The time this article is published, the ministerial screening would have been completed and the majority party’s candidates would have sailed through irrespective of the people’s feelings. That has been the tradition- take a bow and go-, it has not changed. That is our Nigeria, a country that was promised a radical change from the past, well, we wait and see.
All that we have heard since this government took over is the word corruption. Everyone agrees that corruption is the bane of Nigeria but each party has interpreted corruption differently. It is corruption when the one party is involved and mere accusation or allegations when it involves the other. Many of us have been misled into thinking that corruption is mere stealing or white collar criminality. Corruption is much more than that, any empowerment, whether economic, political, religious, ethnic et al that is done outside the due or normal process is corruption. It is fraudulent, it is stealing, it is criminal to appropriate to yourself what does not rightly belong to you because that is the foundation for distrust, for discord and for conflict in society.
Nigeria has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world and past governments have tried to attack it decisively but all attempts have been futile. The revered Bishop Mathew Kukah alluded to this fact in his october 1, 2015 presentation, that Muhammadu Buhari fought corruption on his first outing and lost his job in the process. Many others have also confirmed the fact that when you fight corruption in Nigeria, it fights back more forcefully- Ndudi Elumelu, Lawan Farouk, Sanusi Lamido and others.
The only way we can make the fight against corruption succeed is to attack it from the root- the structures and institutions- no other alternative will work. The nation Nigeria is founded on corruption; false demographics, false allocation of resources, false information about relationship, false secular principles and on false geo- political arrangements, that is the issue. Only a leader that is ready to tackle these issues head on can succeed in the corruption fight. We cannot fight corruption in this country when alleged corrupt leaders are hailed as heroes by their people, when the enforcement agents such as the EFCC, DSS and others target political opponents of government and those members of their own party who do not toe party lines. This has been the practice in the past, it is even more glaring now.
Unfortunately, the APC as the majority party is not well disposed towards fair criticism, any attempt made at bringing these flaws to light is returned with a barrage of counter positions. We must see genuine criticism as an attempt at finding solutions, a leader that is tolerant of criticism is a leader headed for success, let no one think otherwise.
From the Senate ministerial screenings, we are beginning to see a new side to Nigerians, you can ‘chop’ if you have worked for the people. So, Fashola can go through as the representative of Lagos whether he faces allegations of corruption or not, same goes for Fayemi and Amaechi. Meanwhile, the EFCC is busy hounding Godswill Akpabio whose performance in Akwa Ibom state is very visible, where is the justice?
You work, you chop, that is the new mantra. Anybody that has done reasonably well in government should be allowed a pass, even if he is tainted. That is the new debate and that is our present dilemma. Tell me how this can address the monster of corruption? There is no stand you take that will not favour a particular interest group, therefore, other interest groups will fight you back. That is why it is going to be very difficult for Mohammadu Buhari to fight corruption transparently and that is why some of us are skeptical about the methods he has adopted so far. If you want a clean change, you must be willing to give equal treatment to all, be ready to try and risk new untainted hands instead of recycling familiar faces, be ready to tackle both structural and institutional disruptions instead of pretending that they do not exists, be ready to isolate party/godfather’s interests from national interest and above all, show the will to see this through. That is the only way Nigerians will go with the corruption fight, no other way.
We have waited for four months and going to the fifth month now for fresh clean hands, as we have been led to believe. But, the list that has gone through the Senate did not show such promise. Thus, it is incumbent on President Buhari and his team to prove us, doubting Thomasses wrong; they can do this through a change in their attitude and accord priority towards changing the structures within their respective ministries.
The country must never again accept partially or perceived corrupt people into leadership positions. Corruption is corruption and nothing else, and it is killing the country. A good workman with a defective character is a worthless one, so is a good leader that is corrupt. You can’t be a good leader and be corrupt.
Nigerians must be wise. They must stop encouraging the line of thinking that encourages a good leader to steal money.
This article was originally published on Vanguard.