Few hours ago, the Attorney General of Israel, Avichai Mandelblit, formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases. According to the indictment, “Netanyahu accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, offered to trade favors with a newspaper publisher and used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site.” The Prime Minister had denied them.
Without going into the details of the merit or otherwise, the very fact that an AG can move against a Prime Minister this way for justice is a practical demonstration of why some nations continue to rise while Nigeria continues to carry its national demo – corruption. The cases against Mr. Netanyahu are so commonly practiced here that if we execute similar legal system, they will use the national budget to expand the prisons for the LGA, state and federal politicians!
Receiving cigars, favorable coverage on a newspaper and favours – yes, those are charges against a prime minister. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello would be rolling in their graves on what they missed in architecting the foundation of Nigeria.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Israel’s attorney general on Thursday formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, throwing the country’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening the long-time leader’s grip on power.
Capping a three-year investigation, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different scandals. It is the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister has been charged with a crime.
I watched the prime minister’s rebuttal and I could not believe it was a prime minister responding. Simply, the Israel nation is bigger than any person.
---
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.
But Nigeria is not a nation, just a country, with no one actually claiming ownership, rather every tribe or group is doing their bit to finish it off!
The president even went on two weeks holiday the other time, the only thing we were told was that it was a ‘private visit’; you now begin to wonder how possible it is to use public funds for private visit. At least his men ensured he was ruling from London, and you think we are not jokers here? Think again.
Nothing is abnormal in Nigeria, as long as you are in the good books of those who decide who should be charged and who should be ignored.
At the moment we are debating ‘hate speech’ and ‘social media’ bills, with punishment ranging from one extreme to another. The same people who ought to sponsor life imprisonment and death penalty bills for misgovernance and mindless looting among the political class; but they are so concerned about rantings on social media by ordinary Nigerians.
Maybe we need to outsource the leadership of this country, because we have continuously demonstrated that we incapable of leading Nigeria.
Benjamin was charged for champagne and cigars? If you do it here, your people will sew all kinds of uniforms, with music and dance, welcoming you home!