Halting the wheel of corruption in Nigeria

The issue of corruption in Nigeria is a lingering one. The phenomenon is as old as humanity itself. The most intriguing thing is that most people claim to know much about it and condemn every other person but themselves for the scourge. The issue has become like that of the proverbial lost knife that no one is willing to admit being its last user. From time immemorial, government claims to be waging war against the ugly spectacle but rather than it abating, like cancer, it is metastasising.

Just last week Monday, March 19, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo blew the whistle on the last administration. All the newspapers reported the VP criticising  the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging that while it spent a paltry N14bn on agriculture in 2014, N15bn on transport, and only N153bn on infrastructure in three years, it shared N150bn two weeks to the 2015 elections. Incredible! He was reported to have said this at the 7th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum for private sector stakeholders at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.  Osinbajo said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been unable to deal decisively with corruption because it is endemic and has fought back on all fronts.

The same day the Vice President was making the above startling revelations, I was privileged to attend a town hall meeting organised by the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja on the issue of corruption. The forum was tagged, “A Spanner in the Wheel of Corruption Town hall Meeting”. It featured a stage play entitled, “The Wheel”, a 30-year-old play written by the great Nigerian environmentalist, playwright and poet, Ken Saro-Wiwa. The play performed by Arojah Royal Theatre was a searing political portrayal of corruption in the Nigerian society.  It illustrated how corruption has permeated and percolated all strata of the society. Indeed, if the truth must be told, most Nigerians are complicit in this corruption chain. As the play depicted, most people within their spheres of influence indulge in corrupt practices. The civil servants, the market men and women, artisans, journalists, academics, contractors, politicians and people from all walks of life are grossly involved and that is why the ageless monster has refused to die.

The Special Guest of Honour at the town hall was the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. He commended the different anti-corruption agencies for their efforts at fighting the scourge but charged them all to do more. He claimed that the EFCC alone has about 3,800 cases of corruption in court in a society where the corrupt use their entire arsenal to fight against the staff of the agencies. Ribadu claimed Nigeria was doing better than all other African countries in the fight against corruption and that while many other countries had no single anti-corruption agency, Nigeria had many including the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau. He claimed that only Nigeria had succeeded in recovering looted funds in Africa. He finally charged all and sundry to stand against corruption.

There was also a panel discussion involving representatives of the government, citizens, media, and the judiciary. The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio, represented the government agency on the panel; Prof. Umaru Pate of the Bayero Univerity, Kano represented the citizens, Rosemary Othowo, Senior Programme Officer, International Centre for Investigative Reporting represented the media while Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju, Secretary General of Nigerian Bar Association represented the judiciary.  Patrick Okigbo of the Nextier Ltd moderated the session. The panel discussion as well as the questions and comments segment that followed it were eye-opening. Clinical diagnoses of the pull and push factors of corruption were highlighted. Efforts of government to fight corruption were also acknowledged. However, at the end of the programme, it was clear that the country is in a marathon race against corruption and not a 100meter dash. It was like holding a mirror to oneself and asking the person in there about who is responsible for the societal malaise.

It is patently clear that Nigeria needs a change of mindset in order to overcome the corruption challenge.  We all must inculcate and imbibe the right attitudes. However, in my own opinion, the high and mighty in the society, the elites in politics, business, military, religion and economy must lead the way. There is an adage that the front horse is the one at the back use to pace. Value reorientation must be demonstrated by our leaders. They must be the role models the younger ones will emulate. It is like parenting; the cotton harvested by the mother is what the daughter will thread.

 As the saying goes, examples are better than precepts. While sanctions may not be a sufficient deterrent to corruption, they do have a utilitarian value. Just imagine if all the big shots who have been dragged to court for corruption charges were successfully prosecuted and made to serve jail terms or pay heavy fines, many who are nursing corruption ambitions will be discouraged. Unfortunately, we have a near state of impunity in our fight against corruption as many corruption cases have lingered for more than a decade in our courts. Not even the Administrative of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prescribes accelerated hearing of criminal cases has made the desired impact on corruption cases in Nigeria.

Furthermore, in resolving this corruption challenge, it is imperative to make the welfare of workers paramount both by government and private sector employees. A situation where workers are owed a backlog of salaries and allowances is an incentive to corruption. Hunger and poverty can make some people to misbehave. It is also most desirable to tie the nuts and bolts of our anti-corruption laws and make sure the agencies established to fight corruption are well-resourced. After all, money is the wheel of the gospel. It is impossible to make a brick without straw neither is it possible to make omelette without breaking an egg. Above all, our anti-corruption agencies must not be subjected to undue political influence.