PRESIDENT of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana, literally saved Mallam Nuhu Ribadu from a barrage of questions from concerned Nigerians in London at the weekend.

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Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was assailed with questions on his integrity while superintending the commission under the Olusegun Obasanjo government.

Angry Nigerians and other nationals who attended the heated colloquium on the state of the Nigerian nation at the Metropolitan University, London, wanted to know on which platform Ribadu mounted the rostrum to declare Nigeria as a failed state, which they accused him of contributing to its failure.

Ribadu, who was moved to tears during his presentation, lamented that Nigeria had not made any steady progress because of poor leadership.

He had asked rhetorically: "How did we get here? How did we get it so wrong and how did we fail as a nation?"

He said he felt "sad that we're not allowing the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka and Chief Anthony Enahoro to rest. Why is it that the same man (Enahoro), who moved the motion for independence, is still the same one going over the nation and rallying politicians?

"Why are we not allowing Soyinka to rest after using more than 50 years of his life to fight for the nation?"

He cited Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Soyinka and Falana as some of his notable mentors even as he revealed that "fighting corruption is the worst and toughest job in the world. But I made up my mind to give it my best shot."

He encouraged everyone in Nigeria and in the Diaspora to rally round and "make Nigeria work... and let's start writing our own history."

His presentation drew applause and hisses, with many in the audience questioning his collaboration with Obasanjo to nearly derail the 2007 elections.

But Falana came to Ribadu's rescue and blasted a section of the Nigerian press as not capable of judging the state of democracy and its actors in Nigeria.

Specifically, Falana, easily one of the leading lights of the pre-1999 pro-democracy struggles in Nigeria, had sought to rescue his close pal - Ribadu - from some barrage of questions arising from his participation in the Obasanjo administration.

While rounding off his intervention, Falana, who suggested that the electoral Act in Nigeria should be amended to include provisions allowing Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote anywhere, urged the critical audience to judge the travail and triumph of Malam Ribadu within the context of what the administration he served represented and the structure of the section of the press that has been vilifying him (Ribadu).

His words: "Please, do not judge Ribadu by what you read in some Nigerian newspapers... The young man has not been everybody's friend. I also criticized him while he was EFCC boss from the way he was carrying out his assignment under Obasanjo.

"But he (Ribadu) has demonstrated by his act in office that corruption can be fought... Really, don't judge him by what you read in the newspapers."

Then, he raised the poser: "Who own the newspapers that have criticized him? The Nation is owned Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The Sun is owned by former governor Orji Uzor Kalu. Daily Independent is owned by James Ibori... Some of these actors even own some radio stations in Nigeria.

"The best thing these papers and their allies can do is to stigmatise Ribadu... These are people that Ribadu was prosecuting as EFCC boss."

However, a common thread that ran through concerns raised at the colloquium, which was also attended by the 1996 Nobel laureate in Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, as exclusively reported in The Guardian on Saturday, was the issue of strategic plans after the talkshop.

Many contributors including Mr. Tunde Asaju, a journalist and media consultant and Mrs. Josephine Amuwo, a London-based community organizer, raised questions about what would happen to issues raised at the symposium.

Mrs. Amuwo, who described the London gathering as "community development for me," said, "but all of you guys have to ensure that it should not just be a symposium where we write a report and nothing gets done."

She asked: "What are we going to do next year when we will clock 50 as an independent nation? What should we plan to do, too, in the next 50 years? We should be part of making Nigeria great again."

Mr. Asaju also wanted to know: "Do we just gather here, lament our fate and just go home? What concrete changes do we expect to make after here?"

Nonetheless, part of the practical steps suggested by Dr. Okey Ndibe, who spoke on 'The role of those in the Diaspora,' include:

"We ought to come out and demonstrate against an imposed leader. An imposed leader should be rejected. 99

"We should not always forgive and forget; we should develop a long memory of any wrong-doing. Obasanjo elected Yar'Adua and Nigerians have forgiven and forgotten.

"We have to insist on the right thing. No criminal should be allowed to go. We are in Nigeria, where when a politician steals public fund, he declares God is faithful; God has blessed me. Three Bishops held a mass for Professor Maurice Iwu (the INEC chairman) in Nigeria."

The symposium was organised by the Nigerian Liberty Forum, to mark Nigeria's Democracy Day in London on Friday.