By Leonard Okoli Maduabuchi Caesar
Corruption is no longer a surprise in Nigeria. It has become our identity and coterminous with the Nigerian nation. One cannot write the history of Nigeria so far devoid of the culture of corruption, its gradual growth, aided by the military regime and with the advent of civilian democracy, was enhanced by the constitutional immunity from civil and criminal prosecution provided for the president, the vice president, the governors, and the deputy governors while in office. They simply became secured in crime. No wonder no one of them wants to leave office. This is magnified by the amount of money paid to government personnel and legislators office as salaries and ridiculous allowances. The seed of corruption was simply planted.
How did we come to this level of moral and constitutional depravity? A careful observer and analyst cannot avoid mentioning two administrations that have and are watering the seed of corruption namely: Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations. My aim here is show how corruption grew tremendously under these administrations.
THE OBASSANJO ADMINISTRATION AND CORRUPTION
The Obassanjo administration watered the seed of corruption to its germination and made the environment conducive for fast and smart political pilfering. This administration tolerated corruption and made it fanciful and fashionable. The mountain of corruption was raised to an unimaginable level. Here are some pointers to this degree of corruption.
The rigged election conducted by Maurice Iwu took place under Obassanjos watch, through whose instrumentality the latter imposed a sick president on the nation after Nigerians refused his bid for a third tenure.
This government provided a fertile ground for the easy looting of public funds. For instance, the convicted former Delta State governor James Ibori at the Southwark Crown Court in London of charges of money laundering and other financial crimes totaling 12.4 billion naira was initially acquitted by a Nigerian court under THE SUPERVISION of the president. Tafa Balogun, a former Inspector General of Police looted over 17 billion naira and was jailed for just six months. In fact, the money recovered from T. Balogun is still unaccounted for! DSP Alamieyeseigha laundered over 1 million pounds besides his 10 million dollar worth of assets to mention a few.
Some international scandals happened in the Obassanjo administration like the Halliburton bribery scandal of $51 million and $37.5 million in 2001 in 2002respectively, the Siemens scandal of $130 million, Wibross Scandal, Power Project Scandal, Pentascope et cetera.
Obassanjo was and is a major shareholder of Transorp, a company he launched into big time business partnership with Nigeria. Transcorp got contracts like the Nicon-Hilton estimated for $105 million and NITEL stated for $750 million. Obassanjo withdrew over one trillion naira unauthorized and un-appropriated by the National Assembly from NNPC and the nations account. Note that the subsidy scam existed too since NNPC withheld about 20 billion naira monthly as subsidy. Nigeria lost over 13 billion dollars, unaccounted for from our oil sales. The said administration allegedly spent over 1 billion dollars between 1999 and 2006 in rehabilitating Port-Harcourt and Kaduna refineries which are still not functional.
In a pseudo anti-corruption fight, Obassanjo set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to apprehend and investigate corrupt individuals. But this was a façade; the said commission only arrested those who were not in the good book of the president. Thus, EFCC became a tool for selectively fighting corruption. The EFCC had only achieved 60 convictions since its inauguration in 2000; which no one would call an achievement at all.
At this juncture, I will like to address some words to Obassanjo. My dear former president, just relax and take care of your farms. You have no moral courage and qualification to lament about corruption after your exit from office because the chickens you nurtured have turned into cocks. The present state of affairs has your mark on it. You have made history in Nigeria indeed.
THE JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION AND CORRUPTION
The Jonathan administration has plunged this country into political, economic, social and humanitarian darkness. We cannot see the step ahead of us. Corruption is rife. I want to attempt a compilation of the monetary sagas in the Jonathan administration. The list is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive, but there are prominent cases of public awareness.
The misappropriation of one 1 billion naira by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; the 40 billion naira corruption scandal involving the deputy speaker to D. Bankole, Usman Nafada; former governor Gbenga Daniel could not account for 58 billion naira; Adebayo Alao-Akala and the 25 billion naira fraud; Aliyu Akwe Doma and the missing 18 billion naira; Muhammed Danjuma Goje allegedly misappropriated 12.8 billion naira, the Shell-Malabu saga etc.
The oil subsidy scam of 1.7 trillion naira. No proper investigation was ever done. Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice stated that the government was not ready to prosecute individuals and firms indicted in the missing funds (May 3, 2012). In July, we had a list of beneficiaries of the subsidy program, including six oil companies and 11 individuals. Till now, there are no concrete actions against these individuals. Nigeria has spent over 10 trillion naira on the subsidy program from 2006 till 2014! There is God sha o!
The hue and cry highlighted by Lamido Sanusi about the $49.8bn (8 trillion naira) missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the contentious $10.8 billion crude oil missing fund from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Others include the pension scam, the aviation bullet-proof saga; the $20 billion (N3.2 trillion) missing funds, to mention a few.
