By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Let me disclose from the outset
that Nze Chidi Duru is my friend.
I met him for the first time sometime
in 1999 through a mutual friend who is now late, Tony Anyanwu, who represented
my Federal Constituency, Ahiazu-Ezinihitte Mbaise, in the House of
Representatives between 1999 and 2003.
Both Chidi and Tony, vibrant young
lawyers, had won their elections and were waiting to be inaugurated when Tony
and I went to see him in his law office in Lagos
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| *Nze Chidi Duru (pix: vanguard) |
Upon inauguration in early June
1999, Duru became one of the stars of the National Assembly (NASS) of the Fourth Republic
Such was his contribution that he
was appointed chairman of the very powerful and strategic House of
Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation between 1999
and 2003.
So exceptional was he that he was
nominated by the British government as one of 14 outstanding leaders in Africa
and attended the Africa Future Leadership Pilot Programme in Manchester , United Kingdom
For a man who believes so much in
capacity building and that politicians should have a “second address”, when he
left the NASS in 2007, he attended several management courses, including the
Chief Executive Programme at the Lagos Business School; Competitive Strategy
and Value Creation Course at the University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain; and the
Privatisation, Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance and Management of
Political Economic Reforms at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University.
He also ran his businesses here in
Nigeria
Until last week, I had not spoken
with him for about a year. So, I was alarmed when I read a story online on
Wednesday with the headline “Pension Scam: Ex-Rep, Hon. Chidi Duru, goes into
hiding as EFCC comes after fraudsters.”
I called him immediately and the
story he narrated shocked me.
The whole crisis has to do with
the First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) which he founded.
Duru said: “The licence of the
First Guarantee Pension Limited was given to me in recognition of the work that
one did bringing to fruition the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
“Fola Adeola, who was then the
chairman of the Steering Committee of the National Pensions Committee, was so
excited and so pleased with the hard work that was done in bringing this into
fruition that one was encouraged to consider the possibility of also being a
player in the industry.
“I applied and was granted a
licence as one of the players in the Pension Fund Adminiatration (PFA) industry
and the name of my company then was First Guarantee Pension Limited.
“Eventually, I brought together 37
shareholders to be able to promote First Guarantee Pension as a business.”
Unfortunately, that seems to be
his mistake.
