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New Page 11
Corruption, a recurring decimal
Prominent Nigerians including former Head of State, Gen.
Yakubu Gowon last week decried the state of corruption in the country.
IHEANACHO NWOSU examines issues raised by the personalities and asks whether
corruption can ever be contained in Nigeria?
LAST week
was not particularly rosy for the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Arguably, since 1999, when it took off, the administration has never had it so
rough in the hands of Nigerians as it did in the outgone week.
The bone of contention was the state of
corruption in the country. Prominent Nigerians from divergent callings, in a
unanimity of voice, at separate fora, breathed heavily on government, accusing
it of not doing much to fight corruption.
Though such position has always been held
by some eminent Nigerians especially those in the pro-democracy camp, last
week’s sweeping reaction was provoked by the recent Transparency International
(TI) report which ranked Nigeria as the second world most corrupt nation. It is
the third time in succession, that Nigeria would be given such unenviable
ranking.
Expectedly, government is wont to dismiss
such report and may even label it the handiwork of detractors but many Nigerians
across disciplines are not ready to toe that line.
At a seminar, last week at the Nigerian
Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), speaker after speaker, including
former military head of state, Gen Yakubu Gowon, lamented that corruption has
risen to terrifying heights. The situation, Gowon said, should genuinely touch
every Nigerian that harbours good thoughts for the nation.
Gowon’s verdict received the endorsement
of chairman, Nigeria’s anti-graft body, Independent Corrupt Practices and
Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi, who submitted that
corruption was garnering more strength in the country. "Corruption is with us.
We cannot run away from this fact," he told a stunned audience.
Akanbi’s submission is clearly at variance
with the posture of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government which has
repeatedly given itself a pat on the back as far as the war against corruption
is concerned.
Those who unleash vitriolic attacks on
government and accuse it of paying lip service to the fight against corruption
have facts to back up their allegations. Even some individuals and arms of
government have boldly stood up to indict some sections of government that are
alleged to be involved in large scale corruption.
Few months ago, precisely in April, the
House of Representatives, headed by Hon Aminu Bello Masari released a report of
its investigation on how government ministries and parastatals expended their
past budgetary allocations. The report was damning as the House directly accused
ministries of stinking.
Of course, the report threw up
controversy. But the widespread reactions did not result to government taking
any noticeable action against the officials fingered in the finding.
Secretary-General of Catholic Secretariat
of Nigeria (CSN), Rev Fr. George Ehusani, said the sweeping of the finding of
the House’s investigation under the carpet strengthened feelings that the talk
about fighting corruption by President Obasanjo was only in paper and not
action.
"Government should tell us what it has
done with the report of the House of Representatives. Why should such report be
swept under the carpet?" the priest asked.
The eyebrows being raised over the House’s
report is the same reaction that trailed the report of former acting
Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Vincent Azie, who in 2002, named the
presidency and a number of other government arms and institutions as the prime
perpetrators of corruption in the country.
The presidency did not pretend that it was
not incensed by the report. It swiftly sacked the auditor-general, accusing him
of being used by the opposition to ridicule the government.
But, while President Obasanjo was venting
his spleen on the man, Nigerians were celebrating him, with many describing him
as a unique and incorruptible public servant.
Some developments made it easy for many
Nigerians to agree with the verdict of the auditor-general that the presidency
was among the perpetrators of corruption. For many times, the presidency did not
hide its resolve to remove the leadership of the National Assembly. And in those
occasions, it reportedly openly tried to bribe the lawmakers to ensure the
success of such moves. At a point the phrase, "Ghana Must Go", the sack
containing the money allegedly used in bribing the lawmakers by officials of the
presidency became one of the most popular jargon both within the National
Assembly Complex and in government circles.
Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) and a fiery pro-democracy activists said the frequent recourse to
use of bribe to mobilise lawmakers against the leadership of the former National
Assembly between 1999 and May 2003, by the presidency left a stain on the
crusade against corruption.
"I mean you cannot say you are fighting
corruption and you are bribing senators and House members to impeach their
leaderships," he told Daily Champion.
Although we are in a new political
dispensation with a new National Assembly in place, Agbakoba insisted that the
whiff of what happened during President Obasanjo’s first tenure is still
haunting it as far as the campaign against corruption is concerned.
Secretary of the Supreme Council of
Islamic Affairs (SCIA) and renowned legal practitioner, Dr. Lateef Adegbite lent
weight to the views of Agbokoba. He said the nation is yet to see any change.
"As far as I am concerned, I am yet to see any change. Corruption is still high
in government," he told Daily Champion.
Although government early this year
swooped on some prominent Nigerians including former Minister of Internal
Affairs now late, Chief Sunday Afolabi, serving Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Alhaji Husseni Akwanga, (now sacked), erstwhile civilian governor
of Enugu State and National Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr.
Okwesileze Nwodo among others, for their alleged involvement in the National
Identity Card scam, analysts and pro-democracy activists still see that as a
mere scratching of the surface.
Some even argue that it is nothing more
than a political gimmick, aimed at creating impression that government is now
determined to step on any toe as far as the crusade against corruption is
concerned.
Adegbite said "we have seen them arrest
Afolabi, Nwodo, Akwanga etc but after that, what else has happened. Corruption
is still with us."
ICPC has made several attempts at taking
on some prominent Nigerians. Only recently it disclosed that it was
investigating some states governors over their financial activities.
However, the pronouncement of ICPC has not
amused many Nigerians. Instead, the allegation that the anti-graft body is only
a political tool used by the president to cow his political enemies seem to be
gathering more strength.
According to Mr. Clement Nwankwo of the
Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) "we have not seen ICPC going beyond fighting
perceived enemies of the presidency. It went for Chief Pius Anyim and Ghali
Na’abba our former Senate President and Speaker House of Representatives because
they fell out with Mr. President.
"Corruption is everywhere. Let ICPC go
after ministers and governors stashing money abroad. It should go after
government officials including those in the presidency."
Beyond allegations of financial enrichment
and unbriddled looting of the nation’s vaults by those in power, the government
is being accused of encouraging political corruption.
Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
has observed that political corruption is presently one of the things
threatening democracy in the country. "We need to ensure elections in this
country are credible, otherwise this democracy will collapse," he cautioned.
Opposition parties have repeatedly harped
on this, alleging that the last general elections were fraught with
irregularities.
Balarabe Musa, Chairman, Conference of
Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), said "we did not have any election. It was
the worst form of political corruption. It has a negative implication on our
democracy."
Perhaps the recent widespread condemnation
of the high rate of corruption in the country will bring one message to the door
step of government: that it should do more in its war against the malaise.
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