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Corruption In Nigeria: A Challenge Of Nigerian Diasporas By Johnny A. Mez, Ph.D.
For A Symposium on “Nigeria at 50: Lessons and Opportunities In commemoration of Nigeria’s 50th Independence Anniversary Held at Sacramento State University On October 1, 2010
Sponsored by
Sacramento Association of Nigerians & California State University at Sacramento Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution (CAPCR)
Moderated by:
Prof. Ernest Uwazie, Director CSUS CAPCR
CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: A CHALLENGE OF NIGERIAN DIASPORANS
This presenter calls on Nigerians in the Diaspora to organize themselves for the single purpose of going back to Nigeria to use education to change the mindset of the people of Nigeria against bribery and corruption. Education is the cure to this disease of mass destruction called corruption in Nigeria. It should be implemented in a way to permeate the grassroots and create consciousness in all people in villages, cities, governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and involve every individual and all types of groups and organizations in the country. Do something or shut up about curbing the culture of corruption in Nigeria. The complaint was that there are no good roads, no health clinics, no stable electricity and portable water, but now it is about kidnapping and total absence of safety and security. This means complaining and finger pointing at the past and present administration of the government is not the solution. You should be the solution by demonstrating that your sojourning outside of Nigeria has taught you the difference between the presence of law and order and the lack thereof. If you cannot take the challenge, you had better keep your mouth shut. This is a call to end blames and criticisms, and to bend down and cultivate.
This paper addresses corruption under the following headings:
· Background · Causes and Costs (national structure) · Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Approach of Curbing Corruption · Remedies and Challenges (Education=creation of awareness): this is where Nigerian Diasporas should take the lead: Organize anticorruption crusades, join existing/form political parties, raise funds, and involve international communities like the US, UN, the World Bank, etc.
Background and Definition
National structure is in part the cause for the culture of bribery and corruption in Nigeria. The way the country of Nigeria is structured (organized) does not give the people a sense of “one nation.” The citizens have differing cultures and speak different languages (tribes). In addition, the country is glaringly divided between Moslems and Christians, a divide that may never integrate. The national structure is so complicated the nation subjects itself to corruption by practicing over-centralized government and blindly granting excessive executive power to the presidency, the governors, and local government chairpersons. These positions do the work of the controller, the treasurer, the accountant general, the judge, etc., and they decide when elections should take place and who to be elected or appointed. Consequently, states suffer from over dependency on oil as the only national revenue resource, instead of depending on innovation for self economic sufficiency.
Nigeria is like a polygamist’s family where the children of each spouse have little or no common interest in the affairs of the whole family, but of their respective mothers’ quarters or houses. Each spouse offers very little to the central family, but expects to receive much of the family’s belongings to stock up for her own quarters. The attitude in such families is for the children to receive and not to give. Those who are not receiving enough feel hated and deprived (marginalized). They cause trouble and attempt to severe relations with others. That is how the people of Nigeria see the country as nobody’s, and therefore lack common interest in building the nation and expanding its natural resources. Anybody who is serving the nation is only interested in reaping the country off of its monetary and nonmonetary resources. This is the order by which bribery and corruption became the culture of life in Nigeria, where there are 36 states with limited economic autonomy.
Definition: Corruption is defined in several ways. This presenter defines it as an attitudinal phenomenon that perceives the government as an enemy. The belief is that the resources of the people or the government are nobody’s own. Due to such perception, anybody working for another or the government is believed to be stupid if they do not embezzle or “steal” the property of their employer. There is this truism in Nigeria that hard work does not make riches and stealing from the government is not a crime. What makes riches is stealing, particularly from the government, and any other body or entity. If you succeed in emptying such an entity and bring the grabs home, you are praised and crowned a hero.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Approach of Curbing Corruption
The contemporary tool Nigeria has for dealing with corruption is known as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), whose mission statement is to “curb the menace of the corruption that constitutes the cog in the wheel of progress; protect national and foreign investments in the country; imbue the spirit of hard work in the citizenry and discourage ill gotten wealth; identify illegally acquired wealth and confiscate it; build an upright workforce in both public and private sectors of the economy and; contribute to the global war against financial crimes.” (See http://efccnigeria.org/).
