Lagos — PERHAPS this column should have been titled "Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Mrs Okorie and Mrs Akinlawon." But, the editor would probably have regarded that as too long. So pardon me for that. Hypocrisy is the homage paid by vice to virtue-De La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680.

Now you can be forgiven if you don't know who on earth is Mrs Okorie. Never mind, I shall soon make her familiar to you. But, you cannot possibly be forgiven if you don't know who Mrs. Akinlawon is.

I shall help you out by providing the full name - Mrs Damilola Akinlawon. At least that was the alias she used to help secure a N3.5 billion contract. Now you know! What do the two have in common apart from anatomy? Well, Mrs Okorie, whose real name could be Oloruntoyin Onanuga Omobowale was reportedly arrested at the American Embassy in Lagos for trying to procure visas with an alleged forged documents on December 13, 2007.

Mrs. Damilola Akinlawon, whose real name could be Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello allegedly received a visa in the name of Akinlawon to travel to Austria to sign the documents for the contract under dispute - because it was a disagreement which blew open the entire racket. What are the dissimilarities between Okorie a.k.a Omobowale and Akinlawon a.k.a Obasanjo-Bello? First, Okorie failed miserably in her attempt. She didn't get the visa; she lost money not only to the American Embassy but to the people who provided the forged papers with which she attempted to obtain the visa and she spent the Christmas and New Year with the Special Fraud Unit, Milverton Road, Ikoyi.

Akinlawon, by contrast actually succeeded wonderfully. Her company got the contract; she travelled to Austria - all expenses paid (including perhaps shopping money) - and because she is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the daughter of former president and has a lot of friends among those shouting "the rule of law" from the house tops. She spent her yuletide at home - perhaps part of it at the 25 room mansion that papa just built on top of a hill at Abeokuta. That is law for you - Nigerian style. Now you know what Oliver Goldsmith, 1728-1774 meant when he lamented: "Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law." Vanguard Book of Quotations, p122.

Second, Mrs. Okorie does not even pretend to have respect for the law. According to the report, she had been at the same embassy in 2000, 2002 and again in 2007 using different names. Obasanjo-Bello on the other hand is a lawmaker who had sworn on the Bible to uphold the law including the one on impersonation. Mrs. Okorie, like most Nigerians living on the edge of disaster (brought about in part by the eight years rule of Iyabo's father), probably needed to get out to give herself a better chance; she faces a jail sentence. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello needs another N1 billion just as much as the Atlantic Ocean needs another rain drop. For the first, it was necessity; for the second, it was something else. One ends in goal, the other clinks glasses of wine on Christmas day. Rule of law indeed!

P.S. Have you noticed another similarity between two women in the National Assembly - Madam Etteh, the former speaker and Obasanjo-Bello? From start to finish, Mr. Etteh never surfaced. Now one Bello is also missing in action. Could it be that the two gentlemen have wisely distanced themselves from the two affairs. That as usual is the appetizer for 2008 which from all indications is starting out fast and furious. We know the Obasanjo-Bello's will be covered up. However, one of the real sizzlers will be Ribadu. Whether in or out of office as EFCC chairman, the man will make headlines for quite a while. Unfortunately, for Ribadu, he is no longer the master of his own fate - unless..... So why not start with that.

Demystification of Ribadu begins

The climax of every tragedy lies in the deafness of its heroes - Albert Camus, 1903-1960. Book of Quotations p. 90.

BELIEVE me my sadness knows no bounds regarding the removal of Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC - not because I subscribe to the "indispensable man theory" but because on three different occasions, I warned the fellow on these pages. Unfortunately, he probably listened to his "friends" (generally young men like himself who are intelligent not wise) or because he had no alternative plan to continue as chairman EFCC.

