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Taking a look at the on-going fight against corruption, ELEOJO IDACHABA writes on stakeholders’ views employing unconventional means.

In recent times, this monster called corruption which the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari promised to tackle head-long on coming to power and which his administration has been tackling since 2015 seems to be a very difficult fight. This is in spite of several anti-graft agencies set up to fight the menace. More worrisome is the fact that there have been series of probes by the National Assembly in the past regarding abuse of privileges, but the perception is that after such probes, it is business as usual. It is against this backdrop that notable Nigerians are calling for alternative solutions to complement government’s efforts.

A senator’s take

Recently, during the consideration of the report of the probe panel set up by the National Assembly on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on the floor of the Senate, the senator representing Kogi-west, Smart Adeyemi, advocated the employment of stringent religious and cultural measures to assist anti-graft agencies in the fight against the scourge. Adeyemi, who could not believe the quantum of embezzlement being perpetrated by those saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the commission, said something extra-ordinary needs to be done urgently before the entire nation is stolen.

In his contribution, he said, “This is one report that must not die. In our nation, we all claim to be Christians and Muslims. We believe in the Bible and Quran, but when you look at this kind of report, you will feel very sad.

“We are here to add value to our nation. In the Bible, there is what we call Mosaic Law and Sharia Law in the Qur’an. Today in Nigeria, the level of corruption is beyond the reach of the current laws that we have in our constitution. We have about 14 substantive laws of parliament against corruption, but corruption is still expanding despite the anti corruption mantra of our government.”

In specific terms, he said, “Therefore, we have to introduce either Mosaic Law or Sharia Law, amputation and life imprisonment to fight corruption.

“It is unbelievable how people called upon to manage the resources for a zone would enrich themselves at the expense of their own people. How do you explain it when people spend N3.2 billion in six months just for medicals alone among themselves when the real people who need this assistance cannot afford N30, 000?

“Funny enough, the people charged with the responsibility are people of the Niger Delta region; no northerner or South-west is among them, yet they have no pity on their people. This is one report that we expect President Muhammadu Buhari to expeditiously act upon to save the country. Amputation should be the next option in Nigeria. We must change the laws in this country in order to serve as deterrent to others.”

Buhari’s concerns

During the last Sallah celebrations in Abuja, President Buhari also regretted that corruption has continued to be perpetrated in the country because those entrusted with the position of trust have betrayed that trust. This was when he was asked to comment on the quantum of revelations that emanated from the NDDC probe and other corruption-related cases in the country.

A stakeholder’s views

However, in the view of Ngbede Ibom Ora, a social commentator, the bucks stops on the table of the president.

He said: “Corruption is at the root of Nigeria’s problems. It takes many forms and infiltrates all political institutions and economic sectors. In 2013, Transparency International (TI) deemed Nigeria one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranking as 144th in Corruption Perception Index out of the 177 countries measured. Mathematically, it shows that Nigeria was the 33rd most corrupt country in 2013. In the year 2012, a Gallup poll found that 94% of Nigerians thought corruption was widespread in their government. The spoils of political corruption—billions of US dollars—are stashed in foreign bank accounts.”

Ora said further that, “The Abacha administration in the 1990s notoriously looted upwards of $3 billion. Since then, government institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and President Goodluck Jonathan have vowed to eradicate corruption. Even so, as recently as 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported that 76 per cent of the country’s crude oil revenue intended for the bank was unaccounted for.”

According to TI’s assessment of the scourge, it creates and increases poverty and exclusion. “While corrupt individuals with political power enjoy a lavish life, millions of Africans, especially Nigerians are deprived of their basic needs like food, health, education, housing, access to clean water and sanitation.”

Another Nigerian, Osariyekemuwen Igiebor, said, “Everybody talks about corruption and blames the country’s high levels of unemployment, poverty, and insecurity on corruption. Sermons, lectures and workshops identify the causes and possible means for control or eradication of corruption; yet, no one agrees or owns up to corruption unless they are caught in the act.

“Corruption is perceived as an act of moral degradation and a departure from the agreeable norms and objectives of proper societal behaviour; but despite its widespread condemnation by nearly everyone in society, corrupt practices continue to increase and impede the country’s development strides and societal well-being.”

He noted further that, “Corruption also alters government expenditure patterns. It has been observed that in countries where corrupt practices are high, government funds are allocated more to vanity projects and projects that are large and difficult to manage by state officials rather than on important public social services such as education and health. Examples of such projects include airports, highways.

