President Muhammadu Buhari |
Not that
corruption can’t be fought and won in Nigeria. It can. But we can’t fight it on
the present foundation of a unitary system in a polity that can only operate
optimally on true federalism, resource control, free market economy,
privatization, deregulation and no subsidy.
Nigeria is a
unique case where the only system that can work and make the country to work
optimally and make rapid progress is true federalism and resource control. Also
because of distortions that had compromised the economy, the imperative of
market becomes obvious. We are in the same situation where Russia was under President Boris Yeltsin when late Professor Milton Friedman was
approached to advise them on their economy. His recommendation was market
economy, privatization, deregulation and liberalisation.
Nigeria
stopped working since 1966 when the military came in and introduced unitary
constitution. Obasanjo’s constitution of 1979 that we are still operating is a
unitary constitution though they call it federal. The country since the
military came in is built on free oil money that belongs to the Niger delta
people. In a free market economy, private ownership of the means of production
is the cornerstone. But in Nigeria, armed military government in the fashion of
armed robbers seized the oil from the individual land owners on whose land the
oil was found by gun and decrees. The land, the resources on it belong to the
owner of the land not the federal, state or local government. No lie like the
one usually given to deny agitation for state police justifies the central
government taking over oil resources from people of Niger Delta.
Anything
outside that negates market economy system. And it is an outright robbery. The
Nigerian ruling class can only continue to share the oil money through the
unitary arrangement; hence from Obasanjo to Buhari, they are opposed to true
federalism and resource control. As long as everybody gets that free money from
Abuja, it can be spent any how and nobody is accountable to anything. Using
EFCC, DSS, probe or investigation is only diversionary, parochial and fooling
the people.
As we speak,
EFCC, DSS operatives, staff in the presidency, people linked to present power
configuration and other agencies are taking advantage of the war against
corruption to become rich. Another set of new rich people are emerging. That is
why I said that even if Buhari and his top men are angels, the present system
accommodates corruption, hence stealing will still take place as usual and more
than as usual too among the new power brokers.
The unitary
system and centralisation makes Nigeria an exceptional country where tiny
minority civil servants, soldiers, custom and immigration men, policemen,
corporations’ men are superbly rich without being productive and the remaining
99.5% of the 180 millions languishes in extreme poverty. The consequence of the
above can only be precisely predicted. The poverty created by few looters of
the treasury, who also engage in ostentatious living in turn create armed
robbery, kidnappers and Boko Haram.
What is the
way out? We call on Mr. Buhari like President
Ronald Reagan called on Mr.
Gorbachev to pull down this wall of unitary constitution and central
control of the economy and embrace true federalism and resource control. When
there is nothing to share again, every local government chairman, state
governor will go and sit down and come up with how they are going to run their
local government and state. And Federal Government and its officials will also
sit down and ask themselves whether they can maintain bi camera parliament,
continue to create illegal agencies like EFCC, etc.
In Canada,
we pay property tax as property owners or we pay indirectly as tenants. Because
of this, the municipality authorities and officials must as a necessity carry
the garbage, provide street lights, water, repair the roads, remove snow, etc.
They dare not provide these services except they want trouble. They can’t say
they don’t have money hence they will have to explain what they do with the
taxes.
Mayors and
councilors can’t share the tax money, neither can premiers (governors) nor
their ministers. By implication, mediocre persons can’t go to government. Only
people who have something to offer do. Government officials from the president
to the legislators think and generate their salaries. Their salaries are not
given. If they don’t generate revenue, they don’t get paid.
In Nigeria
people seek elective and political positions because the Niger delta oil money
is already there to take care of them. They don’t have to think and work. They
just manage files. They take their own share of the money and leave the paltry
remaining to sometime pay workers and provide services when they can. If they
can’t leave anything behind everybody can go to hell.
The big and
sad news today is some people ‘stole’ or misappropriate $2.1billion and they
are in the news because they belonged to PDP administration. Hundreds of
billions had been stolen before them and while they were stealing by APC
governments’ officials; and billions are still being stolen now and will be
stolen under this administration because the system is just built for that.
We don’t
need angel and saint Buhari to stop corruption. We need him if he is genuine to
listen to us and experiment with our solution of bringing down the wall of
unitary constitution by introducing true federalism, resource control and real
market economy where the economy is run by the households and firms, an
independent central bank and other regulators.
After all,
when Buhari ran with Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain
Assembly in 2011, he ran on the platform of true federalism, devolution of
power, state police and free market economy. Some of these still featured in
his APC manifesto. Therefore, it should not be difficult to put this motion as
he once believed and he remains a believer; except he only deceived. (Source:
Guardian)
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