Allison-Madueke spent some 2 billion naira on private jets; maintaining a Challenger 850 Visa jet (amongst others) at the cost of $500,000 per month.
Pay attention Mr. Jonathan! From my calculations, the amount totals about 15 trillion naira. The 2012, 2013 and 2015 Nigerian national budgets run 4.7 trillion, 4.92 trillion and 4.3 trillion naira respectively. These looted funds can run our national annual budget for at least three years; but there are running the life budgets of a few unscrupulous Nigerians under your supervision. Here are some other Nigerian problems that the Jonathan administration has not addressed.
Insecurity: The Boko Haram problem has become part of the Nigerian story. Like chickens, the said terrorist sect slaughters Nigerians every day and the president sets up live conferences where he reads his unsure and vague speeches stationed behind the camera, or attend weddings et cetera. The prime suspect of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing escaped from custody and the police commissioner who was his ally is in no serious trouble. No questions asked. It is almost a year and our Chibok girls are still in captivity. If any of them was pregnant as at the time of capture, she would have been delivered of a baby in captivity. It means that the government cannot protect Nigerians; at least, women and children even the unborn. I do not think the present administration deserves the votes of these people. Compensating Chibok residents cannot replace the missing girls. It means that the government value money more than human life, thinking that the former can suffice for the latter.
Unemployment: From the World Bank and National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is 23% and rising compared to 14.6% in 2011 which was lower before the Jonathan administration became operative. Please, take it back to its former level. Do not bother about creating more jobs, because we are better off with the kind of jobs this administration creates. If jobs could not be created in six years; how can it be done in four years?
Arms Saga: Nigerians are no longer sure about who can and should purchase arms. For instance, the South African police apprehended two Nigerians and an Israeli who smuggled $9.3m (about N1.5bn) to their country for an arms deal at the Lanseria Airport, north-west of Johannesburg, on September 5, 2014. Of all the government owned private aircrafts, none could be used except that of Ayo Oritsejafor! The name Tompolo rings a bell because of the warships he purchased from Norway. Has a warship now become a private property? Can Nigerians now own warships just as some own private jets?
I do not need to speak about the socio-economic situation. The naira has lost its value and the president campaigns for a second term. In view of the latter, the prices of fuel and kerosene were reduced; so this could be possible? Where and how will the cut-off be replaced? We are in economic crises and an austerity measure (implying the laying off some workers) is proposed, yet no effort is made to cut down on the jumbo salaries and allowances of the senators, ministers, governors, and the presidential house-upkeep bill.
Judges are easily bribed and litigants cannot rely on the courts to render impartial judgments, corruption is pervasive in the Nigerian police Force and in the military speaking of checkpoint bribery and shooting incidents, the molestation of journalists, the refusal of public officials to declare their assets spear-headed by the Mr. President, the absence of proper and adequate education for the Nigerian child where 8.6-10 million children are out of school! Many senators are thugs, scaling fences and barricades under international watch. Yet, nothing is being done about the indiscipline amongst lawmakers.
Goodluck Jonathan, my candid advice to you is this: this country was in a better state six years ago when you came into office, now the country is worse. Do not bother promising us about what you will do in your second tenure. I only ask that you return this country to the state you met it six years ago. That would be enough achievement for you and we shall be happy about just that! How? If you can in four years repair what you damaged in six years, you would be a great achiever! Just do not think of more things to do. Take us back to the road leading us out of Egypt; from there we can struggle towards Canaan, instead of taking us from Egypt to Babylon!
Suggestions and Concluding Remarks
In my opinion, the surest guarantee of corruption is its tolerance. This is the root cause. In a country where corruption is tolerated, it grows and gains a title of social significance. Hence, the first way to affect a meaningful remedy is a policy of zero tolerance for corruption and its allied crimes like lack of probity, extravagant spending and acquisition of properties. The president has to take the lead in this, declare his assets and all public office holders follow suit.
Furthermore, the government should pay keen attention to security and human rights protection. Our security forces should be well equipped with arms and most importantly with intelligence and the human skill to manage conflict situations without the resort to brutal force, except when necessary. A keen observer would notice that a vast majority of our security agents are bereft of these skills, which explains their easy resort to brute measures even in civilian confrontations with unarmed civilians.
Micro-finance schemes should be established to enhance private small scale business and create jobs for the teeming population. International policies that would give our nation an edge in the worlds economic struggle should be pursued, the power sector should be consolidated. These recommendations have become clichés, what is left out is their application. Please apply them.
This piece is not a campaign against you or for Buhari. I am just speaking the minds of average Nigerians who have no magnificent social status, yet possess the inexhaustible riches of human rights and dignity, but are concerned about the state of our nation.
From Leonard Okoli Maduabuchi Caesar, a citizen of Nigeria, no qualifications attached except free speech!
