The collapse began on a Tuesday, though no one recognized it as a collapse at the time. It looked, instead, like justice finally catching up with those who'd spent decades outrunning it.
Emeka Okonkwo was the first to fall.
He was arrested at his Banana Island mansion at 6 a.m., live on every news channel in Nigeria. The cameras caught him in his dressing gown, protesting loudly as EFCC agents led him to an awaiting vehicle. The charges were numerous: fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, obstruction of justice. But the one that made headlines was the simplest: embezzlement of funds meant for a school that had killed fourteen children.
The video of his arrest went viral within hours. Commentators noted the irony—the man who'd mocked Elian's integrity now stood in handcuffs, his own caref
