In Nigeria, sexual misconducts by public office holders are at best discussed in hushed voices. When it relates to the high and mighty like lawmakers, they are sometimes celebrated. Sex in high places has indeed brought down men in their political prime. Dominique Strauss-Khan, the former IMF chief and then leading contender for the Socialist Party’s Presidential ticket in France lost his good place in French history to his involvement with a hotel maid in the US;
Silvio Berlusconi, the once untouchable Italian Prime Minister was found guilty of paying for sex with an underage prostitute in 2013. US Senator, John Ensign resigned his position in 2011 after acknowledging an affair with a former campaign staff following a Senate ethics probe.
Nigerians were, therefore, last week jolted by the ‘news’ that three members of the House of Representatives are now subjects of investigation in the United States, having been accused of sexual misconduct and attempted rape while on a visitors’ pragramme in the US.
The allegation was made public by the US’ highest representative in Nigeria, its ambassador, James Entwistle, in a letter to the Speaker of the House, Hon Yakubu Dogara.
A formal report from an ambassador to a host country underscores the veracity and seriousness of the matter in question. The three lawmakers, Samuel Ikon, Muhammed Garba Gololo and Mark Gbillah were on a US International Visitors Leadership Programmes , (IVLP) in Cleveland, Ohio, when the incident was said to have occurred in April, this year.
The IVLP is a programme of the US Department of States that brings “current and emerging leaders from across the world to the US to meet with professionals and their counterparts. Their itinerary typically starts from Washington to three cities within the country that highlight the ‘tremendous diversity’ of the American society…International visitors also share their culture and offer insight into the best practices and perspectives with their hosts in the US”.
The core essence of cultural exchange, to me, is what our members of the House betrayed in their excesses or sexual escapades in the US, if the allegations are proven to be true.
Without meaning to profile the lawmakers or prejudge them before the outcome of the House investigation, what they did amounted to exporting the worst side of our social interaction among the opposite sex, and, in the process, revealed that they were not good ambassadors of the country. The IVLP is a cherished programme for privileged participants. Distinguished Alumni of the IVLP such as Tony Blair, Hamid Karzai, Anwar Sadat, Dilma Rouseff, John Kuffour, etc., all became leaders of their countries due, in part, to the impact of the programme.
Many Nigerians from all disciplines: academia, government, civil societies, media etc. have, at one time or the other, participated with impressive records. It is disheartening that the `supposed honourable lawmakers, held in high esteem, are the ones that have brought the country to disrepute. The scandal is so serious it deserves thorough and exhaustive investigations. This is the least we can do as a nation to redeem our image, and much better if the lawmakers can prove their innocence.
Typical of our politicians, all three gentlemen have denied the allegation. For me again, their denial is questionable, considering Ambassador Entwistle’s chronology of the events as they happened there.First, ten members were said to have participated in the programme;
why did the ambassador single out only three of them to ‘accuse’ or report on their misconduct?
In the said letter to Speaker Dogara, he was very explicit as to who did what. In a nutshell, he said: “Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Rep. Gololo. Mark Ikon and Terseer Ghillah, allegedly requested hotel parking attendants to assist them to solicit prostitutes.
“The US Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.
The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the IVLP and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole. Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the US in the future”, the ambassador said.
As an alumnus of the IVLP, I cannot but appreciate, the ideals behind the programme, the efforts and tremendous organizational ability put into it and the hands on skills that come with it. That was in 2004. Our group was interesting in so many ways, coming shortly after the 911 Twin Tower bombing allegedly committed by some Islamist terrorists and the crackdown on Muslims by angry US citizens and to some extent government.
We were all journalists, all Muslims and from mainly countries with huge Muslim populations, namely Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Malasia, Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania. Two of us were from Nigeria. Besides visiting the capital, Washington, we also visited Atlanta, Phoenix and San Franscisco.
Obviously, the idea of an all-Muslim group was meant to bridge barriers, seek to understand and reconcile the position or actions of the US to readers from our own countries. Indeed, the IVLP is a laudable programme that has impacted positively on participants who most likely transited to hold leadership positions in their communities and countries as we have seen in Afghanistan, Brazil, Britain, Botswana, Benin, Ghana and Kenya. We must not allow the recklessness of a few bad eggs to taint the country’s reputation and encourage the US government to review the programme or stop future (Nigerian) participants from enjoying its benefits.
