When an American journalist and author, Anya Schiffrin, was working on
her book, Global Muckraking: 100 Years of Investigative Journalism From
Around the World, she thought it was expedient for her to exclude from
it an investigative series from Nigeria on alleged corrupt practices of
the then petroleum minister in the country, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The
book, published in 2014, showcases the outstanding works of
investigative journalists in different parts of the world. The series on
Mrs.
Allison-Madueke was published in 2011 by the rested NEXT
newspaper. They were republished last year on PREMIUM TIMES, with
permission from NEXT.
Today, Mrs. Schiffrin, who is also a journalism
professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public
Affairs, expresses regret for her decision on Mrs. Allison-Madueke, who
remains one of the most controversial public officers in Nigeria, since
she left office more than a year ago.
Mrs. Schiffrin, 54, said she took the decision because the then minister threatened her with a lawsuit.
“(We)
got a series by a terrific, highly respected Nigerian journalist named
Musikilu Mojeed saying that a government official, Alison Madueke, was
corrupt,” Mrs. Schiffrin said in an interview with Guernica magazine,
last year.
“I Googled (Madueke) and found an article by a British
journalist saying that she was working to clean up corruption. So I
contacted him and asked, ‘Do you realize that this extremely
well-respected Nigerian journalist said (Madueke) is corrupt?’ The
British journalist was not at all defensive and said, ‘I’ll get back to
you.’
“In the meantime, I began asking people I knew in Nigeria. I
started getting these very guarded and cryptic emails and messages. I
think no one wanted to commit themselves in writing, but they said
things like, ‘(Mojeed) is really reliable.’ They didn’t say, ‘That woman
is corrupt,’ but rather, ‘The newspaper is reliable.’
“Someone I
knew also contacted Madueke’s office. But the next thing that happens
is I get a letter from her lawyer (asking not to publish these stories)
because they are libelous. Meanwhile, the British journalist got back to
me and said he did not stand by his original story anymore.
Mrs.
Schiffrin said by the time they had a rethink and decided to include
the series on Mrs. Allison-Madueke, there wasn’t any more space in the
book. It was a tough call for her, she said
“Once I got the lawyer’s letter, of course, I regretted the decision not to include the series even more,” she said.
Mr.
Mojeed, who is currently PREMIUM TIMES’ Editor-in-chief, was working
with NEXT then, and co-authored the series on Mrs. Allison-Madueke.
The
series portrayed Mrs. Allison-Madueke as corruptly enriching herself
and her cronies through suspicious, and sometimes secret, multi-million
dollars oil deals at the country’s expense.
In one of the
reports, the then minister was alleged to have violated Nigerian laws
and regulations, and awarded multi-million dollars oil-lifting contracts
to ‘briefcase companies’ owned by her U.S-based jeweller, Christopher
Aire.
Mrs. Allison-Madueke was arrested late last year in London
by the UK National Crimes Agency for offences related to bribery and
corruption, but was later released on bail, alongside four other persons
arrested with her.
Back home in Nigeria, the former minister has been under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC.
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