Transparency of Corruption
By
Abubakar A. Muhammad
It is no longer news that the OBJ administration is recognised all over
the world as the most corrupt in history and so Obasanjo by virtue of
his exalted position is the head of the Mafia, the Transparency of
Corruption in Asorock. And the corrupt want to carry on their stealing
profession and milking us dry, which is why they have perfected the plot
to rig the election, come May 2003. Here is a government which has
earned itself the number one position as the most corrupt in the world,
courtesy of the Transparency International which OBJ is a board member
as well. Other reputable international bodies like the USAID, NGOs and
the British have stated that 55 and 56 percent of corrupt practices in
Nigeria, both public and private levels take place right in Aso Rock,
the seat of power in Nigeria. How does the leader take all this? He and
his co-conspirators are taking this in strides because they have more
work to do, more corrupt activities to engage in, and yet they do not
expect a prison term, or at least not now. May be, come next year, they
will be trading places with Muhammad Abacha and company. Aremu Obasanjo,
the ex-General who is now renting Aso Rock residence has been running a
syndicate worldwide, never mind his so called 'anti corruption crusade'.
And we are told he took an oath never to leave Aso Rock for, before he
recovers all the money allegedly stolen by his worst enemy, the dreaded
General Abacha [ of the blessed memory ]. Aremu Obasanjo's syndicate of
thieves is fully licensed, organised and above all, it is for now above
the the law, or so it thinks. Although OBJ and his company make the
claim of purity they are the filthiest when it comes to corruption.
Never mind their antics. Do not be hoodwinked by their 'anti corruption'
slogan, they use it for strategic reason, a distraction if you will. It
was therefore not surprising that the first victim of this deception
acronymed 'anti corruption' happened to be General Abacha who we have
been made to believe was the worst among those who wore army uniform,
including OBJ, and who at one time or another became the rulers of
Nigeria. Only time will tell for those who are laughing now may be the
ones to weep tomorrow. For now the dead are charged while those living
are still free and still stealing. Also although the government claimed
to have recovered billions of Naira from the Abachas, it remained to be
seen how much of the 'recovered money' would see the light of day and be
deposited in the treasury. Indeed according to the Senate report already
11.7 billion naira from the 40.7 billion recovered as Abacha's loot is
missing. Aremu Obasanjo treats the recovered loot like his own, and so
he frowns that the National Assembly could make him and his gang
accountable. Afterall, wasn't the anti corruption commision his own
idea? The president gives the image of a thief who having recovered
stolen goods now claims it is his to keep. So the debate rages:
"who is the bigger thief?" Comparisons good as they may be are
sometimes cruel or off base, not the ones I am about to make. Although I
had never met the General, yet I had come to like his guts, and he had
many. Remember when he sent the British Airways packing? Contrary to
what OBJ and his aides have been telling us, the image of Nigeria in
Abacha's time was that of respect. That was because the world had come
to accept the Abacha maxim you can not treat Nigeria with contempt,
arrogance, or high handedness and get away with it. And yes in Abacha's
term, like Genearal Murtala's glorious six months rule, the country had
come of age, not withstanding its so called parior state, a phrase
coined and implanted into our minds by the foreign saboteurs, those who
found out too soon it was no longer 'businnes as usual', and that graft,
greed and exploitation of our resources, which they are now engaged in
with great abandon, courtesy of OBJ, must end. It was that kind of
thievery that General Abacha stopped, it is the same kind of thievery
the current administration under our 'democratic dispensation' supports.
Afterall, the saying goes: "Birds of a feather flock
together". Such exploiters who now connive with the teamster in Aso
Rock to steal could find no syndicate for their operation during the so
called 'dark days' of Abacha, but they now steal in 'day light'. In his
days, the goggle-eyed General was serious, patriotic, and did not lie.
