Every country is inhabited by saints and sinners, its when the number of sinners far outstrips the saints that problem arises. That’s the case of my beloved Nigeria, for every saint, there are a million sinners. The sinners are the leaders, the people in the position of authority as revealed in an autobiography of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mathew Tawo Mbu to be published posthumously on how Nigeria repaired a ship worth only £2.8 million with a whopping £18 million. Don’t ask me why we didn’t use that money more ships, the sinners are at work.
The Late Mathew Mbu’s autobiography titled, ‘Mbu: Dignity in Service’. The book will be launched posthumously on April 10, 2018, at the Shehu Yar ’Adua Centre, Abuja according to the former minister’s son, Mathew Mbu Jr. while addressing journalists.
The book explained that Mbu bought the ship on behalf of the country for £2.8 million even though the then Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammad Ribadu, approved £6 .5 million for the flagship, thereby saving the nation £3. 7 million but was surprised that the Ministry of Defence officials allegedly sent the vessel for refitting at a whopping sum of £18m, shortly after he left the ministry.
Mbu Jr. said, “MT Mbu did not only come back with a flagship befitting the NN for £2 .8m and saved £3.7m but had a deal to pay back the £2 .8m in 10 years interest-free.
“The story of Mbu tells us how to stop kickback and start kicking forward. Unfortunately, and it was a sad moment for Mbu when he left the ministry and one of those ships was sent for refitting at the cost of £18 m.
The deceased, in the autobiography, advised the government to focus on free and fair election, security and anti-corruption fight, noting that if these were achieved, “Nigerians in their ingenuity will fashion out the rest in no time.”
Mbu also frowned at the investment in Tinapa Resort by the Donald Duke administration in Cross River State, describing it as a non-viable project.
“Politically, it was myopic at conception; why should the resources of a state be frozen for decades? What about the cost of maintaining a non-viable project?” The former ambassador queried.
Chief Mbu died on February 6, 2012. The manuscript of his autobiography will be published in his honour.
