Matters Arising

Matters Arising: War Against Corruption Revisited

Akintokunbo A Adejumo

London, UK

· When the people fear the government, there is Tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is Liberty. - Thomas Jefferson

· Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve.- George Bernard Shaw

· Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried. - Sir Winston Churchill

“As a process, governance may operate in an organization of any size: from a single human being to all of humanity; and it may function for any purpose, good or evil, for profit or not. A reasonable or rational purpose of governance might aim to assure, (sometimes on behalf of others) that an organization produces a worthwhile pattern of good results while avoiding an undesirable pattern of bad circumstances.

Perhaps the most moral or natural purpose of governance consists of assuring, on behalf of those governed, a worthy pattern of good while avoiding an undesirable pattern of bad. The ideal purpose, obviously, would assure a perfect pattern of good with no bad. A government, then, comprises a set of inter-related positions that govern and that use or exercise power, particularly coercive power.

A good government therefore, following this line of thought, could consist of a set of inter-related positions exercising coercive power that assures, on behalf of those governed, a worthwhile pattern of good results while avoiding an undesirable pattern of bad circumstances, by making decisions that define expectations, grant power, and verify performance”.(quoted from Wikipaedia)

Events in the past two weeks and beyond have cast very serious doubts on Nigerians’ optimism that the war against corruption in the polity and in governance, by the government of President Yar’Adua is being fought convincingly and being won. It was the same doubt that we eventually had with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight-year administration. If I am wrong, please tell and prove to me otherwise. However, in this new administration, we are being clogged up and bamboozled with the term “Rule of Law”. I have said it before, and will continue to say it, that much as I love the term “Rule of Law”, it is not the right time to apply it to the extreme situation of Nigeria, at least as far as corruption in high places is concerned. In a country under very serious siege by corrupt politicians, corrupt leaders in government, corrupt business community, the rule of law cannot be applied so soon and very serious re-consideration of Yar’Adua’s government on this position is required. The President does not need to reinvent the wheel, neither is it rocket science to know that this stance is not working.

If leaders conveniently and arrogantly ignore the rule of law to get to power, then ignore the rule of law to govern their people and continue to loot treasuries in defiance of the rule of law, why should they be judged or tried under the rule of law? We all love and admire the Rule of Law, but I will submit that before there is Rule of Law, there must be “Obeisance of Law” or something to that effect. If a people want to be governed under the Rule of Law and all its attendance qualities, then there must be a system in place where the law is adhered to in the first place. Certainly, over the decades, our leaders have never adhered to obeying the rules, or the laws for that matter. In fact, they have always flouted the rules in stark disregard for the people of Nigeria. They do not give a damn for the people, only themselves. This then brings us to the crossroads. How do we juggle the application of this often misinterpreted, misapplied and misused phrase with the reality on the ground? The reality on the ground being that at present, we are letting the Rule of Law interfere with meting out appropriate justice to corrupt leaders and politicians. The reality on the ground being that the Rule of Law now seems to be used as a cover or hiding instrument by these corrupt nonentities who have been piling misery, death, poverty and catastrophe on the people of Nigeria. Every corrupt politician is now asking to be tried under the rule of law when they have not adhered to the rule of law in the first place. What an irony?

Let us start from the following:

Speaker of the House, Mrs Patricia Etteh (Etteh-gate) – Why this lady (if she’s really a lady) is still hanging on to power beats my imagination. I know that the singular and dignified act of Nigerian leaders resigning in the face of very strong opposition, ineffectiveness and criminal indictment is virtually unknown, but this is going too far. Until most of them are disgraced from office, they can never bring themselves to resign. It is an unfortunate trait even when their positions become untenable. They still fight to stay in power. “I will not resign” is their byword, and they start fingering unseen elements that are out to get them. In this case of Madam Speaker, even with the overwhelming evidence and the indictment against her, knowing the power play and the behind the scenes intrigues, this woman might actually weather the storm and continue to be our Speaker. In other more civilised countries, she would either have resigned or been removed. Here in Naija, we let it drag on and on, until people get sick of it, and then she stays. That is our lot.

Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa and ex-Governor Ibori – Apart from his misguided involvement and personal interest in the cases of former governor Orji Kalu and the EFCC, as well as his ill-advised pronouncement on the Naira Re-denomination debacle, there he is again allegedly involved in Ibori’s acquittal in London over the freezing of a $35 million asset. Several Nigerian newspapers and also the respected Sahara reporters (please read them all and their allegations) have carried stories that the position of the Federal Government and the Attorney General on this Ibori case has either inadvertently or deliberately let ex-Delta state Governor Ibori off the hook from the UK government. Therefore, Michael Aondoakaa is either incompetent or deliberately misleading the country. How on earth can a Governor allegedly make $35 million in eight years of governance of his state and nobody wonders how he made it? I have written about this before. Now the man will actually get away with his loot, and I would not be surprised, knowing that James Ibori was widely regarded as the major financier of Yar’Adua’s ascension to the Presidency of Nigeria. Ibori was also reputedly the best Hostage Negotiator with the Niger Delta militants. In fact, at a time before the elections, he was being touted by the PDP machinery as the next PDP power broker. Can you see the pieces falling into place, my people? So that is the rule of law, Nigerian style, as applied to very special corrupt people. The Punch (4^th October 2007) reported that the Federal Government might have contributed to the reprieve of Ibori in a London Court, due to a letter allegedly written by the Attorney General of the Federation (or someone in the Government) to Ibori’s counsel that he has no case to answer. (Aondoakaa has denied writing the letter, but this does not appear to be the truth, as there were definitely correspondence between the AGF and Ibori’s counsels).

The Punch newspaper reported that new evidence showed that the AGF and Minister of Justice personally wrote a letter which might have played an important role in the acquittal of ex-Governor James Ibori of Delta State by a London court, corroborating the report of Sahara Reporters published in Nigeria Today Online on Wednesday 3^rd October 2007.

Also, THIS DAY Newspapers (4^th October 2007) mentioned that they were told that the EFCC were no longer forthcoming with evidence, quoting a source that said “So when the people who instigated the action are not forthcoming, what can you do? The government of your country (i.e. Nigeria) didn't want anything to escalate the crisis in the Niger Delta and other issues," hence, the EFCC, for undisclosed reasons "was no longer keen on providing any more evidence to the UK investigators."

There goes the Rule of Law again, and with it, the neighbourhood of Nigeria and one of the biggest thieving Governors in the history of Nigeria. It will be a Herculean task for Ibori to be brought to justice now, mark my words.

And you know what, Governor Uduaghan of Delta State, a cousin to James Ibori (Ibori actually put him in power) has promised “to organise a thanksgiving service to express gratitude to God for the landmark victory”. You are kidding me, aren’t you, Governor? Exactly what God are you giving thanks to? Are you using Delta State money to do this or your own or Ibori’s loot? Let the looting continue unabated, that is the game plan.

Still on Political Intrigues bordering on corruption – Sahara Reporters reported that Mike Adenuga, Globalcom Chairman and James Ibori were in New York to meet with President Yar’Adua ostensibly to plead with him on their lingering corruption investigations by the EFCC. Ibori flew into the US from South Africa, where he is alleged to have substantial business interests, including majority shareholding in an oil refinery. He was also said to have real estate properties in Florida. Can you believe the magnitude of corruption of these people? Mike Adenuga wanted to facilitate his safe return to Nigeria without further harassment from the EFCC while Ibori would like the President to call off the hounds of the EFCC off him. This is really getting out of hand, isn’t it, when dubious characters, irrespective of their standing in the society, are seeking and getting audience with the President of my country. That is corruption in high places for you. In Nigeria, the more corrupt you are, the more important you become. And they can even flaunt it in our faces.

That is another “Rule of Law” for you. There seems no end to these things, are there?

Senate President embroiled in N400 million Scam – There we seem to go again. His Excellency, the Senate President, seems to be heading for a crisis as he dares his opponents in the “hallowed” chambers to come out with facts to support the allegations that he - ironically similarly to his counterpart in the House of Representative, Mrs Patricia Etteh – spent another whopping sum of 400 million Naira to renovate his official residence. This is not a full blown crisis yet (Can this government afford one just on the heels of that of the Speaker?) but I will not take positions now as the alleged scam is yet to be confirmed. It might, according to Senate President David Mark, be the handiwork of his detractors, ranging from the “IBB Boys” in the Senate to just mischievous opponents, however, knowing the antecedents of the Senate President when it comes to corrupt former military officials during IBB’s days, I will not be too surprised if the allegations prove to be true and as damaging. One thing for sure, Mr David Mark is far from being incorruptible and his past records on corruption do not really instil confidence on anybody that he has changed nor does it suggest that he will ever change. Once you are corrupt, you will always be corrupt. Does the leopard ever change its spots? Even now, his victory at the last elections is being challenged at the tribunal.

Will we ever be rid of these people? I wait to see how this pans out.