The creation of EFCC is noble and quite timely, but its method employs the use of force, which has limited results. While EFCC is busy going to court and confiscating the assets of the unfortunate perpetrators of corruption, those at large who have not been apprehended are at work looting and hiding their loots overseas and in their backyards. In addition, nobody knows where the assets confiscated by EFCC go and what use they are put into. This colors the effectiveness of EFCC. Their good work should include putting all seized properties and monetary assets right into the hands of the citizens in the form of building roads, hospitals, and funding education. The convicted criminals should be made to serve at least 25 years in prison, and as part of their restitution, they should engage in rural community development projects and use themselves as examples of corrupt citizens who contributed in wasting public resources for lessons to others. To its credit, EFCC has succeeded in creating fear in the hearts of many corrupt government and business officials who before the birth of EFCC would not have smelled the jail. Examples of high profile corruption cases of EFCC are listed in the following table.
SOME HIGH PROFILE CORRUPTION CASES OF THE ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION 2007 – 2010 (in the billions of Naira) (Adapted from www.efccnigeria.org)
Before EFCC no governor or inspector general of police ever was put in the jail for bribery and corruption. Many “big” fishes have been caught, tried, and their assets confiscated. A good example is the former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Adebayo Balogun in 2005. Once all elected officials like the governors and the president are stripped of their immunity that protects them from being arraigned while in office, the road to the success of EFCC will widen and become shorter.
The question is: how do you change attitude or Behavior?
Corruption should be treated as a negative attitude or behavior (an addiction) that:
· regards public or government resources as nobody’s · believes it is ok to cheat · glorifies ill-gotten wealth · disregards law and order · is anti-investment · is anti-productive · is anti-nationalism/patriotism · encourages inefficiency · etc.
The mentality of corruption in Nigeria can be seen as any other type of addiction, such as abuse of hard drugs and alcohol. The cure for such addictions will only succeed with rehabilitation, which in the case of corruption involving amassment of millions and billions of Naira would require proper education of the people. Human Development and Leadership Institute (HDLI) (visit www.hdliworld.org), defines “proper education” as the foundation of education, that is, basic education. It is not academic. It is common sense. The people of Nigeria never knew patriotism or nationalism. They do not know how to practice philanthropy, selflessness, and humanity. The imperialists created Nigeria for, and segmented it the way it suited their purpose of exploration and exploitation of the resources needed for the enrichment of their country and people. For many years Nigeria was under other people and under the government of other people. Consequently, it will take more than imprisonment of citizens to change their mindset. It will require the involvement of all citizens, not just a commission, to attain the goal of reducing bribery and corruption in a country so screwed up by imperialists and past selfish ex-military dictators for so many years.
Programmatic Approach of Curbing the Culture of Corruption in Nigeria
No one single approach will cure Nigeria of the endemic disease of corruption. Any such approach has to be programmatic. A holistic methodology that would involve all citizens—home and abroad, and combine other modern approaches is needed. To make such an approach successful, this presenter challenges all Nigerians in the Diaspora to join hands in the fight against bribery and corruption. Only programmatic approach of implementing change can offer expected results. Force or dictatorship style of change calls for a selection of who to make an escape goat. In addition, the use of force yields insurmountable resistance. On the other hand, programmatic approach to change requires step-by-step actions. It unites all key players. Communication is used to establish consciousness. It is educational, and does not create any impression of the use of coercion or deception. It is preventive. Such an approach starts as a pilot project, and after it concludes to be result-oriented, it is made nationwide. It offers measurable outcomes and encourages everybody’s participation.
