|
Kano's Anti-Corruption Directorate: Any hope? By Abba Anwar It is indeed timely and laudable for a state like Kano to established an organized institution that could be used to check and fight against corruption in the state. Luckily the Directorate is put in place to critically and courageously fight against the menace as it affects the societal institutions. Simply put, one can say institutional corruption is given a due consideration in this context. So what the government of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau is embarking upon is more or less like believing in the conceptualization of both institutional and attitudinal corruption. With the technicalities involve in the always damaging and unpromising premises of the canker worm called corruption. Atleast at the national level all are aware of the steps that are being taken by the executive in this tasking and all-encompassing fight. Whether the fight at the national level is selective or not is another topic of discussion altogether. Corruption, being a pregnant of all irregularities has many negative impact or destructive implications, to both the society and what it contains. It retards development, kills efficiency, frustrates productivity, promotes laziness, intolerance and many more vices. I think the fruits that this Anti-Corruption Directorate would produce should be unmissable to all. This is my personal opinion. To the Directorate, I am advising the Director General not to listen to anybody that tries to tell him or rather the Directorate that there is something like productive corruption. Some people are of the opinion that not all sorts of corruption are dismissible and condemnable. To this group of people corruption is of two categories, that is productive corruption on one hand and destructive corruption on the side of the coin. This is nothing more than an escapist way of analyzing the real issues. He who believes in this distorted analogy is indeed inviting nothing but self-defeat. Fortunately or unfortunately the Directorate though first of its type in the state, comes in when politicians are having their field day. And a state where both political immaturity an opposition are at their peak. Political immaturity in the sense that it is quite possible to see a person who belongs to the ruling party in the state and at the same time doing things that are detrimental to the success and good survival of the party. This, he does may be deliberately or out of sheer ignorance of the demands of his party. And I do not need to go for further clarification on what political opposition means in Kano state. The Director-General should appreciate the fact that, to a greater extent, as far as a politician is concerned he perceives corruption neither immoral or moral. To him corruption is neutral. And this is of course a mixed thinking and muddy analysis of issues. Well, though I am from Kano but I do not know much about the newly appointed Director General. So my advise to him is he should please not let his personal interest over ride the societal interest. This is one of the fundamental aspects in the fight against corruption. Another technical aspect that the DG should pay much attention to is, he should try as much as he can to correctly grasp whether there is any relationship between the fight against corruption and the search for transparency and accountability. Corruption can be fought and the fight does not all the time help in achieving transparency and accountability. It depends on the way the fight is carried out. Some level of expertise is indeed needed to comfortably see across the two lines. So the DG should be well equipped with all the methods and techniques of a successful and well coordinated fight against corruption. I would please like to see the Directorate liaise and at the same time network with similar agencies and non-governmental organizations. It is through that the Directorate will look more serious and effective. I can vividly remember Zamfara State has an Anti-Corruption Commission, long before Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offence Commission (ICPC). The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti Corruption Directorate should critically understand that whether it is called Agency or Directorate or Commission, the central objective is to get rid of corruption in the state . The issue has not always been with the name, but rather the operationalization process of the task ahead. I strongly see a reason if the Kano State Anti-Corruption Directorate could be on constant basis borrowing a leaf from the Zamfara State Anti-Corruption Commission. It will go along way in probably consolidating the structures, zeal and power of the Directorate. The Directorate can make some modifications where necessary. It also has a lot to learn from the federal government’s ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), if the Directorate really needs to achieve the desired goals. As somebody who undergone so many courses and trainings in the field of the fight against corruption, I am dead assured that when such fight takes political coloration it will die a natural death.That is why the experts in this field challenge that if an institution that is set up to fight against corruption is corrupt in itself, then forget it. It will end up adding salt to the injury. And I would like to see that governor Ibrahim Shekarau gives all the neccessary support needed to the Directorate in order to discharge its duties diligently and independently. Enough founding and genuine independence are some of the most fundamental factors that help such Agency, Commission or Directorates be above sea level. The Directorate should also know that fighting against the causes of corruption, according to some shade of opinion, is the first and foremost than fighting the corruption itself. So it is up to the Directorate to choose from many choices that it could lay its hands on. But as a matter of fact, reaching to the roots is very vital. Research, public enlightment campaigns and other related techniques are equally important in fighting the menace of corruption in any society. Corruption as defined by Dr. Assisi Asobie, who is the National President of Transparency International, Nigerian Chapter, is deviation from a set of social norms. Where there are no norms, there can be no corruption. By the same token practices that conform to the legitimate norms of society cannot be described as corruption, properly so-called. Corrupt practices are those activities that violate the ethical standards of society. The creation of standards and norms, which are generally regarded as legitimate by a cross section of the society, is, therefore, the proper beginning of the fight against corruption. Whether the Directorate knows it or not the most critical way of achieving a success in this fight is the transparent nature of its wok. By this we are talking of putting right things in right places, seeking for the good cooperation of the society, being apolitical in the process, honestly portrayed aggressive media campaign, and all that. So the success of this Directorate depends largely on how focused it is. It must be a directioned institution. And all parts must be well coordinated so that all the structures would be solidified. And I hope the Directorate will be listening, with a rapt attention, all praises and condemnations that would be coming from the public. It is absolutely believed that constructive criticism is a legal way of support Abba Anwar, Kano state, Nigeria.
|