“Give us the fortitude to endure the things which cannot be changed, and the courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to know one from the other.”
-Oliver J. Hart

that culprits in the power scandal were exposed and punished, and thus serve as deterrent for prospective culprits.

It is amazing that seven months since that report was presented to the House for consideration, nothing has come out of it. All the excitement and the high expectations that the public inquiry attracted, have all gone with the winds. Like similar probes before it, the Ndidi Elumelu-led committee report appeared to have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

It is vintage Nigerian style of carrying out inquests.

Only recently, the media were awash with reports that tempers flared on the floor of the lower chamber when the report was tabled for debate. Majority of the House membership was said to be opposed to the report being debated saying it was done in bad faith and calculated to hurt some individuals. Even some members of the committee claimed they had no hands in the report and therefore, called for its killing.

I, like every other Nigerian is not in any way shocked by this latest development as it affects the power probe report. It is not the first time that probe reports have been discarded and thrown to the waste bin in Nigeria; the most shocking being the widely celebrated Oputa Panel report. It is not therefore, surprising why the disease called corruption has defied all cures in this land.

How does one expect the report to be debated when some of those who will debate it have their cronies and godfathers in the power contract scandal? How would they debate it when majority of them rely on that ill-gotten money to launch themselves back to the House come 2011? How would the report be debated when virtually all of them are not in any way perturbed by the perennial power crisis in the country?

Sometimes, I begin to wonder the kind of representation we get in this country. Too many things go awry in this country in the name of politics and godfatherism. This is the reason why those who are involved in the Halliburton bribe scandal are already facing prosecution in America but their partners in crime in Nigeria are walking on the streets like kings. They are untouchables! For how long will this continue in a country that wants zero tolerance on corruption?

For some us who have followed probes in this country, we knew the Elumelu report was dead at inception. We knew that some powerful cabals who are bent on dictating the direction of this country would not allow that report see the light of the day. We knew it was a disaster foretold. But it is a big shame that this is happening in the hallowed chambers of those whom we address as honourable men and women.

They should look at the indelible words of Theodore Roosevelt for guidance: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”