured, Nigeria could not have been in recession.” Simply, incredibly great. The president was represented by the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed. Had the president read the speech himself before the accountants, incredulous reporters would have watched his stresses and facial expression as he pronounces those uplifting phrases. It was natural of him to speak of appropriate application of resources, checking of corruption, and imbibing patriotism. But then he began to delve into strange territories, speaking of concepts and terms he hardly ever emphasised in all his past speeches: of observing the spirit of the rule of law, not just the letter, it seemed, and of, remarkably, ensuring the citizen’s political freedom. It is doubtful whether the president saw the speech before it was read on his behalf. Very doubtful. Had he seen the speech and read it, he would have winced that he is being credited with worrying himself over the rule of law, particularly of the spirit of it which is more delicate and more nuanced than the letter. He would have been aghast that he is being credited with professing concerns about the people’s political freedoms. His antecedents, particularly his silences on the controversial concepts, show that he sees both concepts as inconveniences in the battle against corruption, in fact, as obstacles to what he has described as an existential war of survival. As many of his aides have repeatedly said when asked why the president was indifferent to the niceties of the rule of law, “where was the rule of law when the corrupt were indulging their corruption?” It is safe to imagine that the president neither saw the speech attributed to him nor read it. But if he saw it and in the unlikely event that he read it, he was probably distracted. Of all the weaknesses the president is accused of, observing the rule of law and protecting the people’s constitutional freedoms are not among them. He is unlikely to enunciate these two concepts anytime soon, or perhaps for the duration of his tenure. He sneers at them, refuses to understand them, and will not be incommoded by them in his messianic, ‘salutary’ fights to sanitise the country. He should, however, pay attention to speeches read on his behalf in order not to be accused of mouthing words and ideas that contradict his person and belief. BY ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE ]]>

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