The Petition against Dr (Mrs) Kema Chikwe by Sam Iheanacho – You could have missed this. I read it in Nigeria Today Online. It concerns a petition written by one Sam Iheanacho, CEO of Cato Engineering Services Ltd to the Director General of the State Security Services and copied to the EFCC, the IG of Police and Abuja Police Command. It was an allegation of, as the writer of the petition puts it “gross fraud, criminal breach of trust and absolute lack of integrity” against Dr (Mrs) Kema Chikwe, a Minister of Aviation under the Obasanjo Administration. The contents are too distressing to be recounted here anyway, but if true, the repercussions should reverberate strongly for the next few weeks. Remember, the Honourable former Minister is an Ambassadorial nominee and is said to be “very close” to former President Obasanjo. She was also very much involved with the Virgin Nigeria deal as Minister of Aviation, but she somehow managed to get away with it. It has been said also that the EFCC had made Mrs Chikwe cough out a “mere” 15 million Naira.

Some people believe this could well be a “Pull ‘em down” syndrome and that the petition smacks of mischief, but I strongly doubt it. This is borne out of my inherent belief and knowledge that most Nigerian officials are corrupt, and my inherent distrust of them and that hardly any of them over the past decades, when in any type of government, made their fortunes honestly. I am yet to be convinced of this fact. Yes, there are a few, granted, but too few to mention.

So what next? You tell me. Mrs Chikwe’s name should be removed from that Ambassadorial List until investigation into these serious allegations is complete.

This is the result, again, of putting square pegs in round holes, and satisfying political expediencies rather than by merit. This just cannot be allowed to go on. Already a lot of Nigerians have concerns about the qualities and adequacies of some of those political nominees for Ministers and Ambassadors. But, compatriots, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait till they start appointing board members into various government parastatals, (or have they?) and that is when you will see octahedrons in pentagonal holes.

Ekiti State Government sends 10 monarchs to London to mark anniversary – This is really taking the Mickey, isn’t it? Rubbing salt on open wound. Is this true, that an educated man like Governor (Eng) Segun Oni will even contemplate wasting the sparse resources of Ekiti State on sending monarchs on a jamboree to London to celebrate the Independence Day anniversary of Nigeria? What have these guys been eating? Do they have any sense at all or who are their advisers? Lord have mercy. Now I am really convinced these leaders are mad. You cannot celebrate Nigeria’s Independence from Great Britain in Ado-Ekiti; it has to be in London, Great Britain. I am not sure whether indeed the 10 monarchs were in London for this purpose (I do not attend Nigeria’s Independence Day anniversaries as a rule because I always fail to see what we are celebrating about, (please correct me if I should think otherwise), but if it were so, Ekiti State is again in big trouble with its new clueless Chief Executive (or is it Execu-thief). Coming straight on the heels of ex-Governor Ayo Fayose, this promises to be another interesting times for the long-suffering people of Ekiti State. I still remember when Ayo Fayose brought all PDP House members and state party officials to London on a month long jamboree, living it up and staying away from the business of governance in Ado-Ekiti barely two years ago. I was invited to one of their outings in London, and it was all I could do not to shoot them and their then governor. I had to leave in disgust. Of course, these same legislators had to turn on their governor-benefactor after the EFCC and Obasanjo applied some strong-armed tactics on them.

I could go on and on about these “Matters Arising” but have often been too long-winded in my articles. I have also been slandered as a “tribalist”, who “attacks” people who are not from my tribe (I hate that word “tribe” because it connotes a picture of a primitive people; and the word “tribalist does not even exist in the English dictionary or vocabulary, only in Nigeria) but who am I to fight wars on several fronts?

Solutions? Well, people have often asked me for solutions for our corruption problems, and I have, albeit couched in my articles, but then again, this is not unique to me. We can offer solutions till the world ends, but if we do not change our orientation in our country, such solutions will not work and we will continue banging our collective heads against a brick wall. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of individuals and organisations working towards making Nigeria a better place to live for all of us, but the forces of regression are more powerful and seem to be winning the war.

One such organisation is Champions for Nigeria (www.championsfornigeria.org ) of which the author is a founding member and deeply committed to finding solutions and correcting all these wrongs by all means possible and within our power and means. The organisation cuts across all boundaries – religious, gender, tribal or political. We cannot afford to maintain the status quo. Nigerians have to take their destiny in their own hands NOW, and burying our heads in sands will not serve us well. And we have to do it as soon as possible. If we do not, we remain doomed as a people and as a nation. Nobody will do it for us.

Akintokunbo Adejumo, a social and political commentator on Nigerian issues, lives and works in London, UK. He is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985). He also writes on topical issues for newspapers and internet media including Nigeriaworld.com, Nigeria Today Online, Nigeriansinamerica.com, Nigerianvillagesquare.com, Gamji.com, etc.

He is also the Coordinator of CHAMPIONS FOR NIGERIA, an organisation devoted and committed to celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed service to Nigeria and the people of Nigeria.