High and the Mighty for Waziri Farida’s Book Launch
At last, Farida Waziri, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is set to make public presentation of her much-publicized memoirs, One Step Ahead - Life As A Spy, Detective and Anti-graft Czar, on February 11, 2020, at the Ladi Kwali Halls and Conference, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja.
Speaking on the book, she said: “Through this book, I am rendering my account by presenting my mosaic experience – as Special Branch operative, as pioneer head of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), as a detective at CID, as Commissioner of Police, as former chair of EFCC, as wife of Nigeria’s ambassador to Turkey, and as a lawyer that sat through one of the stormy moments of this country and witnessed first-hand behind-thescenes happenings that form part of Nigeria’s development history.
“Myths and mythologies about Nigeria’s endemic corruption are due to the chameleonic forms of the scourge. I had the privilege to dissect the problem from the vantage position of being at the helm of SFU and EFCC, and I have simplified the anatomy of fraud and public office corruption in Nigeria.
“The trove of facts in the book belongs to the public. I have simply held them in trust for so long. I have no right to covet them. And having held them for so long, I have decided it is time to declassify them by putting them into a book form.This is the main motivation for the memoir.”
The presentation of the book, which will be reviewed by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, is expected to be graced by dignitaries, including Nigeria’sVice President, Prof.Yemi Osinbajo (Special Guest of Honour), former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Chairman of the occasion), former First Lady, Hajia TuraiYar’Adua (mother of the day), state governors, ministers, top security chiefs, captains of industry and royal fathers, among others.
According to the organizers, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr Mathew Kukah, who will be guest speaker at the occasion, will deliver a lecture on the topic:“Is Corruption a Biological necessity or Political Invention?“The Chairman of Caverton Group, Chief Remi Makanjuola , will be the Chief Presenter. Since her retirement and exit as EFCC boss, she has kept herself busy as the founder and principal partner of Brookfield Chambers, a firm of legal practitioners based in Abuja. She has also been spending her extra time on philanthropy and social work.