An average
Nigerian’s mind had been so corrupted by the system we operate that many seem
to have accepted corruption and impunity as a way of life we must live with.
For example, with the mind-boggling revelation that some highly placed people
in the previous administration and their friends have shared among them a
princely sum of $2.1 billion meant
for the prosecution of the war on terror in the North East, one would have
expected Nigerians to react with one voice with gusto!
This is a
sum equivalent to the Lagos State’s Recurrent and Capital Budget proposal for
2016; 10 times Ekiti State’s approved budget for the same period and more than
75% of the $1.5 billion that the Chinese government used to build the longest
bridge in the world across the ocean, linking their two major cities.
But
contrarily, some youths in some parts of the country even went as far as
organising protests to challenge the government’s holding such suspects in custody
for proper interrogation pending their arraignment in court. Rather than
consider the merit or demerit of the accusations against the suspects, some are
quick to read persecution on account of political differences or even ethnicity
into the motive for arresting such suspects. Their reasoning seems to be that
since those prosecuting them could be equally culpable or that there are other
corrupt fellows around, why singling their man out for justice?
First, there
is nowhere in the world where all criminals are apprehended all at once.
Judgment must begin somewhere. This was why the Bible says judgment will begin
from the most sacred place – the house of God! Even where people conspired to
commit a crime, judgment is not delayed in respect of those who were
apprehended among them just because their fellow travellers were still at
large. Every suspected criminal deserves to have his day in court irrespective
of what happens to others who were yet to come within the reach of the long arm
of the law. 4
Secondly,
other people’s crimes are still in the realm of speculations until they are
apprehended as ‘suspects’ to be investigated by competent authorities. And if
after such investigation they are considered worthy of being arraigned in
court, they become ‘the accused.’ It is after the court of competent authority
finds them guilty that they become ‘criminals.’ But one must not lose sight of
the fact that their innocence is being challenged more and more at every stage
until their eventual conviction or discharge: from being mere ‘suspects’, to
becoming ‘the accused’ and eventually ‘the convict’, if not discharged by the
court.
The
mind-boggling accusations to me are first and foremost this administration’s
test of its seriousness to fight corruption. When during Yar’Adua’s
administration, some legislators began their investigation of the alleged
corruption in the Obasanjo’s electricity generation scheme without bringing it
to a logical conclusion, but with the turnaround that the hunters later became
the hunted, Nigerians were totally confused as to who exactly were the thieves?
This administration must avoid such pitfalls. Prosecutors must be ready to
pursue justice even up to the Supreme Court, if need be.
On the other
hand, I think it’s high time the Nigerian
Judicial Council (NJC) provided a framework to monitor the quality of
judgments in corruption cases without having to wait for petitions from the
public. This is because government agencies like the EFCC or ICPC are not
expected to petition the NJC on behalf of the state if they suspect foul play
by a judge in the discharge of his duty. They can only go on appeal to contest
wrong application of the law and not to impugn on the integrity of the judge.
Having a monitoring framework would not only make it possible to review and
possibly reverse some judges’ perceived indiscretion in letting economic
saboteurs off the hook, but would also make the judges more aware of their
onerous responsibilities adjudicating in these important cases that touch the
wellbeing of millions of Nigerians and be more circumspect in their handling.
Lastly,
governments should endeavour to stop encouraging corruption mindset by systems
that dull Nigerians’ conscience against corruption and impunity. For example,
everybody knows that having to obtain roadworthiness certificate for all
vehicles above certain numbers of years old, when nearly all the vehicles on
our roads fall into this category because of our economic reality, is just a
revenue-earning gimmick for governments. This is because it is practically
impossible for all qualifying vehicles to be tested by the vehicle inspection
officers before these certificates are issued as expected. Hence the people and
those vested with the responsibility resort to agreeing that its cost be paid
as revenue to government with additional money to facilitate its issuance.
If the
government wants more revenue, it should just add the cost of this paper to the
cost of the regular vehicle licence for private vehicles and concentrate on
testing the commercial vehicles before issuing the roadworthiness certificate
as it used to do. The present procedure has made everyone involved to accept
corruption as part of the system. This same corruption goes on in different
degrees in most government institutions: from the customs, the immigrations,
police, higher institutions, building plan approval, etc. It’s almost the norm
when soliciting for contracts in government establishments. And it informs why
our elections are hardly free and fair.
With minds
as corrupt as many Nigerians’ are, no amount of money will adequately fix our
comatose infrastructure nor do we stand the chance of installing merit to
determine who gets what, which is essential to our excelling as a nation in
this age when even the developed countries are eager to snatch our best and
brightest brains from us. (Source: Guardian)
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