NIGERIA: A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE

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Nuruddeen

NIGERIA: A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE

By Jibo Nura

E-mail: jibonura@yahoo.com

April 4, 2005



The blind onward match of Nigeria into the paths of political collaborators, social compromisers, economic fraudsters, and financial launderers, begins to heed some note of warnings to the citizens that the country is indeed at the foot steps of no return. No human being whether a fortune-teller, soothsayer or even the prophets of doom can heal the already entrenched corruptible behaviours, moral decadence, ineptitudes and deeply engrained unpatriotic mannerisms of both the leadership and the led.



When Transparency International (T.I) announced its universal corruption ratings, majority begged to disagree as to why should Nigeria be rated as the second corrupt Nation at the global scale despite all her amplified campaign and war against this monster (corruption) and even when Mr. President had sworn by the Oath of allegiance that he would fight it to his last breath.



Yes, Nigerians have every right to err because it is human. But categorically and sincerely speaking we are not ready to help matters. We seem not to be ready to tackle and address some major problems that are bedeviling the country every day. In short, I have never seen a country where corruption comics and drama are unprecedented like Nigeria. Today Mr. ?President? would wake up and point an accusing finger on the Senate that they are a bunch of corruptible minds and tomorrow the Senate would fight back that he too ( Mr. President) is the architect and mastermind behind the senate?s corrupt activities. And the most shameful part of it all, none of them is ready to take the blames of betraying the course of our national morality.



Therefore, today I would wish to go down memory lane and address different kinds of corruption without which our dear country would have been as holy as Mecca or Jarussalem which is the major heart of three (3) religions i.e. Islam, Christianity and Judaism. I will do this by comfortably categorizing it based on historical antecedents that happened not quite long.



Corruption- as the name suggests, is just an act of committing evil or a form of exhibiting morally bad attitude and behaviour. However, in my own scale of preference, failure of individual(s) to exercise and/or discharge his/her activities, conducts, affairs and interactions rightly and within the provisions of the rule of law is what I regarded as corruption.



Now the classifications:



Political corruption- this is more prominent among the ruling class. A good example of it is when President Obasanjo made himself a subject of caricature when caught   attempting to temper with the electoral law just to perpetuate himself to power in 2003 where most or should I say part of the blames were shared among the then Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, former speaker, Ghali Na?abba and the Clerk of the house. And up till today Obasanjo cannot deny sincerely before God and us that he did not attempt to alter that very law clause. All he did then was hanky -panky just to maneuver his way out of that embarrassing situation. Election riggings are also in this category of corruption. It is an established fact that majority of the current political actors did not win election. They rigged elections and went away with our stolen mandates. This reminds me of a certain senator from Adamawa state, who confessed live and direct on a television programme that he did not win election but disgracefully that senator is now sitting on the neck of Adamawa?s people mandate willy-nilly.



