A former foreign affairs minister, Mathew Mbu, has exposed in his autobiography how the Nigerian government refurbished an old £2.8m ship with £18m.
This was revealed in his book titled, Mbu: Dignity in Service.
The late diplomat wrote that he bought the ship on behalf of the country for £2.8m, and expressed surprise that the Ministry of Defence officials allegedly sent the vessel for refitting at a whopping sum of £18m, shortly after he left the ministry.
Mr. Mbu died on February 6, 2012 but left the manuscript of his autobiography which the family published in his honour.
Mathew Mbu Jr., son of the late diplomat, told journalists on Thursday that the book would be launched posthumously on April 10, 2018 at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
In the book, the author told the story of how he fought corruption by serving with dignity, saying that the then Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammad Ribadu, approved £6.5m for the flagship, which he (Mbu) purchased for the Nigerian Navy for £2.8m, thus saving the nation £3.7m.
In addition to the ship, the then Netherland Minister of Defence, Piet de Jong, who he said was his friend, also made a present of two ships to Nigeria as his country’s contribution to the Nigerian Navy, Mbu disclosed.
Mbu Jnr. said, “MT Mbu did not only come back with a flagship befitting the NN for £2.8m and saved £3.7m, but had a deal to pay back the £2.8m in 10 years interest-free.
“The story of Mbu tells us how to stop kickback and start kicking forward. Unfortunately, and it was a sad moment for Mbu when he left the ministry and one of those ships was sent for refitting at the cost of £18m.”
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