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Ethnic Baiting Crippled Anticorruption Momentum By Farouk Martins Aresa
Buhari, Idiagbon and Obasanjo will be fairly remembered as the greatest dent on our fight against corruption in Nigeria, no matter what our differences were with these men. Certainly Buhari and Idiagbon were too harsh and under a military disposition alien to democratic principles and our cultural disposition for due process. But if we want to be sincere with ourselves, it was better than jungle justice meted out to poor hungry men.
Obasanjo, under a civilian democracy, no matter how we felt about it, EEFC was a bridge between Buhari/Idiagbo War Against Indiscipline and jungle justice. Both WAI and EEFC anticorruption were sabotaged by the most unscrupulous counter-attacks championed by those who knew their days were numbered. It is doubtful if any unbiased mind would dispute the achievement of either war, even in their short period of time.
Dora Akunyili also played her role fearlessly. Public education and humiliation by Ribadu and Akunyili exposed them to constant threat: evidence of their effectiveness against mischievous elements. They were great in those roles until displaced; and promoted out of competence. They became political laughingstock. They were then used and dumped by political parties. Everyone is created to contribute; politics is not the only way.
Ethnic shields and baiting allow corruption to invade our very minds and souls. Nigeria’s population and influence in Africa, affect the rest of Africa economically. We may have given up that leadership role by default by not performing according to the number of talents in our population, diverted by crooks. Indeed, other countries have gained from that talent because of enabling environments offered to the brightest in many fields.
Each time somebody rises up and dares to tackle our endemic problem of corruption, she is stricken down by distractions, comparison to deadwoods, recrimination, faults and finger-pointing. If these were mild and not self-defeating as in many countries, fine. But in Nigeria men of evil spirit would inflame the shortcomings and ride it like a wave to overthrow goodwill movements without replacing it with equal or better one.
There is this fear that anyone daring all odds to contribute her share to the progress of the Country may get shafted in the process. So we leave the running of the Country to vagabonds, ethnic militia, religious terrorists and schemers. As long as they use some of their embezzlement to dazzle and create conspicuous projects, we sing their praises.
If we had to do it again, most people would not welcome the motive of Babangida that changed the war against indiscipline to family support encouraging and sanctioning the worst form of corruption engulfing every facet of life in the Country. Since the coming of Obasanjo when his anticorruption Czar, Ribadu claimed he and OBJ used one another to fight corruption, that organization has not found its balance again.
Not only was Ribadu able to get Obasanjo closest friends, Obasanjo invited international accounting firm to audit, a very rare occurrence in Nigeria. There was this sense of fear almost similar to the days of Buhari/Idiagbon when the Chief of Police Tafa Balogun was dragged into vehicle and tried. Ibori predicted the end of Ribadu. The men of timber and caliber had their poor supporters too. Oh, where are those blackmailing Ribadu today?
We cannot doubt the fact that Buhari played double standard with his royal class by allowing them to get away. Neither can we doubt that Obasanjo, after his first coming as head of state later declared bankruptcy. But he came back to steal what he forgot. None of these faults justify the state of dog-eat-dog we find ourselves right now. We may not love Nigeria anymore, but we cannot throw the baby away with the bathwater.
One of the biggest corruption loopholes is still defense hardware contracts and security gadgets whether in working condition or not, that are dumped into Nigeria. Contractors and middlemen are well placed Nigerians beyond reproach by any of the anticorruption agencies. Many times, Nigeria has been sold dumb materials that cannot work at home, in space and in battle fields. Even when given free, politicians prefer to buy them.
People that have never lived anywhere else until they got their first Federal or state contract compare their loot to the rich people of the world, even when they have never contributed to that world standard. Food, houses, cars and school fees are compared to world standard that care less if Africa existed. Unfortunately, it is the working class that bears the brunt of these comparisons since they can never make enough to compete.
But for corruption, it shouldn’t cost more to build one kilometer of road than anywhere else in the world because they are following world standard. Not better or suitable local standard. So every contract must include foreign imports, otherwise it is not worth even giving out. It is not worth the benefit of the givers or the takers. Governments are the biggest contract givers, enticing most Nigerians to be politicians to get their own loot by force or blackmail. A country with feeble corruption laws has no corruption sins.
Only little people deal in or trade in the naira. In a country where local currency is ridiculed, hard currency is the rule of transaction. Indeed, the Governor of Central Bank recently claimed high domination of the local money would not raise inflation as most businesses are conducted in British pounds or American dollars. Local traders would give you the options of paying in foreign currency or refuse naira subtlety.
When any country loses the power to punish saboteurs of honest principles, integrity falls by the wayside. We wonder why schools, hospitals and products are purchased outside the Country when the evidence is right before us. The only goods and services that can compete with foreign traders are the one that are imported and sometimes faked like foreign goods and services. One of the best is faked cognac! |