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Nigerian Anti-Graft War- The Case Of Bayelsa Governor Alamieseigha By Tony Ishiekwene
If Nigeria and indeed any developing African country for that matter, is to make any progress in socio-economic development then it must first tackle the problem of corruption and the stealing of public funds by the elites who were put in positions of trust to manage the resources of the state.
Corruption and graft kills any system in which it is endemic, like we have it in Nigeria. It promotes unfair distribution of Income, inefficient use of resources, stifles initiative and productivity and therefore exacerbates poverty.
But it appears Nigerians are still not prepared to fight this dangerous cancer that has plagued the system for 45 years of Nigerian independence and seem to worsen with each successive government. As it is now every one seem to accept that the only way to survive in Nigeria, whether in public or private business is to engage in corrupt practices.
I was baffled when I watched on BEN Television (a London based Nigerian owned TV station) and saw a handful of London resident Ijaw people seemingly protesting the arrest of “their governor” DSP Alamieseigha by the British Metropolitan Police and asking for his immediate release. One carried a placard which read: Oppression, Isaac Adaka-Boro, Saro-Wiwa and now Alamieseigha, who next. In the mind of this loony Alamieseigha, a proven thief who had millions of stolen cash of the Ijaws, in a very crude manner in his wallet and in his London home, is comparable to the patriotic acts of Isaac Boro and late Saro Wiwa. Both people sacrificed their lives for the survival of their people whereas Alamieseigha is looting the life out of Ijaws by his craze for ostentatious life with his immediate family.
Another woman among the “protesting” group was interviewed and he told the reporter that Britain was nosing into the affairs of other people, because according to her, “even if money was stolen, Britain had no oil and the money stolen is oil money from Niger delta, not Britain’s” so they should release their “thieving” champion. Yet another Ijaw man quipped in that “President Obasanjo's anti corruption crusade is selective and sectional and that Obasanjo was goading the British to fight the Ijaws, otherwise, "why hasn't OBJ prosecuted IBB and other past leaders."
For these depraved “Ijaw protesters”, I put this in quote because I have seen several protest purportedly by Nigerians who turned out to be Sierra Leonians and other black Africans paid by the agents of Nigerian government in the heady days of Abacha to “protest” why Saro-Wiwa needed to be hanged as the Mad general did then in 1995. It is not impossible that these “Ijaws” were paid to act to be genuinely representatives of the Ijaw majority who wants the British Government to leave their son alone to go back to Nigeria!
Otherwise how can explain a situation where a Governor whose monthly salary is about £300.00 (less than N80,000) carrying over £1,000,000.00 in cash plus other assets in UK alone worth £10Million? One fake female protester even had the effrontery to say the Governor may be bringing the cash to buy/build Satellite station for Ijaws in UK. How many has he built for the long - suffering, hungry and diseased Ijaws in the road-less Ijaw creeks?
Meanwhile many Ijaws are dying of preventable disease because Alamieseigha will not build decent affordable hospital for them. Their life span is shortened as hunger and disease is sending them to early graves. Funds allocated to Bayelsa state from the federation account is repeatedly looted by Alamieseigha, his immediate family and cronies and so there is not enough to build and equip public schools or build and develop the state’s infrastructure. Indeed Alamieseigha should be given the title of the killer/murderer of the Ijaws instead of the adulation and sympathy been shown by his paid agent pretending to be the voice of the majority of Ijaws in the UK and even back in Nigeria. Its a shame how we compromise our conscience because of short term pot of porridge.
That Obasanjo has not prosecuted IBB and other similar suspected looters of the economy is not an excuse for anyone to steal public funds and expect to get away with it. Even in the most advanced economies not every thief is caught! But the difference is that when you are caught you are tried and given adequate punishment to serve as a deterrence to others who might want to seek easy way of making money.
The problem with the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria is that many Nigerian feel that the fight is an Obasanjo fight. And I think the government has failed in the area of “public education” of the people, to engage them in the fight against corruption, particularly grand corruption and the looting of public funds.
Because of Nigeria’s peculiar problem of ethnicity and religious divides, the thieving elites manipulate ordinary Nigerians into believing that corruption has ethnic, religious and geographic colouration. And so when an Ijaw thieving elite like Deprieye Alamieseigha is caught red handed with stolen public funds, Ijaw ethnic champions will see whatever punishment he gets or action to enforce the law on graft as a “selective” persecution of Ijaw son! Some even see the apprehension of thieving public officers as political vendetta on the part of Obasanjo particularly in the light of media speculation of a rift between President Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar. And so if you are caught with your “Pants down” then it is because you are a governor or Chairman that belong to the PDM wing of the PDP controlled by Atiku. Ridiculous as it is but some believe Corruption is a terrible disease in any system. But the worst form of corruption is the graft and looting with impunity which Nigerian public office holders are engaged in. this is like premeditated murder of the people. In the past we only hear of 10 percenters and contractors giving public officers bribe so they do substandard work and the job is certified as “Well done” because government officials are already compromised. At least some work was done. But now what is happening is that Governors and local Government chairmen just share their allocation and siphon the cash abroad. This is deadly for the society that is why I called this type of looting “Mass Murder” as nothing is on the ground at all to reduce poverty and lack.
Corruption has no colour, ethnicity, religion or creed. It is simply a crime that destroys Nigeria and Nigerians and we must shun ethnicity or geographical leanings in the fight of this cancer. A thief denies Nigerian of the resources meant for their welfare and poverty eradication. It does not matter where the thief is from or the religion he/she belongs.
Ordinary Nigerians should become involved in the war against corruption and graft by diligently holding their public office holders to account for the resources they are supposed to hold for them in trust. There should be more transparency as government in Nigeria is shrouded in too much secrecy. Corruption thrives more when the people are kept in the dark about the affairs of the state. The government also must intensify efforts in not just trying to catch thieves- enforcement- but also to create environment that deter thieving, that is prevention of corruption at all levels. Public enlightenment of the citizens so that they know their duties and responsibilities is also crucial in the fight against this cancer that have eaten so deep into the fabric of Nigeria.
Tony Ishiekwene
(London, UK)
e-mail: Tony.Ishiekwene@ovalhouse.com
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