Alas! The man who now rents the Villa not only lies, but his performance
shows complete lack of focus in all fronts. For how can he explain why
the fuel pumps went dry and refineries closed down for the best part of
his term as president? Perhaps the president prefers it that way so that
his gang and foreign backers can make brisk business out of peoples'
hardship. So as the case is, they continue to refine 90 percent of our
oil abroad only to ship it in via government's approved contracters.
This is why the poor consumer ends up paying much more than the oil
products are worth if the refineries in Nigeria are allowed to operate.
The whole deal is clear and their slogan is: "Let us chop while you
the masses die".
Obasanjo will go down in history as the first president to keep for
himself what they call the lucrative Ministry of Petroleum. He also runs
the NNPC at will after he scrapped the famous PTF, not because of non-
performance but because he did not want anyone but himself to control
the mighty oil's windfall money. And over three years of OBJ, it has
been remarkably huge. Political patronage is nothing new but the chief
in theVilla uses it with great abandon. The financial inducements he
lavishly gives to his gang members, his kinsmen, and other cronies is
the reason why they stick with him through thick and thin, and even when
they know he is dead wrong. And so they stand up in arms against his
impeachment. Yet not one of them, the Yoruba Elders Forum, the Egba Obas,
the Afenifere, the OPC and indeed the PDP leadership can deny the
numerous excesses of this president, his contempt for and violations of
the constituion he has sworn to obey and protect. But as an ex-convict
that he was, he still finds it hard to abide by law and order. This is
the 'Messiah' they have told us we have in Aso Rock; this is the 'anti
corruption crusader' who has no shame to be involved with improprieties
and later, turns around to tell us that Nigeria is gradually moving away
from corruption, change he attributes to his administration's 'crusade
against corruption'. How can anyone be more dishonest? I for one would
wish corruption is destroyed, I bet it will not be in his time. Indeed
corruption is not only epidemic, it is endemic among Nigerians. So what
good is a leader who rather than fight the desease of corruption treats
it with unbelievable triviality and then lies that it is 'being phased
out' when the public knows better; that corruption has indeed blossomed
over these dreadful years of OBJ's mismanagement.
The government of Olusegun Obasanjo is the most fortunate when it comes
to acquisition of oil revenue and with so much unparalled financial
fortunes under its belt one wonders why majority of Nigerians are going
hungry, without food, without jobs, without shelter, and without hope.
One wonders why various National Assembly Appropriations from 1999
through 2002 meant for the public welfare and interest were deliberately
ignored by the president? Aremu Obasanjo is certainly not allowing the
economic dividend trickle down to the poor people as the president
decides to spend what he wants and rejects the National Assembly's
responsible budgeting and allocation of national funds which belong to
the people of this country. The president who arrogantly claims to 'know
it all' picks and chooses according to his interests, and not those of
the masses. He has been in constant altercation with the National
Assembly not only for failing to spend the budget allocations of 1999,
2000, 2001 and the budget bill for 2002 which he unilaterally cut by 44
percent, but for choosing to incur extra budgetary spending on projects
not allocated funds by the National Assembly. The National Assembly
accused him of illegally spending the amount of 30 billion naira on his
rampant and unproductive overseas tours beyond the 6 billion naira he
was allocated; for spending 60 billion on the Abuja National Stadium
which was originally allocated 13 billion; for extra budgetary
expenditure on the National Identity Card and a host of such projects
not allocated funds by the National Assembly. The irony is some of these
white elephant projects are taking place in the midst of squalor and a
stifled economy. We now have a sutuation where the government, not only
fails to pay workers pension benefits, which is possibly their only
source of food and living, but even the existing government workers go
on working for months without pay.What has gone wrong? Aremu Obasanjo
started his administration with a big bang and great fanfare, sadly, it
did not last long and things mysteriously began to tumble. The president