I knew it was a matter of time before he would be replaced. The imperatives of power dictated that. Presidents, especially those of the third world and banana republics, invariably want their own chosen people in positions of great power - even if the laws and the constitution have to be bent out of shape to achieve that purpose. My distress stems from the fact that Ribadu's "friends" and "sympathizers" are still so busy shedding tears over a fait accompli they fail to see the greater danger ahead for Ribadu.

Let me again make a diversion, partly to remind us of a point I made several months ago. Ribadu and Major El Mustapha, Abacha's chief security officer, could be the subjects of a modern day historical comparison like Plutarch's, c46-120 A.D, "Parallel Lives" series.

The two are young northern officers in uniform plucked from relative obscurity and given great powers such as would make the most senior officers in their respective services tremble before them. Even Lt-Generals quaked with fear in front of Mustapha and Ribadu's men who dragged his former boss Tafa Balogun, the former Inspector General of police, IGP, on the ground in full view of cameras. Those were awesome powers and those wielding such powers invariably relied on the support of the Head of State. It could also be likened to being mounted on a tiger.

The problem that eventually arises is how to dismount without being swallowed by the tiger once the leader who appointed such a person leaves for whatever reason because implacable enemies, biding their time are waiting for their revenge. What is happening to Mustapha was predicted on these pages and it will be a minor miracle if the fellow ever regains his freedom in the next ten years or ever.

Ribadu's redeployment to the police, I am afraid, will produce the same sort of tragedy for the young man. His first enemy is envy. As chairman of the EFCC, his escort size was twice as large as that on any deputy inspector general of police - his seniors. He was promoted twice while others on the same rank, assistant commissioner of police, are still marking time and he is now senior in rank to those formerly above him before he became EFCC boss.

Pervasive envy awaits him. The most common statement I have heard from fellow officers concerning his rapid promotions is: "Is he the only one there? He got those promotions because Obasanjo was using him."

Hatred is also waiting inside and outside the barracks. The obvious ones are the non-officers who had been successfully brought to book by the EFCC during his tenure of office, for one simple reason supplied by John Dryden, 1631-1700: "Forgiveness only to the injured does belong, for they never pardon who have done the wrong." Ribadu did his job by getting people who deserved it convicted. But, almost none of them can be regarded as remorseful (don't we live in a society where the person driving the wrong way rain abuses on the person who is in the right?) Instead of repenting, they have haboured hatred against the man who got them prosecuted.

Surprisingly, among those nursing grudges are former IGPs who felt that Ribadu disgraced the office of IGP with his handling of the Tafa Balogun case. Each IGP alive is responsible for the appointment and nurture of a lot of senior officers - including DIGs and even the IGP. Now they have their chance. Ribadu as EFCC chairman was out of their reach; Ribadu as AIG is now a caged person. He would be foolish to believe that story about being groomed for IGP; he will be lucky to survive what they will throw at him. And let me give a few hints and perhaps Ribadu's friends and sympathizers will device strategies to assist him. First, a lot of dirt has been and is being dug up about his past designed to portray him as no better and in some respects worse than the average corrupt police officer.

On my last trip to Yola, the matter of a house built for his father years ago as a junior officer without bank loan was brought up as an allegation. So was the story of a V-Boot costing twenty times an officer's salary purchased for cash. In fairness to Ribadu, these allegations were not substantiated. But, they will resurface again in a short while. Was he as DPO in charge of police stations always granting bail free of charge? There are apparently officers who served with him waiting to claim otherwise. And there is a lot more coming from the EFCC itself and his handling of cases.

The point of all these is to demystify Ribadu; to knock off the halo. Unfortunately, for Ribadu, as EFCC chairman, he was at liberty to respond to attacks. As AIG, he will not be able to do so without permission from his bosses. The permissions will never be granted. And, this is where his friends can help. They must be prepared to pen the rebuttals to those stories that will soon be making the rounds of media houses. Last line: why on earth did Ribadu fail to take the advice that he should leave with Obasanjo; preferably go abroad? He would have escaped the problems that will henceforth tumble in by the truckloads. What a pity!