The much celebrated case on the piece of land involving former First Lady Turai YarÁdua’s NGO, the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has been concluded, with the court setting aside the revocation of
the said land by the FCT administration. Going by the Nigerian mentality, the defeat of the FCT administration in the suit instituted by Hajia Turai was a thing of joy for some people because another organ representing the government had been rubbished. A section of the media have repeatedly and deliberately helped in drumming it into the ears of everyone that the decision of the FCT administration to revoke the said land was an attempt to cheat the former First
Lady. Thus, the ruling of the court concluded a script that had been hashed right from time on this matter.
It is ironic that no one in the media seemed interested in the substance of the case and everyone appeared satisfied that the defendant could not give evidence that the revocation was carried out
in overriding public interest. The basis of this decision on revocation, to the court, appeared weak. Thus, the learned judge quashed the revocation and returned the piece of land to Hajia Turai. My problem here is this: Is it satisfactory that a case is won simply because there is no convincing argument by one making a case, even when it is glaring that an anomaly has occurred? Should we simply close our eyes to an anomaly just because the presentation is weak?
Now that judgment has been given, can we return to the basis of the case, at least for the purpose of soul searching, and to convince ourselves whether Hajia Turai was morally justified to appropriate a piece of land acquired for a public institution to personal use. It is important that we carry out this self re-examination so that we will not be glorifying immorality and instituting
corruption and greed as a good way to live.
I am asking us to do because this is not the first time the former First Lady will be enmeshed in this kind of (questionable )web. A few months before her husband’s ailment deteriorated, leading to his eventual demise, Hajia Turai launched a Cancer foundation and hospital project in which N5billion was acquired. I attended that launch and I saw how moved Nigerians were to support what they considered a worthy cause. Now, three years after the demise of her husband and some four years or so since the cancer hospital project was initiated, Nigerians have not seen anything to justify the huge donation collected by Hajia Turai. In the same vein, the WAYEF for which she claimed to have diverted the Peace Mission land has been in limbo. In fact, the WAYEF was functional for barely two years and it made virtually no impact considering the mass local and international appeal the NGOs of Dame Patience Jonathan, whom she abhors so passionately, has made within the last three years. Nigerians should be asking questions by now. Where is the N5billion ..?
Back to our matter on the land; what is the story about this land? Was Hajia Turai the original first allotee of the land? What happened along the line, and how did the land happen to bear
Turai’s name? Since Turai has been awarded the said land by the court, should the matter end just like that? If judgment has been awarded, has justice been done to all the parties concerned? These are the questions I shall be addressing. First, what is the story behind the land matter? From the records which I have been able to study, the African First Ladies Peace Mission was established in 1995 after the World Conference on Women held in Beinjing, China. The initiative was taken by the First Ladies of Nigeria, Gambia, Benin, Uganda, Lesotho and Burundi.
The Formal Declaration of the African First Ladies Peace Mission was made in Harare, Zimbabwe during the OAU Summit in 1996. This led to the establishment of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) by the then Nigerian First Lady, Mrs. Maryam Sani Abacha. Nigeria hosted the first summit in 1997 and was elected the first President of the Mission .
Apart from Mrs. Abacha who was the first President on behalf of Nigeria , other countries that have produced the president of the Mission were Congo 2000; Equatorial Guinea 2002; Burkina Faso 2004; and Congo 2006. Nigeria was elected president of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, for the second term, during the summit of the organization in Congo Brazzaville in 2008. That was during the tenure of the late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Thus, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua held the presidency of the AFLPM on behalf of Nigeria from 2008. Nigeria was given the honour of hosting the permanent secretariat of the AFLPM at the summit in Congo Brazzaville. Following this mandate, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua constituted a steering committee for the realization of the objective. The steering committee at its meeting on August 11, 2008 was informed by the then Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Modibbo Umar, that “a new site has now been secured for the building of the permanent AFLPM secretariat to replace the earlier one identified near the barracks.” Other serving ministers who were part of that meeting included Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Foreign Affairs; Mr. John Odey, Information and Communications; Mr. Aja-Nwachukwu, Eduaction and the Secretary to the Federal Government, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, among others.
The organization then referred to as African First Ladies Peace Centre (I wonder why when Hajia Turai should know the exact name of the organization she was leading) was thereafter granted statutory Right of Occupancy with file No. MISC 101173 over Plot No. 703 in 2008. The offer of Right of Occupancy was accordingly accepted with letter of acceptance dated August 11, 2012. The African First Ladies Peace Centre was thereafter issued a Certificate of Occupancy. The then Minister of FCT, Dr. Moddibo Umar granted a complete waiver of the initial Right of Occupancy rents and bills in respect of Plot 703 based on request by the Steering Committee of the African First Ladies Peace Centre (African First Ladies Peace Mission).
We are told that the plot of land granted the African First Ladies Peace Centre (African First Ladies Peace Mission) is an institutional plot provided by the Abuja Master Plan within the
Institutional enclave of the Central Business District and designated only for use by government or government agencies and could (should) not have been allocated to an individual.
In pursuance of her objective of appropriating the land for personal use, in March 2010, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua was said to have approached the FCT Ministry during the tenure of Senator Adamu Aliero to convert the same plot for use by her non-governmental organization, WAYEF.
Thus, the ministry granted an offer of Statutory Right of Occupancy in respect of the same plot 703 now re-designed and numbered Plot 1347 while the original allocation to the African First Ladies Peace Mission was not revoked. It was reasoned that this was done based on an assumption that the land matter would not be re-visited; and no one was likely to ask question as it is our style.
However, in May 2010, the tenure of Hajia Turai as President of the AFLPM ended midway following the demise of President Yar’Adua in office. It therefore, became necessary for the present First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to complete Nigeria’s tenure and to continue the
task of providing the secretariat of the AFLPM. It was while she went about seeking information on the way forward that the FCT ministry discovered that an error had been committed in allocating the same land hitherto allocated to the AFLPM to Hajia Turai personal NGO. The Ministry therefore, had to reverse itself by revoking the title of Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation and restored the land to its original allotee, the African First Ladies Peace Mission in November, 2011.
Faced with the grim reality that the land she coveted might be lost, especially since her crony has since left the seat, she promptly went to court and launched a massive media propaganda
that the current First Lady, Dame Patience wanted to take her land. And as it is common with us, we failed to ask questions and several people joined in vilifying Dame Patience because it was her quest for answer on the plot of land that led to the discovery of the brazen illegality committed by Turai and Adamu Aliero.
Now, this is the story. Having laid the facts bare and glaring to all, can we accept the argument that Turai owned the land whereas she appropriated what was allocated to the Peace Mission
with the connivance of cronies led by Adamu Aliero? Definitely no! Judgment may have been given, but justice is not yet served. And this should not be the end of the matter. We should stop celebrating illegality. Those who perfected the papers so that Turai can in future lay claim to this land in the law court should be brought to justice. A thief is a thief, even if not caught red handed. Let our eyes not be clouded by our hatred for an individual. Those who are trying to see that an illegality is corrected should not be crucified. They should be supported. How else can we salvage our nation if we allow every judgment of ours to be clouded by our prejudice?
Adisa Danialu wrote from Ibadan.
