What Is Ribadu Still Doing In The Police?

by Atsar Terver

In the bible book of Mathew chapter 22, Jesus told a story about a certain king who invited his friends to a wedding ceremony. He sent his servants who went into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was full of guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, friend, how did you come here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king instructed his servants to bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness...

Now why would the king be so hard on a friend? Would it have been too big a favour to overlook the impolite behaviour of his friend? Why did this king take the risk of being regarded as an unfriendly and intolerant host? Would his guest still feel at home at the wedding, not knowing who next would be bundled out of the hall for one mistake or the other? Would his subjects still regard him a benevolent ruler who respects his people’s freedom to dress as they like?

 These are no doubt pertinent questions but on the other hand, as a friend of the King, it was expected of this fellow to abide by the dress code in show of respect to his host who was not just his friend only but also his king. His action was clearly derisive and unbecoming of a man who called himself a king’s friend. By his action, he had communicated to the king that he was not worthy of his presence at the party.

The king thus acted not just to preserve decorum at his ceremony but also to restore discipline in his kingdom. Had the king not punished this errant friend, this despicable conduct would have spread and become a norm among his subjects.

I imagine some Nigerian reporters happened to be at the wedding event, the newspapers of the next day would have come out with such headlines as: ‘Bundled: King walks out friend from wedding party’, or something like ‘king disgraces friend at party...put under house arrest’ or worst still another could have read: ‘King, friend scuffle at Wedding Party’. Almost all the papers would have gone on to speculate that the King was furious with the friend because security reports indicated that the friend had a presidential ambition and was planning to topple his government.

Another could have reported that reliable sources inside the Palace indicate that the disgraced friend was having a clandestine affair with the Kings wife and the king got wind of the affair through a palace aid and decided to invite the friend to the wedding and humiliate him. Still another could have reported that the bundling of this friend was the handwork of his detractors who are jealous of his rising profile and friendship to the king.

Enter Ribadu. The venue is the NIPSS Kuru in Jos. The event is the graduation ceremony for the graduating   participants of the Institute who were billed to receive the prestigious award of the MNI. Ribadu like the king’s friend mentioned in Jesus’s story above had blazed into the graduation ceremony hall in mufti, against the dress code expected of a serving police officer. Accordingly the Chief security officer was reported to have invited him outside. He never returned.

Ordinarily an event like this should not have required intellectual analysis to comprehend. Removing all other circumstances surrounding Ribadu’s exit from EFCC, and his subsequent demotion, his removal from the hall should have no other interpretation than this simple fact that he violated the simple etiquette like dressing up properly for an event. It should be regarded very unfortunate that after a whole year of study at Kuru, Ribadu did not learn a single lesson about professional discipline which is supposed to be a culture among senior Police officers of his cadre.

But what did the papers come up with the next day? Almost all the papers reported that he was manhandled and arrested. They went further to suggest that the Attorney General of the Federation ordered his arrest. They concluded it was part of a well crafted persecution agenda by past governors to humiliate Ribadu for his gallant fight against corruption. And then followed the characteristic cacophony of boisterous condemnations from familiar quarters, which spared no ugly word on the Presidency.

Most puzzling is the fact that none of the people crying wolf over Ribadu’s purported persecution did make reference to the man’s unruly conduct. We are therefore being sold the fallacy that Ribadu is untouchable and beyond the reach of the law. Could any of the other military or paramilitary officers at that ceremony have been treated differently if he or she dressed inappropriately? 

The press must desist from promoting indiscipline shrouded in the cloak of advocacy for the rule of law. The rule of law is not a recipe for rogue behaviour. If a man is tired of the job from which he earns his daily bread, he ought to resign. I just don’t know why Ribadu is still hanging unto the police job, if he so much despises the police uniform. At my last check even the IGP still wears his kakhi on duty.

A friend of mine opined somewhere that since Ribadu is challenging his demotion in court, there was a dilemma as to which rank he should have worn to the graduation ceremony. And my answer is simple: If indeed Ribadu still sees himself as an AIG, then he should have dared to dress as AIG (and risk being charged for impersonation as far as the police authorities are concerned).

On the other hand, if he accepts that he has been demoted (and I think he has, that is why he is in court), then the right thing to do is to revert to the new rank until (and if) he is restored to the former rank. The question of mufti does not arise. Refusing to wear the right uniform is an act of insubordination and indiscipline that should attract the appropriate sanctions from the police force irrespective of whether his supporters would call it persecution or not.

 At the height of his tenure as EFCC Chairman, Ribadu once told a reporter that he doesn’t feel like a policeman any longer. That the last time he wore uniform was in 1989 at Ajegunle then as DCO. So obviously Ribadu’s interest is no more in the Police Force. If not he should be obeying orders from his boss the IGP. He should not have dragged his employer to court without following laid down procedures. He could be hanging unto that job for it’s (and his) nuisance value. He wants to give the press something sensational to write about. It’s a symbiotic affair. While the press sells their wares, he reaps the popularity and public sympathy.