“Corruption constitutes a serious impediment to the effectiveness of resource mobilisation and allocation in Nigeria; hence, it diverts resources from vital programmes and projects that should reduce poverty and sustain economic development.

“It weakens the domestic banking system which is inimical to growth since it reduces savings and investment and results in low standard of living for the people. Also, resources received from corrupt practices are either moved out of the country to foreign bank accounts and investments in foreign businesses or are spent on the import of luxuries for private consumption or both. The many reports of money laundered by the political class to foreign bank accounts attest to the above notion.”

The Ghana example

Dr. Ola Oladiran, writing on ‘Winning Nigeria’s Corruption War Requires Unconventional Steps, said, “Nigeria’s leader should emulate Africa’s best practices such as Ghana president’s choice of a respected opposition figure to head the country’s anti-graft agency.

“For those seeking serious examples in prosecuting graft, the recent announcement of a partial and politicised list of so called treasury looters by Nigeria’s information minister is unlikely to inspire much confidence. By contrast, Ghana’s president set a good example in his surprise appointment of Martin Amidu, a respected and uncompromising anti-corruption crusader from the rank of the country’s opposition to head his new anti-graft agency. With this appointment, Ghana’s president won the public over, sending out an unequivocal message about the genuineness of his effort.

“A few public figures once considered untouchable from both side of Ghana’s great political divide have since been hauled before the special courts for corruption. Nigeria is grappling with both historic and recently self-inflicted difficulties in its anti-corruption war. Stumbling blocks have proliferated to thwart the effectiveness of government’s efforts to revamp institutions, tackle mismanagement and wilful theft from the treasury. The operational challenges span institutional weakness, defective personnel, disregard for due-process and a proclivity to create media spectacle to the neglect of serious anti-graft investigations.

“There exists legion of political failings too, such as the government’s lack of political will, questionable sincerity and the naked politicisation which has created sacred cows while damaging President Buhari’s credibility. Analysts will likely look back in a decade from now and adjudge his floundering anti-corruption drive as a case-study in how not to combat graft.”

More concerns

According to Chatam House Report on Collective Action on Corruption in Nigeria, “The country has sought to tackle corruption through ‘traditional’ legal and governance-based measures, emphasising the reform of public procurement rules and public financial management, anti-corruption laws and the establishment of various agencies tasked with preventing corruption and punishing those who engage in it. This focus on transparency and legal sanctions is not only critically important, but also innovative and complementary approaches are needed to foster a comprehensive shift in deeply ingrained attitudes to corruption at all levels of the society.”

Patrick Enoch Nmah on ‘Corruption in Nigeria: A culture or retrogressive factor?’ he said,

“The idea of appointing a retired military officer to head custom or immigration is corruption in disguise. Likewise the defence ministry or police affairs or even ministries or parastatal. The government at any level should always appoint appropriate persons to appropriate offices to enhance service delivery. Federal government, state governments, local government councils and political parties should stop re-cycling particular individuals for appointments as if the remaining citizens have nothing to offer towards the development of the councils, states and Nigeria at large.

“Parties submitting ex-convicts’ names to contest for elections is another way of institutionalising corruption in the country. Those who hold public office are supposed to perform their duties without any external inducement. For example, when one is approaching the gods, one had to approach the gods with gifts in hand to appease them for some wrong doing or to thank them for such things as a good harvest, the birth of a child or the coming of the first rains. Such a gift could never have been considered a bribe to induce a god to do something immoral, for the gods could do no wrong.

“When consulting diviners and priests who are regarded as intermediaries and who would carry out the will of the goods, bribing them to misconstrue what the gods were saying was unthinkable. Any attempt to do so would bring judgment (death for both the giver and the recipient). It is said that when someone did bribe a priest to help him obtain possession of some land, both the man and the priest who took the bribe die in a mysterious fire.”

A cleric’s admonition

Invoking religious and traditional means to curb the menace of corruption is, according to the priest of Yoruba Spiritual Temple, Bode Olagunju, a good option since everyone knows the destructive power of local deities.

“Every one of us comes from communities that are guided by one deity or the other and we all know the potency of such deities in the affairs of men. The influence of Christianity and Islam, notwithstanding, no one would want to defy any cultural deity employed to safeguard anything. That is how effective they can be in the fight against corruption,” he said.

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