A programmatic approach, coupled with the power of EFCC to enforce respect for law and order stands out as the void that needs to be filled before Nigeria could see bribery and corruption go away. The preferred weapon for anti-corruption program is proper education—consciousness of the people through all media—churches, community gatherings, market places, newspapers, TVs, and radios. Through education, the people will become conscious in:
You can join HDLI or form your own civil organizations that would help change the negative attitudes of the people of Nigeria. Examples of activities of HDLI in creating consciousness through education include:
a. Making and distributing stickers/decals with such inscriptions as: “Help Police Fight Bribery & Corruption,” “Nigeria will be heaven without Corruption,” “Bribery and Corruption Stop Here,” “I love Nigeria, Do not Give Me Bribe,” “Thank God, no more Corruption in Nigeria.”
b. Organizing town hall meetings with community members (including council members and business associations), and providing them with t-shirts and other simple accessories as prizes/gifts, while showing them how to create jobs, operate businesses, and have a voice in the government. The belief that when a relative gets an appointment as minister or commissioner their turn to riches begins is totally dispelled.
c. Visiting elementary and high schools, and engaging students in debates on topics like what corruption has caused me, my parents, my village, my town, my state, and my country Nigeria, etc., and how to end corruption practices.
d. Establishing businesses and modeling them to American run ventures to demonstrate transparency and emphasize a culture of honesty, fairness, absence of greed, and ordinariness or simple living nature versus materialistic or “bigmanness.”
Recommendations
Let’s move away from thinking too small, too petty. Sacramento Association of Nigerians (SAN) is exactly like the Nigeria we are discussing here this evening—with all kinds of dignitaries—professors, lawyers, architects, procurement experts, nurses, accountants, engineers, etc., but we think and feel very small. SAN has remained a three thousand dollar organization with the only aim of celebrating independence every year since 1992. I do not think small. I dream big. We have to stop this feeling too small attitude. If SAN cannot go to The Hague, it can go to New York or Washington to seek the support of international bodies in fighting bribery and corruption in Nigeria. We can form an organization that can take the initiative of carrying out the responsibilities of Nigerians in the Diaspora for curbing bribery and corruption in Nigeria, and yes, we can.
Unity is strength if properly formed for a good purpose. Nigerians in the Diaspora should organize together for the primary purpose to exert influence—economic and political in Nigeria. Such an organization can range from political to nonpolitical, but whatever the nature it should be well capitalized and given the time (3 to 5 years) to stabilize and grow in number. However, its formation should start here and now. It should recruit or join other organizations in the Diaspora for the same purpose. One mistake that should be avoided is attempting to go it alone to change the way the people back home think and run the government. You will be kidnapped if you try.
All political parties in Nigeria have no philosophy of existence. The only reason there is a proliferation of political parties is to be the nominee for president or governor. In the real world where people love their country, people form or join political parties based upon ideology, and not for a position. The only political party that will possess a purpose and ideology will emerge from Nigerians in the Diaspora, if and when they wake up to forge their heads together. As a result, it is my recommendation that Nigerians in the Diaspora form their own political party here and now.
Conclusions
Let those who do not want to love and help rebuild Nigeria stop campaigning to finish up its destruction. If Nigeria is finally extinct it will do nobody any good. The Nigerians in the Western World will agree it is a blessing to have a place to call one’s country. In the United States, opportunities abound, except that racism and discrimination are hard to overcome. This goes to the African Americans, too. Racism may not go away until every black person begins to invest in the form of knowledge (technology) in his or her motherland. For example, banking, insurance, and investment services are performing far below their capacities in Nigeria, and African American professionals could offer leadership in those areas. The proverbial saying that charity begins at home could not be truer. The economic and social condition of a people’s homeland or motherland is a factor on how other races perceive and treat them. Let gradual change begin for a better Nigeria with re-orientation of the mentality and attitude of the citizens to eliminate, or at least neutralize dependency on bribery and corruption.
About this presenter:
Dr. Mez, a certified public accountant, has doctorate in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the founder and CEO of Human Development and Leadership Institute (HDLI), a nonprofit organization founded for the purpose of using education to fight bribery and corruption in Nigeria. Currently working for the California Teachers’ Retirement System in the accounting branch, he teaches accounting as an adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco, and provides tax services and real estate consulting. Dr. Mez has over 14 years of experience in fiscal management and program development for solving social problems. His interests include rural socio-economic development; community integration, collaboration and conflict resolution; organization and development of small and medium-size businesses; job skills development. He can be reached at 916-225-2340 or via email: johnny@hdliworld.org.
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