By Segun AyoboluJust as I am. That is the title of the engrossing autobiography by world renowned evangelist, Billy Graham, who simply, honestly, frankly and in a down to earth manner tells the story of his epic life from his childhood through to the height of his fame as perhaps the worlds most prominent and widely travelled preacher of the gospel of Christ.Billy Grahams unforgettable anecdotes, his sense of humour and his sincere self portrayal came to my mind as I read Mrs Farida Waziris gripping memoir, titled One Step Ahead: Life as a spy, detective and anti-graft Czar.This unpretentious narrative is a portrait of the essential Farida Waziri; the young, innocent and fervent Catholic girl who yearned to become a reverend sister but was destined for an eventful career in policing and crime fighting, legal practice and also playing a frontline role in the countrys war against crippling corruption at a critical point in the evolution of this political dispensation.Of course, there is all too much to whet the appetite, excite the senses and titillate the imagination in this superbly narrated book.It is thus not surprising that the intrigues that characterized her tenure as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), her nerve wracking and superlative exploits as pioneer Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) or her fascinating and deeply emotional rendering of her recollections of and roles in the aftermath of the 1976 Colonel B.S. Dimka coup as well as the 1995 phantom coup that purportedly sought to overthrow the regime of General Sani Abacha, for instance, have made the headlines and dominated the very effective pre-launch publicity of the book.What I, however, found most enjoyable about the book are the many lessons it offers about life and living drawn from the very personal and most intimate stories of Mrs Waziriher childhood, education, marriage, career trajectory, faith and even painful encounters with death when she lost loved ones.There is so much wisdom woven into every facet of this book, all distilled from the invaluable life experiences of the author.Mrs. Waziri nostalgically captures her love-suffused upbringing as a child in Gboko, Benue state, and how her parents inculcated in her a healthy sense of self esteem that guaranteed her psychological stability and emotional security later in life.In her words, Fathers words tide me over in my human odyssey. He blessed me with his declarations. His parenting style, as embodied in his love for me, taught me valuable lessons. Call your children good names. Speak good words into their lives. Advise them wisely.Then your prayers over them will come to pass. I have seen people who rebuked their offspring with vain and vulgar namesand not surprisingly, the children chose accursed pathsThere are better ways of correcting a child. Correct them, if you must, and firmly too. But, also talk to them softly. Counsel them with positive examples.The young Faridas early dreams of becoming a medical doctor was quickly jettisoned due to the unpleasant emotions she experienced on her first sighting of a corpse.Rather, her young imagination was fuelled by a desire to become a lawyer; an ambition partly influenced by a fictional character, Perry Mason, a brilliant investigative lawyer, she encountered in a detective novel series she read avidly. She was determined to obtain a university education and train to be a lawyer.However, as a result of subtle, albeit well meaning pressure, from one of her Uncles, the young Farida found herself enlisting in the Nigeria Police Force and pursuing a different career trajectory altogether.And this was despite her passing the entrance examination into the Catholic-owned Sacred Heart College, Kaduna, from where she could have pursued her dream of going to university and studying law.Did she give in to discouragement and disappointment when she had to discontinue her education at Sacred Heart College' Not on your life.In her words, I missed my opportunity to continue my education at Sacred Heart College. But I did not waste my time wallowing in recrimination and resentment. The same singular dedication I had devoted to education was redirected to the training at the Police College in Kaduna.Not surprisingly, she won the Baton for Best Recruit at the Police College and was among the ten best graduating police recruits to be moved to Lagos and given specialized training as an informant, intelligence officer and police spy.She gives an interesting insight into the life of a police spy when she writes, An interesting part of the job involved operating incognito.To be a spy, you have got to be good at disguising. You had to be adept at dressing to be inconspicuous. I could easily transform into a rich woman if the occasion was for prominent people and I had to blend into the backdrop.I could also, if the situation warranted, transform into an anonymous woman on the street, modestly clad, wearing bathroom slippers and not any different from groundnut sellers on the street.Read Also:Farida Waziri was simply hired to attack me, says JonathanThe author regales us with her invaluable experiences as a detective with the then famous intelligence arm of the police more popularly known as the E Department, a name which I first encountered in Wole Soyinkas prison memoirs, The man Died.Perhaps the most touching parts of the book are when she writes with such candour and disarming innocence about her first meeting with her future husband and her falling in love, getting married and building a home.Her first encounter as a young girl with the man she later married, Senator Adamu Ajuji Waziri makes interesting reading. In her words, One day, my uncle, Asaa, took me to the Police Officers Mess for my first experience of the Tombola.I sat close to him at his table. Across from us was a young man that openly ogled at me. His gaze was intense and it made me uncomfortable. Why was he staring at me' I was sure that I did not know him from anywhere.I was seeing him for the first time, yet, he kept his eyes on me. A few minutes later, he made his way to our table, greeted my uncle, and greeted my uncle, and tried to borrow a pen from him. You are not serious.If I give you mine, what will I use' retorted Uncle Asaa. I gave him the biro I had with me. He thanked me and went back to his seat.Mrs Waziri tells in a vivid and moving manner the story of her falling love and marrying her husband and the mutually fulfilling life they shared until his death; an experience that elicits deep sadness not only in the narrator but which the reader cannot but share.Out of her profound love for him, Mrs Waziri later converted to Islam even though her husband gave her utter freedom to continue to practice her Catholic religion.She movingly tells the story of their life together, her deft combination of marriage and career and the bringing up of their five children with love and compassion combined with discipline and firmness.It is testimony to the authors tenacity and diligence that after bearing and raising her children, she later pursued her dream of studying law at the University of Lagos and graduated with a Second Class Upper honours degree before proceeding to the Nigerian law school from where she also successfully graduated. She was also later to obtain a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan.Mrs Waziris effective discharge of her responsibilities as the pioneer Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit at the height of the infamous 419 menace in Nigeria no doubt recommended her much later for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.Although constantly faced with danger including assassination attempts as Head of the SFU, she undertook her assignment with courage and resilience. Under her leadership, the SFU recorded 11 convictions in two years in addition to making significant recoveries.Before her appointment as EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Waziri had retired meritoriously from the Nigeria Police Force after a 35 year career in which she served variously as Commissioner in Charge of Administration at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Commissioner of Police for General Investigations, Commissioner in charge of X-Squad and Commissioner in charge of SFU. She reports, remarkably, that she did not receive a single query throughout her career.Easily the most vilified and traduced Chairman of the EFCC, the undeniable record of her achievements in that office are documented for posterity in this book.It is certainly impossible to efface the over three and a half decades of dedicated service to her fatherland in different roles in the police prior to her appointment as EFCC Czar.It is certainly noteworthy that one of the countrys most highly respected former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Atta (RTD) testifies eloquently about Mrs. Waziris competence and character in his foreword to the book.In his words, I am pleased to write the forward to this masterpiece. Mrs Farida Waziri was an extraordinarily intelligent officer and being invited to write the forward to her book is an honour to me. I feel confident because I have interacted with her throughout her professional career.I knew her from the start of her police career, watched her progress up to her retirement, and followed her post-retirement activities at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).She towers in intelligence and character amongst her contemporaries. Her remarkable story is of benefit to our country now and in the future.
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