L-R: Tinubu and Chagoury
By Uzoma Chilaka
President Bola Tinubu has conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on his longtime business associate, Gilbert Chagoury.
This decision says a lot about the direction of this government.
Gilbert Chagoury is not just a businessman. He became wealthy and powerful during the Sani Abacha military regime, one of the darkest periods in Nigeria’s history.
He was a close associate of Abacha and benefited from major government contracts at a time when Nigeria was being heavily looted.
In 2000, Swiss authorities convicted Chagoury for laundering money linked to Abacha’s stolen funds.
He paid fines and returned millions of dollars traced to looted Nigerian money. These are documented facts, not allegations.
At the height of international investigations, Chagoury later appeared as Saint Lucia’s envoy to the Vatican and UNESCO, a role that gave him diplomatic cover despite having no real connection to that country.
Today, under President Tinubu, Chagoury has returned to the centre of power.
His company, Hitech Construction, is handling the controversial Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, a project worth trillions of naira.
The contract was awarded with little public transparency.
His business interests are now deeply tied to federal infrastructure projects.
There are also reported business links between the Tinubu and Chagoury families, raising serious conflict-of-interest concerns.
Even presidential travel has been linked to Chagoury’s private jet.
Now, a man once convicted in connection with looted Nigerian funds has been awarded one of the highest national honours of the country.
This sends a clear message: past corruption is no longer a problem if you are close to power.
When people who symbolise Nigeria’s years of looting are celebrated, accountability loses its meaning.
That is why many Nigerians are disappointed and why Nigerians weep.
Yet EFCC are busy after opposition leaders in a name of fighting corruption while those aligned with APC aren’t only protected but rather GCON are now offered to a well known corrupt person.
Indeed a Town hall meeting is different from Balabulu Bulaba. Nigeria will never be the same after Tinubu…!
