Taken
together, this and other remarks he has made read like a concise report of the
moral condition of the Nigerian elite, and it is not only embarrassing, it is
dejecting. Coming as an admission from the highest level of
government in the land that, in a country of 170 million , ‘the key
issue always is finding the persons for any task ; a
tough task indeed in (this) corrupt system,’ every citizen, as well
as genuine friends of Nigeria must be deeply
concerned because of the wide-reaching implications of
a people acknowledged as bereft of integrity in all
its ramifications. Alas, if, as some say, the history of a society
is a history of its elite, then it is not a surprise that Nigeria has come to
this sorry pass.
It is not
enough, however, to be merely concerned; nor is it useful to lament. Indeed,
there is little that the vice-president has said that is new to Nigerians. The
number is simply amazing of high and low government officials
currently facing trial, of business persons with cases to answer,
of even spiritual leaders involved in shady deals all for the
reward of filthy lucre. Once a high-ranking American government
official felt no compunction to sweepingly tag
this country ‘ a nation of scammers’. He was not totally
right, but he was also not absolutely wrong. Indeed, the unenviable
reputation of Nigeria, or, more correctly, Nigerians, precedes and, rightly or
wrongly, defines them outside the country. Just as Nigerians within consider
public officials guilty of corruption until proven innocent, so too foreigners
generally presume Nigerians guilty or capable of acts of corruption until they
prove otherwise.
If
reputation is lost, all is lost. The urgent question then is: what is to
be done about this terrible infection that pervades this land? First,
because political leadership is key to the change from
the present sad state of things and which the All Progressives
Congress Party (APC) and its government promised the
electorate, the Nigerian presidency must commit itself to, and be
seen to so do, a life of rectitude and an integrity-driven
government. The only effective leadership is by example and the presidency, as
the pinnacle of authority and power, must earn and claim without an iota of
doubt, the moral high ground from which it can prosecute the war against the
hydra-headed corruption monster. But good leadership cannot, alone, fix
Nigeria. A willing and supportive followership must play its necessary
part.
Secondly,
that ‘the fight against corruption is a fight against the system’ may
be correct; but only partially so. Systems are by, of, and for
people. Therefore a system is only as good, or as bad, as the people who
institute, operate and sustain it. So, there is no problem
with the Nigerian system, only with Nigerians. This then makes
the fight against corruption not that of the leadership alone, but of all
citizens and friends of Nigeria. And it must be said that most Nigerians have
benefited one way or the other from acts of corruption in high places. Many are
as guilty by acts of omission or of commission. In this matter, therefore,
every man and woman must do his or her duty.
Third, even
President Muhammadu Buhari acknowledges that if Nigeria does not kill
corruption, corruption may kill the country. An extraordinary problem
necessarily requires an extraordinary solution. Having correctly
understood the broad base of and the strong tie that binds
the motley ‘venal crowd’ of corrupt people, their desperation
to stay in business, as well as the immense resources
they can muster to fight back, this government
needs to employ a wide range of methods,
legal, psychological, moral, to engage these forces
and subdue them. The press and the Nigerian public can be
powerful allies if they are strategically deployed.
A majority of
Nigerians have, for so long, been victims of the destructive, rapacious,
numerically small elite that thrive on and perpetrate corruption. They
would be only too glad to collaborate with a trusted government to take
back their fair share of the commonwealth denied them for so long. But
there must be no room for a re-looting of recovered loot, only the equitable
redistribution and a transparent and judicious use of it for the public good.
Fourth, it
needs to be said that corruption is not really a recent phenomenon in the
history of this country or indeed, of any country. The point for worry is
that corruption has, in the last thirty or so years, assumed a dimension
that threatens the authority and power of the state, and the continued existence
of the country. The ‘corruption economy’ is arguably bigger, better structured,
and more sophisticated in its operations, than the national economy.
Corruption has grown more desperate and its corroding influence is
more wide-ranging. No country can survive, develop and make progress in such a
condition. Something must give and this monster must be forced to give
without negotiation.
Government
deserves every support to bring corruption to submission by every reasonable
and fair means including raising, in the words of Professor Osinbajo,
‘ a new tribe of men and women who are prepared to make the
sacrifices and self-constraints that are crucial to building a strong
society; who are prepared to stick together, fight corruption
side-by-side, and insist on justice even when our friends are
on the receiving end’. This, certainly, can be done. The only
thing required is that the political leadership walks its talk and
leads by example. (Guardian)
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