World Bank bribe for contracts report: Sagay, Aremu, others carpet govt.

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Bukola Afolabi.

Professor Itse Sagay (SAN),

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A recent World Bank report detailing the level of corruption in Nigeria’s public and private sectors has elicited diverse reactions with experts calling for soul-searching among the populace.
According to the report, a great percentage of Nigerian businesses have no qualms with giving bribe to government officials to facilitate deals.
The report estimates that 80 per cent of Nigerian businesses are involved in the practice.
Reacting to the World Bank report, constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), said: “Everybody knows that this country is overwhelmed with corruption. The level of corruption is so very frightening. The implication of this is that genuine businessmen who come into the country ready to do business will have to consider getting back their benefits before anything else. No matter how you look at it, it is a great disadvantage to us because it will deprive the country the necessary economic growth and development.”
The only way to address this malaise in the long term, he said, “Is for us to have honest people in government at the highest level. If we have a leader who leads by example those under him will have no option than to fall in line. But the unfortunate thing now is that there is a lot of corruption in the top echelons of this country.
“You can see that the few people, who have been accused of fraud either in the past or in recent times, are all part of the privileged class and those who are close to the corridors of power”, he stressed.
Echoing similar sentiments, Dr. Chris Onalo, Registrar/Chief
Executive, Institute of Credit Administration, said he has no doubt that as a non-partisan body, the World Bank report is based on empirical research, which, he noted, has shown that the country is not serious about fighting corruption at all.
According him, “the much-touted anti-corruption war by the government simply shows that the country is chasing shadows.”
The implication of this trend, he said, “Is such that it will stifle economic growth, undermining our security and the country’s sovereignty as a whole. It shows again that the theory and practice of democracy is not working after all.
“It is really sad that the government which has told the world that it has put in place due diligence and procurement procedures in award of contracts would allow itself to be mired in such level of corruption as identified by the World Bank survey.
“If the report is inclusive of what obtains in the public and the organised private sector, then it only means that our value system has been completely eroded and we all have to re-orientate ourselves.”
Corroborating him, Dr. Jonathan Aremu, an economist who consults for some top multilateral agencies, said the report simply confirms what is already well known about the country being mired in the cesspit of corruption.
“It is very unfortunate that the magnitude of corruption is so high.
The issue is that everybody knows that corruption here is expensive. You have top government functionaries are being indicted but it is rather sad that these people get a slap on the wrist by way of reprimand simply because they are members of the ruling elite”, Aremu lamented.
On its implication on the economy, the former Deputy Director,
Research and Planning at the Central Bank of Nigeria, said it is
unpalatable. “When such things happen, it slows down the pace of economic development. The long term implication is that it is going to affect even the generations yet unborn”, he said, adding: “If we continue to tolerate corrupt officials and cover for their crime under party politics we are going to be a nuisance in the comity of nations.
Unless we have in place a system that punishes offenders, this hydra-headed monster of corruption will continue to reign supreme.”
Giving a fresh perspective, Baba Omojola, a renowned economist and World Bank consultant, said the report has simply shown the kind of challenge confronting most free enterprise economies like Nigeria.
According to him, “Such corruptive tendency is expected in a free enterprise economy. It is both a political and socio-economic problem. An economy that is not founded on the building blocks of trust, social justice is bound to be confronted by this challenge.”