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Corruption: Need For A Radical Workers’ Party By Kola Ibrahim
The situation in the country now calls for a serious sober reflection. For anybody in doubt whether corruption has come to stay or not, with the revelations by the president and the vice president reflecting how the national treasury is being mismanaged, such person must have a rethink. If there is anything realistic in this country, it is official corruption.
According to the president, the vice president along with some political parasites have mismanaged over N3 billion PTDF fund, aside frauds associated with the NITEL management contract. On the other hand, the vice president has fingered the president in gamut of corruption in various projects. One thing is however clear, if there has not been internal crisis within the ranks of the ruling elite – presidency, PDP etc, all these facts would have been swept under the carpet. For instance, the president claimed that it was a tip off from Congressman Jefferson since 2004 that instigated the probe, but this is September 2006, more than two years after. It was glaring that the president was waiting for a favourable time to throw the missile. On the other hand, the vice president accepted that he is guilty but that the president himself is corrupt. On would have expected a vice president who is aspiring to become a president to have opened the cankerworm earlier before being exposed.
Moreover, it should be recalled that the Auditor General’s report of 2001 (when one Mr. Azie was in charge) was thrown out by the president while the Auditor general himself was sacked for revealing the gargantuan fraud, bribery and misappropriation going on in the presidency which he termed as the most corrupt government parastatal. It is glaring that the so-called revelations by both President Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku are ill-motivated, an unavoidable necessity meant to defend their privileged positions. It is not only these two persons that are corrupt, the whole of the political structure – including the national assembly members, governors, etc –that have one way or the other perpetrated corruption, even officially. Examples of the furniture allowances to legislators and the misappropriation of over N350 billion shared as excess windfall in August 2005 are striking examples of how corruption has been institutionalized in the country.
Well meaning people have called several times on the EFCC to probe the N17 billion Library Project of the president, which it has refused to do. Now, it has been revealed how politicians, banks and the so-called entrepreneurs have diverted public fund, meant for public good for selfish end. Those who donated the N17 billion are now been given contracts, political offices and other favours. For instance, those who donated money during the president’s reelection are now in Transcorp, buying up the whole country. Other popular cases of open corruption like the over N200 billion spent on fictitious road during Chief Tony Anenih era has the Works Minister; the over N200 billion spent on NEPA rehabilitation which has yielded no light have not been probed while the over N100 billion spent on Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the NNPC – contracted out to Chief Emeka Offor, a personal friend to the president and his vice – has also not been probed. These are aside other brazen cases of fraud like the COJA, CHOGM projects etc in which the president, his vice and their political families have been fingered. Even, the salaries and emoluments of politicians smack off high level of corruption. For instance, the former finance minister who came to preach financial prudence collected N33 million (in dollars) as annual salary aside other emoluments. Also, the so-called privatization that is meant to reduce official corruption (according to its apostles) is now a veritable tool of perpetrating open corruption. Or what other name can one use to describe a situation in which the former Daily Times Ltd, bought by Folio Communication, could not produce a single edition of the newspaper a year after the privatization, and yet the company has sold out one of the properties (the Nigerian Stock Exchange building) of the Daily Times, to cover for the total cost of purchase of the newspaper company?! This is aside the fact that the company was sold for less than 20 percent of its original cost. Other cases like the Pentascope/NITEL management fraud, the Global Infrastructures, etc cases are being covered up by the Obasanjo’s government.
However, a point must be struck with all this terrible scenarios, and that is the fact that the political system is so structured as to continue to give power for the tiny clique to continue amassing wealth at public expense. While people are being killed in the creeks of Niger delta for demanding decent living, the money derived from the delta is being looted by the political elite. The same government that is commercializing and under funding education, health, claiming that there is not enough fund to properly fund them, has not found anything wrong in looting the nation’s treasury, awarding fictitious contract for politicians and its hangers-on. The same government that is sacking thousands of workers and underpaying them because “they are too bogus and costly” has not seen anything wrong in creating and dulicating political offices for its bootlickers and sycophants and paying bogus salaries for politicians. The same government that is privatizing public utilities and corporations because “they are costly and money sapping” is selling out the same companies to private individuals (mostly, its political families/ business associates) at token fees while those same companies have provided little or no services for the people.
It is a public fact that if the public resources, running to over $200 billion since 1999, has been used to massively expand social services like schools, hospitals, mass and affordable housing schemes, roads, public recreation, etc and further expansion, renovation and rehabilitation of public owned corporations and industries under democratic management of all stakeholders; coupled with reduction in inequality gap by reducing salaries of public officers, democratizing management of the economy under public scrutiny and increasing salaries of workers to meet the rate of inflation; more jobs would have been created to absorb thousands of unemployed, poverty, corruption and public violence would have been reduced drastically. But can this set of corrupt capitalist politicians, who are only interested in their pockets do this? The answer is obviously, no.
Therefore, the onus lies on those who are suffering from the system, those who are creating the wealth, from the Niger deltans, industrial workers cum civil servants, peasant farmers, market women, students, unemployed, pensioners, etc. to come together and chart a genuine and progressive way out. These set of people, led by their leadership (especially of labour) must organize themselves not only for simple economic ends, but also for political power, by forming a radical workers’ party that will champion all the economic demands of the oppressed people such as massive funding of social services like education, health, mass housing, agriculture, old age care, etc, job creation with living decent pay, adequate pension, and massive investment in communication, technology research and development, among others. However, all of these lofty agenda can only be achieved when the economy is commonly owned by the society through nationalization of the commanding height of the economy under the democratic management of workers, peasants, etc organizing themselves in committees at industrial, local, state, sectoral and national levels. The wealth created rather than being held by tiny clique of persons in power and their multinational masters under the present neo-liberal imperialist regime will be used for common good. Under such a party, public officers will earn average salaries of averagely skilled workers and will be subject to recall by public referendum. Also public decisions will be subject to alteration if the masses protest otherwise.
Such a party, when formed, will not limit itself to capturing power, but shall be the political vanguard for defending the interests of the oppressed people, along with the civil society and the workers’ organizations, by fighting against neo-liberal policies of mass retrenchment, casualization, commercialization of social services, corruption, etc. Through this, the party will be the immediate constituency of the oppressed people. The party must also be democratically organised from the grassroots and must be pan-Nigerian. With the formation of such a radical party, the political system will be radical changed from the present chop-chop system to an issue based, ideological politics. Without this, the mass of people will be forced to either align with one corrupt anti-poor politicians or the other. The onus lies on the genuine labour leaders (at all levels), pro-democracy activists, radical parties, progressive individuals, socialist organizations, students’ movement, peasant and youth organizations to come together and change the course of history. This is the only means of stopping these sets of corrupt politicians from turning our common heritage to their personal properties. Time to act is now!
Kola Ibrahim Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife |