The Alams Saga

The Alams Saga

Urua Ini

So much has been said about the ex-governor of Bayelsa State. Perhaps for the first time in the history of modern Nigeria, a serving Governor was impeached to face charges of colossal corruption. This is a litmus test and what seems the beginning of the struggle to free Nigeria from the poisonous claws of official dishonesty and fraud.

With Alams in the kitty, the sincerity of the fight against corruption will be tested beyond political colouration. We may now ask: what of Governor Dariye? What about the other 18 Governors EFCC indicted? Is the recent verve in anti-corruption struggle a ploy to pave the way for the third term agenda? If not, what about the Ministers, present and past, who have been indicted? Do we have the capacity to sustain the struggle against looting of public funds? I think answers will manifest as we move along. Admittedly, people will be encouraged to come up with clues that may expose corrupt practices in their various domains.

However, in the face of on-going clamour for a third term, will the anti-corruption fight be a sustainable project? Alams may have been carefully selected as escape goat to show others would-be stubborn Governors who may try to obstruct the amendment of the constitution for the third term of the present government. Another angle to this is: the money required for the project must come from somewhere! And if the project is to be successfully executed, budget limit must be removed given the ground swell and opposition. It is therefore imperative that the juicy Niger Delta States must be in the firm grip of the ruling party in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this political side to the saga cannot mitigate the alleged crime committed by the ex-governor who complained of political victimisation. So the natural question that follows is: are we fighting the crime? Alternatively, are we fighting the wrong person who allegedly committed it? Will Bayelsa state be free from corruption with a new governor?

Equally important to look at is the hysteria that Nigerians expressed following the dramatic escape of Alams from London. The undercurrent may not be known as it were, but by a few individuals. To aggravate an already bad situation, Alams may have been subtly allowed to jump bail, convict himself before trial and push the immunity issue to the background. A man who was monitored by undercover agent(s), and had earlier failed to report to the Metropolitan Police as required, could not have easily escaped from UK. That is in the past. Now with the immunity gone, the Federal Government has a bumper harvest to celebrate this season. However, this is not the only governor who has used state funds to buy houses in UK, US and South Africa.

Now that most of these governors have decided to stay back in their respective states to ‘work’, what are the options to recover the ill-gotten monies and assets? It is pertinent to state that even those Governors who are loyal to the President must be made to account for what they have done with statutory allocations to their states. Obviously, the scale of the malaise goes beyond two governors. At this point Nigerians should hold their breath and desist from hasty celebration. Thumps up for a good start would just suffice.

The most important aspect of the entire episode is the precedence. From this point the struggle against corrupt in Nigeria should be encouraged beyond the present regime. Thus, the issue of loyalty to the present government will be disposed of with time. Therefore, if Alams is convicted, it is almost certain that some of his governor colleagues who survive today may be junior inmates to him a couple of years or months from now. For this to happen the lessons of today must be properly articulated and the struggle vested in strong institutions and not individuals.

Elsewhere, we hear FBI, Scotland Yard, etc. individuals are hardly mentioned. The present government must begin to build and enduring institutions with good legislations that will outlive its tenure. This is important way of protecting on-going reforms. Those seeking regime extensions because of continuity cannot tell us the life span of the reformers. It is a known fact that six years into the present administration, the state apparatus is still riddled with institutional weaknesses. Reforms in the judiciary, police and even the civil service have been tardy. Occasionally, government show contempt for reforms by selecting which court order to obey! Thus, government posture in this regard weakens our hope for the future.

Finally, we must remember that Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, War Against Indiscipline, Structural Adjustment Programme, were past attempts to restructure the economy and entrench discipline in our system. However, lack of entrenched institutional framework meant the reform programmes could not transit the administrations that started them. For the good of Nigeria, this should be the focal point otherwise NEEDS might be forgotten sooner than imagined.