Economic corruption-this form of corruption is always found within the economic frameworks of the 3-tiers of government vis-?-vis federal, state and local governments. A classical example here, which is going to be an interesting form of reference to especially students of Economics was the non-passage and deliberate delay of 2002 budget by President Olusegun Obasanjo and the way the self acclaimed born again man tactfully refused to let the ministerial portfolio to the petroleum sector, which is the major and sensitive area of our country?s developmental priority. These acts, have caused, suffered, and put the country into economic trauma since it was only one man that is controlling the focal point of our economy unilaterally just to achieve his selfish ends. At the state level, however, there is another grade A corruption that needs to be mentioned here; where a certain governor under Obasanjo?s cabinet was caught red-handed by the U.K metropolitan police with money inside briefcase, which he allegedly claimed to be his but not state?s owned. Nonetheless, it would be good to widen our scope here because this type of corruption is the most pervasive in the country having a lot of bribery scandals and appendages attached. Remember the case of Mallam Nasir El-rufa?i Versus Mantu/Jonathan Silas Zwingina saga where the duo (Mantu/Zwingina) surreptitiously asked the minister (El-rufa?i) to give them N54m if he wanted to be cleared for his ministerial post. I therefore wonder what Ibrahim Mantu is trying to assert by his irresponsible defense of the senators that they are not corrupt. Also the recent indictment of the Inspector General of police Mr. Tafa Balogun is another illustration of economic corruption (?) or I suppose ?policeman version? of corruption where Balogun with all the covers and defensive facilities he had at this disposal could not protect and ensure the security and lives of Nigerian citizens. Instead, he preferred to join his boys who are specialists with high expertise for collecting N20 bribe from the drivers. Balogun demonstrated this by proving to Nigerians that he is an illustrious and bonafide foot -hungry grade 1 Nigerian police officer, with large belly to conceive 12 bank accounts that sooner or later he must vomit. Again, the recent sack of minister of education Prof. Fabian Osuji, is within the whips and caprices of these kinds of economic improprieties. Prof. Osuji together with Wabara and other senators are accused of misappropriating N55m by Mr. Obasanjo. Though Osuji lamented that he was a victim of Obasanjo?s political intrigues but I think Wabara does not have any explanation to offer. Because he (Wabara) at a point in time had allegedly disbursed senate budgetary allocation with Mantu, Dalhatu Tafida and himself having the lion shares. Besides, this is a man that is not ashamed of parading as senate president even when he had not won that seat in his senatorial district. So his political credentials are enough to speak for him. In fact if we are to go on discussing economic corruption being committed in Nigeria, time and space will not allow us to highlight on other types of corruption.



Social corruption- this is very common in the so called civil societies. It is perturb in the family circles, civil service and among the youths. For instance, husbands engaging other people?s wives outside, leaving their wives idle at home. This is what is termed matrimonial dishonesty. It even results to having children outside wed lock. The same thing with youths nowadays, due to the so called civilization engage themselves in pre-marital relationship with their female folks, which in turn pave way for bastardized children and unwanted pregnancies. All these malaises are caused by social corruption. In the civil service, however, messengers/ secretaries prevent their Bosses and staff from getting promoted by hiding or destroying their files etc.



Academic corruption- although this kind of corruption is in the academics but it does occur among people without good academic conscience and discipline. Under this, people claim academic qualifications, which in the actual sense they did not obtained or earned. Presently, an embattled Governor with questionable certificate prefers to keep mute because he cannot prove otherwise. Another typical example was the Salisu Buhari?s Toronto falsification; where he ( Salisu, former house speaker) claimed to have obtained a certificate he has never worked for. This man had the guts to even tell the Pressmen who wanted to confirm from him that ?Toronto is a place with sub-zero degree temperature?. By so lying, Salisu thought we might get convinced that he was a Toronto product. What a shame!



You see, we can go on and on?but I think we know by now where our problem lies. It can be seen clearly from the above that it is mainly the problem with the leadership and the working classes but partly the downtrodden have their own share of the blames though sometimes not even aware of what is happening at the centre. We should therefore embark on self cleansing event by looking inward into ourselves. And our leaders should know that they have no other country to either salvage or destroy than Nigeria.



Actually, this piece was supposed to be a rejoinder to certain Paul Adujie, a U.S based Nigerian lawyer who ignorantly asserted in his piece ?Corruption as reason or excuse?, Daily Trust, March 25, 2005 that Nigeria and Nigerians are not all that corrupt. While I agree with him on so many issues raised in his write up, I sincerely begged to disagree with him on the point that there is no corruption in Nigeria as it is always assumed by many people. Coruuption is there ubiquitously and the most unfortunate thing, it is happening under the man that Adujie considers as his best democrat. In fact, I had wanted Mr. Paul to be specific and articulate in his treatise essay. But failure to do just that had exposed his naivety about his homeland. And I don?t really blame him for that because this is mostly the problems with Nigerians living in Diaspora. I therefore wish him well in his stay abroad but I will be glad if our erudite lawyer can spare his time to at least practice for a month in Nigeria. Only then he can understand that even the judiciary that he knows best is in serious trouble.




Contact Nura at: jibonura@yahoo.com
o try and fail is atleast to learn. That will save one the inestimable loss of what might have been (positive or negative).