who made many promises to clean up the dirty stable seemed to have run
out of steam and has become confused and disinterested in salvaging the
economy. One thing may explain among others, why OBJ has failed so
pitifully. Obviously he has surrounded himself with sychophants, those
parasites who next to their greed, their ethnic and selfish interests do
not really care what befalls Nigeria. And this is not to absolve OBJ of
his crimes and his unbelievable ineptitude, just as multitude of
incompetent advisers seemed to have helped him not to make any sound
decision. The president has no real vision where he is taking the
country to and save the economy from complete collapse. This
administration which prides itself with so called Intelligence Economic
Commision has in truth no plan to resuscitate the dying economy. So its
economists of Ibrahim Ayagi's caliber have chosen the easy way of
political spin doctors, rather than to take the high road of fixing the
economy. This president has neither vision nor the guts to do whatever
it takes to bring about positive economic change, and to use that to
open up investment opportunities. Unfortunately Olusegun Obasanjo's
knowledge with regard to economy does not go beyond his dream of foreign
investments. So his obsession with globe-trotting is aimed at attracting
foreign investors. According to him : "Foreign investments is the
only way that we can develop the economy." The truth is he has no
idea what he is talking about. Besides, he had on numerous occasions
admitted that his idea of a growing investment is what can be invested
not by Nigerians but by foreigners. This is a slap on the face. Has he
really read any history about Nigeria before colonialism? Long before
the conception of the country called Nigeria, different empires and
kingdoms, north and south, had expanded territorially and made among
them great strides in trade and commerce. Hence there was no question
they achieved great successes in those undertakings for them to have
emerged as economic giants in West African region in particular and the
world in general. It was part of that economic success which obviously
attracted the attention and interest of Europe in the early 17th
century, a fact which was often suppressed by Europeans in order to
promote their territorial ambition. The rest of what had happened is now
history. So OBJ's slavish mentality and hopeless dependence on what he
believes foreigners alone can do to stimulate the economy and bring
investments to Nigeria is to say the least a mere illusion and a sell
out. His stand also explains his total lack of interest to lead the
nation to invest in agriculture, textiles, mining, and numerous cottage
industries and crafts that could still stimulate the economy and promote
local investments, instead of the lip service he has been giving to
these economic enterprises which are so abundant in Nigeria.. Otherwise
how can anyone justify the president's budgetary allocation of 3 billion
naira on agriculture for the 2001-2002 but has gone out of his
costitutional authority to spend 30 billion naira on jamboree trips; 60
billion naira for a national stadium; 30 billion on national identity
card ; 20 billion so far on voter registration ; 31 billion for
presidency 2001 budget, instead of the 6.2 billion approved; illegal
payment of 12 billion to Julius Berger; 2.98 billion spent on illegal
houses purchased for his Ministers, advisors and other cronies; not to
mention hundreds of billion naira he has wasted on contracts issued by
different Ministries, especially the Ministry of Works and Housing, and
from which he and his gang of looters, foreign and local were either
awarded the contracts or were paid billions of naira as kick backs from
beneficiaries of such contracts. So the idea of non- implementation of
the Appropriations is only a camauflage to destract attention of the
public while the thieves in Aso Rock continue with their plunder. How
can OBJ who only budgeted 3 billion naira for agriculture justify food
purchase of 135 billion naira in the first quarter of this year? Yet he
shamelessly turn round to tell us through one of his trumpets, Muhtar
Shagari, that the president is doing so much for growth of agriculture
in this country. By way of passing, it is reported the president has
just at this time, a deposit of 40 billion naira as his campaign funds,
come 2003. If this story is confirmed it can certainly be said the
president is doing so much good for himself and better still than he has
done for agriculture and the masses combined. It is no wonder the masses
have not benefited from the economic dividends of this administration.
