THE RETURN OF A SERIAL LOOTER

A leopard never changes its skin, they say. Gist is agog that the erstwhile Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed is presently scheming to return to the ‘juicy’ position of Executive Secretary again in the same parastatal, an office he left nearly a year ago after serving a full tenure of five years.


If you recall, on the 11th of May 2010, a US based online media outfit, Sahara-reporters, gave details of the multi-billion-naira scam spearheaded by the erstwhile Executive Secretary


The media establishment alleged that the then, UBEC boss and his then newly-wedded wife, Aishatu Dahiru Mohammed, operating as the leader of a syndicate, used phony companies “to skim off billions of naira earmarked for the running of Nigerian primary and junior secondary schools.”


Going further, Sahara reporters said that Apart from his criminal record as a serial looter, Modibbo also has a reputation of being a master schemer. Sahara reporters gave details of how he wangled his way to become the UBEC boss despite his bad antecedent at his previous job as the boss the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) and the fact that his point of entry into the commission fell short of the requisite requirements of a degree or certificate in education.


The erstwhile UBEC boss is also alleged to be in the vanguard of staunch supporters of known enemies of the Goodluck Jonathan administration. It is believed that he is using part of the money he stole from the coffers of these parastatals to give financial support to the presidential ambition of some opposition parties’ flag-bearers. This is aside other reports alleging that a large chunk of the stolen billions from the UBEC coffers may have been diverted to the self-acclaimed Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram which has killed hundreds of thousands of Nigerians in cold blood.


This is why it is so shocking that modibbo who some media outfits gave graphic details of how he spent millions of naira to support arch-enemies of President Goodluck Jonathan's) political ambition can be thinking of making a return to office under the same Jonathan.


We are reliably informed that he had recruited the support of some of his ‘loyalists’ in high places of power who partook in the loot of his over N50 Billion during his 12 Years reign as head of two Education support Agencies, plundering the resources of these two outfits namely the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), or how can one explain the underground moves some of his northern godfathers had been engaging in, purportedly appealing and lobbying the president on his behalf.


How can one comprehend the gist that Dr. Modibbo is still interested in returning to the position after all the atrocities he had been accused of?
 
Nigerians reading this piece, what do you think the return of this serial looter and immoral man to the agency portends for the future of the country’s education? What kind of legacy does the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration wants to leave for us in this very sensitive sector?