“Corruption is not the cause of all
the problems confronting Africa. In terms of security, Boko Haram is the
biggest challenge we (Nigeria) have at the moment.” – President
Goodluck Jonathan
“For Mr. President to have said that
corruption is not our number one problem that must be the misstatement
of the century.” – Itse Sagay (SAN)
The first quote was the remark of
President Goodluck Jonathan at the just concluded World Economic Forum
in Davos, Switzerland, while making his contribution to a televised
debate titled, “Africa’s Next Billion.”
The president has completely erased
any iota of doubt that he has a thorough grasp of critical issues like
the prevalent endemic corruption now crippling governance that demands
his urgent attention as president of Nigeria and frontline leader on the
continent. One would expect that thorough research should be done by
his fawning aides before he speaks at such a forum. A statement like
that is the least expected from the president of one of the most corrupt
countries in the world. President Jonathan would have been dead right
if he had said every problem confronting Nigeria and indeed Africa is
the result of corruption. Any argument in the contrary is like saying
there are evils not traceable to the devil. Mr. President has displayed
too much incompetence in handling corruption in Nigeria and several of
his other responsibilities as president and remarks like the one in
Davos, buttresses this point. It is most unfortunate that our president
has a kindergarten understanding of graft and its concomitant effects.
He seizes every speaking opportunity to make excuses why he cannot fight
corruption. Such prevarication will not help the anti-graft war, they
only serve the purpose of encouraging more corruption.
His comments are coming at a time
that allegations of corruption against officials of his administration
are mounting. The Stella Oduah BMW scandal is still fresh in our memory.
With his latest misstatement making national headlines, he reminds us
of the fifth presidential media chat of September 29, 2013, were he said
that Nigeria’s corruption was merely a perception which is grossly
exaggerated.
As a member of the intellectual
community, he ought to know better and not mistake effects for causes.
Corruption diverts capital from legitimate purposes to making
wrongheaded policy decisions which deprives the country of a pool of
finances.
He has developed a penchant for
singing a different tune from realities on ground, same way he has
insisted that electricity has improved in spite of citizen reports to
the contrary. Deflecting international attention from sleaze is the
least expected at a time the country needed a consistent and dogged
fight against this monster. The level of corruption in the country
demands serious political will to combat, not occasional rhetorical
statements like the promise to fight the scourge in his New Year
message.
The present administration has
embarrassingly failed to realise that the root cause of the present wave
of terrorism ravaging the north east is the result of decades of
corruption and impunity of perpetrators coupled with the failure of
successive government to provide quality, affordable education to
Nigerian children. Graft goes beyond misappropriation of public funds.
How Boko Haram insurgency that affects a few local governments can be
rated above a hydra-headed monster that has eaten deep into the entire
Nigerian fabric cutting across all sectors of the economy and all levels
of government, stifling development, can only be understood by the
president.
The Islamic insurgency that the
president cited as a major challenge to his government has its
foundation in corruption. Government of isolation or exclusion which
breeds injustice and disaffection is corruption. The country might be
having a tough time combating the insurgency of Boko Haram, it does not
in any way imply insecurity has overtaken graft. Government malfeasance
is the result of dilapidated infrastructure such as roads, health care,
collapsed educational system and poor electricity.
Worse still, the failure of our
security operatives to effectively deal with the Boko Haram insurgency
is also attributable to graft. Billions are voted every year for
purchase of combat weapons, training and re-training of security
personnel but they somehow end up in private pockets. For example, a
former Inspector General of Police is still standing trial for diverting
police funds.
Whenever the president makes such
statements, it shows he is disconnected from the over one hundred
million Nigerians who live in abject poverty, same class of people he
belonged before he veered into politics. He lives in self-denial of the
realities on ground. Terrorism is no doubt a major problem, even
globally, but fighting the root causes and other issues that promote the
culture of violence requires a holistic approach.
Some of the probes that shows an evident
lack of political will to decisively deal with the menace of corruption
include: The KPMG report that indicted the Nigeria National Petroleum
Corportation (NNPC) for corrupt practices; The Nigeria Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit report exposing 10
years of corruption in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil
and gas industry; the probe of the Pension Fund Management by the Senate
Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment, State and Local
Government Administration; the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)
probe that exposed alarming revelations of corruption in the capital
market; the probe of the oil subsidy regime by the Ad hoc-committee of
the House of Reps; the non-prosecution of those indicted in the
Halliburton LNG bribery scandal, the recent Stella Oduah BMW scandal and
the unsatisfactory explanation the NNPC has given for the $10.8billion
of crude oil earning the Cental Bank of Nigeria (CBN) declared missing.
The list is almost in-exhaustive.
It is safe to say every problem we
have in Nigeria today has its roots in corruption. We would be living in
a fool’s paradise if we expected a president that has been encouraging
official corruption to see anything bad in it much less a problem for
Nigeria. This will amount to shooting himself in the foot.
Rather than roll up his sleeves and
concentrate on fixing Nigeria by fighting corruption frontally, he has
instead, resorted to wishing the problem away by selling a warped
ideology and diverting attention to insecurity. If this is the thinking
of the presidency, and the line of reasoning that this administration
wants to toe, then am sorry, we are doomed! I wish them goodluck.
Jonathan should as a matter of urgency,
combat the prevalent endemic corruption now crippling governance (at all
levels) and stunting the economy of the country.
Judicial officers blame the absurd
rulings on corruption cases on the outdated provisions of our
antediluvian law – like plea bargains, which allow wealthy Nigerians to
get laughable sentences for gargantuan corruption – needs amendment,
else criminality and corruption will continue to flourish. It is why
corruption has become a raging monster in this administration.
Regrettably, there are no serious efforts to review these laws. Justice
delayed is another variant of graft. Add that to looting, political
desperation, nepotism, impunity, electoral fraud, perjury and you get a
snippet of what corruption is.
There is no better time to step up the
fight and stem the tide of sleaze than now. Year 2014, to Nigerians, is
not just another year, but the end of a century of national existence
and the beginning of another. When the centenary celebration proper
begins, it should be time for sober reflection on how far we have come.
One of the numerous national questions that will continue to reverberate
in our minds will be: how did we find ourselves in this abyss of
monumental corruption?
Theophilus Ilevbare is a public affairs commentator. Engage him on twitter, @tilevbare. He blogs at http://ilevbare.com.
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