They are not likely to do so before OBJ's time is up. Indeed the robbery
and looting have been extended further than we think. Take a look at the
on going policy and manner of privatisation of our resources and
holdings. Ordinarily, no individual, group or government should have
right to sell properties and holdings which are owned by all of us,
certainly not before a public referendum. And so the wanton and callous
misuse of the 1999 draft constitution ( crafted under the military
supervision ) to sell out our properties is illegal and must be reviewed
to save the nation from bankrupcy. But like a bull in china shop
Obasanjo continues to muzzle and throttle any oppposition or criticism
of this brigindage and through his subordinates and agents like El-
Rufa'i rain verbal abuse on the members of opposition and National
Assembly who he dismissed with contempt their inability to stop his
directory from auctioning of our treasures. This thievery and insanity
are unparalled in Nigerian checkered history of economic greed and
graft.Obviously Nigerians are not again looking for another 'Messiah' on
the scene, one would hope though that any leader with patriotic
conviction and basic morality is bound to undo most of the auctioning of
our properties by OBJ and his agents whose real purpose is to enrich
themselves. Indeed not only should all such give away sales be made null
and void and without compensation, all those economic saboteurs should
be charged in courts of our land for treason. It is gratifying to note
that inspite of the scare tactics by Obasanjo and his handpicked
henchmen, many Nigerians continue their opposition to the illegal sale
of our properties and enterprises thereby mortgaging our future as the
auction of our resources and holdings represent. Some of such
opposittion came directly from our loyal and dedicated workers who will
most likely lose their jobs after such sales. One of the very first
opposition was launched by the workers union of the National Hospital,
Abuja, admittedly the most modern and best equipped hospital in Nigeria
but whose ownership may go to the International Hospitals Group of
London who have been given its annual lease for a mere 2.8 million pound
sterling for a period of two years. As the workers believe the
management of the hospital by a foreign company like the IHG will hamper
their jobs and make the hospital much more expensive and beyond the
reach of average Nigerians, they resisted the move to leasing the
hospital to IHG of London. That was why the government decided to remove
the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Francis Durosinmi,
who obviously stood against the leasing of the hospital to foreigners.
Indeed the case of this hospital is troubling. Why would the government
want to sell a hospital which not only serves the needs of millions of
sick people, but is on its way to become the Nigeria's center for
medical research? The leasing and eventual sale of this hospital cannot
be justified in that it has been known the hospital is making enough to
pay its bills and expenses and so there is no reason to sell it because
it is in the red financially. Why would the government be so crazy and
desperate to want to sell this ultra modern and best equipped hospital
only to provide the foreign interests opportunity for future medical
research while Nigerians, the owners of this hospital are reduced to
being cosumers? The sale of this hospital or any health facilities in
any under developed country like Nigeria is not only unethical , it is
immoral in the highest degree. Another victim of the government's sell
out bonanza of Nigerian people's properties is the Nicon Hotel in Abuja.
The management of the Nicon Insurance Corporation was apalled by the
sale of the hotel for a paltry amount of 6 billion naira when indeed the
estimated market value of the facility, according to the corporation, is
worth 19 billion naira. As usual, El- Ruf'a'i, the Nigerian properties
sales ideologue and director of auctions, Nigeria Limited, denied that
the hotel was worth 19 billion naira. No one in his senses will believe
this pathetic individual who has been ordered to stripp Nigeria off
everything it owns, at least before he and his boss are retired, come
May 2003. Who knows if they may even end up in jail for misappropriation
or outright theft? Another issue of concern over the ongoing
privatisation is the role of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, perhaps
better known as 'Bureau of Public Exploitation'. In one report, El-Rufa'i
was said to be working on Nigeria's properties sales to raise 85 billion
naira for the Federal Government to prosecute its capital projects for
the year 2002. Without mincing words, El-Rufa'i seems to be taking the
elective role to sustain the government and because Obasanjo can have
his hands on the sale proceeds, ( it is reported 144 billion naira sale
procceds from GSM remain unaccounted for ), he can do without the
National Assembly Appropriations, one way or the other. While how much
money has been realised by the government from all these sales remains a
mystery, El-Rufa'i's role as money provider to the government appears
unconstitutional unless he is answerable to the National Assembly. The
few issues I have spotlighted on the privatisation show the great
economic danger Nigerians are being subjected to by the OBJ hands off
government which does not really care over the sufferings and fate of
the masses, and will eventually bring this nation to its knees unless
these selfish scoundrels and squanderers are stopped in their track.
