There is a book written by Jeffrey Archer, the popular British author. The book is called “A Twist In The Tale”. It is a book of short stories and was published in 1988. It contains twelve short stories. One of the short stories is titled “Clean Sweep Ignatius”.
The short story is about corruption in Nigeria. The central character in the story is one fictitious Nigerian politician called Ignatius Agarbi who had served as a Finance Minister of Nigeria. Because of his perceived incorruptible nature the President appointed him an ambassador plenipotentiary to go round the world to recover all Nigerian stolen loots.
He begins a sweep on corruption and makes a name for himself. He is extremely honest, even insisting that his family vacations be billed to himself and not to his ministry. He is entrusted by his President to find out how many Nigerians have stashed their bribes in Switzerland.
He arrives at the Swiss Bank with a briefcase. Despite his greatest persuasion, the Swiss refuse to break their code of privacy. In the end, Ignatius places a gun to the head of the Swiss banker and threatens to kill him. Still the banker refuses to divulge any confidential information.
Ignatius, who is actually extremely corrupt, was only checking to find out if the Swiss Banks would actually reveal the name of an account holder. Delighted with their secrecy, Ignatius invests nearly $5 million in cash which he has skimmed during his period as Finance Minister.
Therefore whenever any Nigerian anti corruption czar kisses the dust, just like the current case of Abba Kyari, I remember this short story by Jeffrey Archer. At the end, there must be a twist in the Nigerian anti corruption tale.
Stanley Chidozie Imo, Esq. is the immediate past 1st Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
