Nigeria Is In The Grip Of Evil Men – El-Rufai

Former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, yesterday took an overview of the country and submitted that the nation was in the firm "grip of evil men".



Quoting a 16th century Irish political philosopher and statesman, El-Rufai said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. We have the worst of men in most parts of the country ruling right now. We should be ashamed of ourselves for this."

El-Rufai, who spoke on a live television programme, Focus Nigeria, broadcast by Africa Independent Television (AIT) in Abuja yesterday, urged Nigerians to wrest the country from the grasp of bad leaders. The former minister debunked claims that he was speaking out now against bad leadership with an eye on an elective office, saying:" I am not an ambitious person.

Not all of us are in politics for elective offices." However, el-Rufai assured that he would join forces with the promoters of the yet-to-be-registered All Progressive Congress (APC) "to kick out the toxic Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from government in the interest of the country," stressing that "the PDP is hated by most reasonable Nigerians.

We'll defeat the evil people for Nigerians". Speaking to some of the controversial points he made in his recently launched book entitled, The Accidental Public Servant, El-Rufai dismissed as "balderdash" some of the rejoinders to the publication. He stressed that the book only portrays his subjects' "strengths and their weaknesses to educate young people for the good of the country".

El-Rufai also urged "those in government with me to write their memoirs and portray my strengths and weaknesses, of which I have many". "In that book, I only open up the black box of government. Personally I have nothing to gain at all by writing it; it is for the good of the country," he said.

"No country can make progress by running a closed government and that is the whole essence of the freedom of information law. In fact, I will write more books about my time in government. I'm even working on a book about my time in the BPE."