Lately, in his outburst against the states that are operating the
shari'a legal system, Obasanjo was seen to be changing the real story of
his completely flawed economic miracle. He stated : "Progress made
on the investment front was not only slowed down by several social
upheavals like the Kano, Kaduna, Sagamu, Nasarawa crises, the cutting of
Baba Jangedi's hand ( in Zamfara State ) and Safiya's case, generated a
lot of "public odium for the country". He was also reported to
have said that even in the Amina Lawal case, there is so much public ire
on the matter, with one country even threatening not to participate in
the Miss World Beauty Pageant taking place in Nigeria in November, this
year. True, Obasanjo as a 'born again Christian' has been consistent in
his attack on the Shari'a and by extension, on Muslims, who are
obligated to follow and abide by it heart and soul. Also it should
surprise no one that all but one of the places of social upheavals OBJ
mentioned are in the North simply because he wanted to make a case
against the Shari'a and against the 70 to 80 milllion Muslims in Nigeria
who follow the Shari'a. However, his blatant lies and hypocrisy will not
work. Inspite of all insinuations, innuendo, and outright blackmail,
Muslims will never go back to the scandalous disbelief that is
secularism under any guise. The enemies of the Shari'a should also know
that it has outdated the Nigerian nation by hundreds of years and it is
only those who are ignorant whol see Shari'a in Nigeria as something
new. It was indeed the British who removed the Shari'a from the lives of
Muslims during those ignoble and contemptous colonial days, and now that
we are free to practice our religion under the constitution of a federal
structure, Muslims will fight to the last man to be taken back to
secularism. By the way when did any Nigerian hear of any Muslim fighting
to deny other Nigerians to practice what they believe? Yet atheists like
Soyinka and company have the temerity to challenge Muslims over the
Shari'a and to shamelessly request the so called secularist Nigerian
government to appply sanctions against the states now operating the
Shari'a. What sanctions is government applying against the atheists and
disbelievers of Soyinka's caliber? If the Nigerian president can employ
the full services of a priest and build an official Christian Ministry
in Aso Rock, when he should be seen to accomodate all religions, how
true is the secularism now been branded over the Shari'a? So Obasanjo's
hypocritical stand against the Shari'a will have no impact on Muslims,
may be his political Christianity may help him among those so called men
of God, the Christian Association of Nigeria, who are heavily financed
from within and by the Vatican to scuttle the forces of the Shari'a and
its full implementation in in Nigeria. They will never succeed! Given
his miserable failure to create real investment opportunities in
Nigeria, Obasanjo should have spent more time with his so called team of
economic advisers and chart a new, prudent and pragmatic way to salvage
the economy and open up local sources of investment instead of
fruitlessly blaming Shari'a for his failures. But it is well known that
investments will not come to Nigeria while the basic infrastructures,
peace and security are all but gone. For it seems to invest in Nigeria
today the foreign investor, if we are to go with Obasanjo's obsession
and love of the western investor, will need to bring into the country
not only the money and technology but uninterrupted power and water
supplies, road network and transportation facilities, and above all a
private army, police and security outfits to safeguard his particular
business interests from the terroristic hickups of hoodlums, of the
likes of the OPC, Bakassi Boys, and Egbesu Boys, not to mention the
danger and dexterity of the infamous 419. Remember all these groups of
terror and tear have blossomed in the three years of OBJ's
administration and he has virtually done nothing to bring them to book.
So he is fully aware why foreign investments have eluded this country.
Perhaps that is why he was reported to have said in his anguish:
"In three years, I went round the world and I didn't get anything.
From April 1999, I went round the world and I didn't get anything. From
April 1999, I went round the countries of Europe, twice over. I went to
Japan, to America, to Canada and got good words---but no action at
all". How then can the president who has voluntarily indicted
himself turn round to blame the Shari'a over his glaring failure to
promote, let alone sustain economic investments in Nigeria? The truth is
the Shari'a has no role whatsoever in wisking away any existing
prospects for investment, indeed it has thus far helped to promote peace
and security in all those states where the Shari'a is enforced. Yes, Mr.
President may be well concerned that some foreign countries have
threatened not to participate in the Miss World Beauty Pageant of
immorality and rascality because of Amina Lawal's case pending in court
for her appeal. And yes, countries like France, Belgium and Australia
are making such hypocritical noise and as usual interfering with a court
case under the guise of human rights activists and protecters of
freedom. Have France and Belgium forgotten their shameful and
disgraceful past when as brutal dealers in African slave trade they
systematically killed, maimed and tortured millions of innocent
Africans? Have they forgotten how much misery, social, economic,
political and human sufferings they have inflicted on millions of
African families yet unborn in the process of the most inhumane
treatment ever imposed on any human race? Have they forgotten their
illegal colonial conquests which followed that darkest era of the slave
trade in their naked and immoral pursuit of the African natural and
material resources which they exploited with great abandon thereby
impoverishing the hospitable, rich, and naturally well endowed African
peoples? These and more unbelievable atrocities, their human right
abuses will forever remain the most heinous and reprehensible crimes
against humanity and so they are not qualified to talk about any human
rights, let alone be seen as promoters of it. Australia is still sunk in
its most brutal, primitive and racist treatment of the native
Australians, the Aboriginists, who are still denied any universal human
rights that most countries have today taken for granted. How can a
settlers who were thrown out their natural homes as vagabonds,
drunkards, nitwits, and misfits come over to illegally acquire residence
in Australia and eventually turn the real home owners, the Aboriginists,
to be strangers and untouchables in their own native land? And so the
West in general, with its checkered history of most inhuman crimes
against humanity, its barbarity and exploitations which have bankrupted
the African nations can never be the promoters of human rights in any
shape or form. But these Westerners are still the heroes and masters of
our president who he laments are boycotting the Miss World Beauty
Pageant in Nigeria. What a tragedy! Does Olusegun Obasanjo have the same
concern that hosting the Miss World Beauty Pageant in a country where at
least 70 percent are Muslims is an affront against their belief? Does he
have concern that holding such show of immorality in the midst of
Muslims and other Nigerians whose beliefs and customs teach aginst
obscenity, nakedness and yes, most reprehensible gender discrimination
and exploitation is a serious violation of their fundamental human
right? Does he have any concern that if this show of shame takes place
it will only confirm the president's insensitivity to those values and
ethics majority of Nigerian people cherish and share? When are we going
to see the Mr.World Beauty Pageant and is Aremu Obasanjo going to
support such show? Where are the Nigerian women human rights activists?
Where is our vocal woman Minister, Aisha, who even as a self professed
Muslimah would connive against Islam to smuggle Safiya Husain, a legally
married woman, out of her home to Rome, the seat of Christianity, for a
pitiful, un-Islamic and disgraceful media event? Why does the Minister
and other 'liberated women', continue their useless criticism of the
Shari'a only to turn blind eyes when the issue of gender discrimination
and exploitation of women is brought right at their faces and in their
country? Make no mistake Aremu Obasanjo is using the Miss World Beauty
Pageant as another pitch to have Nigeria accepted in the "community
of nations". Alas! This time it is a club of nations who have lost
their moral, ethical, and religious values. And neither Muslims, nor
other Nigerians of any religious persuasion should be forced to pay for
this reckless, odious, discriminatory, and financially draining
adventure in the name of internationalism.