NIGERIANS AND THE NIGERIA CORRUPTION: THE ENCOURAGING FACTOR

Okanlawon Tijjani,

 

NIGERIANS AND THE NIGERIA CORRUPTION: THE ENCOURAGING FACTOR

In Africa, stealing and any other act of corruption is grossly frowned at and it stigmatizes the immediate families or clans were the culprit roots from. Of course, this is an ancient culture in the Africa communal system.

Today, the African society that once detests stealing now celebrates overnight wealth accumulation, most especially at the political class. Let’s take the case of a Local Government Councilor (in Nigeria, a Local Government Councilor is the least elected political personality in the executive arm of government) who has hitherto lived in a room apartment, has no car, has no higher education certificate and who now earns less than #150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand naira) monthly wages as a counselor.

 After six months of being a Councilor he now has three cars, lives in an apartment that was built or bought by same Councilor and marries a second wife! The councilor is now revered in the society and seen as someone who has ARRIVED (Arrived: is a slang used in Nigeria to denote a change in social status).
Without the encouraging factor from the society the above case study Councilor cant in any way be comfortable with sudden change in wealth that doesn’t commensurate with his wages as a public officer. The sad turn of corruption free society didn’t start in the millennia. Corruption has crept into our political society surreptitiously.  
Corruption took advantage of weak Public Institutional structures, poverty, illiteracy status of average Nigerians and long term military rules.

Before Independence, Corruption was kept at manageable levels. The strong African anti-corruption indices still has strong influence at the political classes. The society wasn’t looking for super rich politician but rather super working leader!
 
HOW DID NIGERIANS GET HERE?
 
In the First Republic, cases of financial misappropriation started mounting up and heating up tribal and regional differences. Azikiwe was the first major political figure investigated for questionable practices. In 1944, a firm belonging to Azikiwe and family bought a Bank in Lagos. The bank was procured to strengthen local control of the financial industry. A report about transactions carried out by the bank showed though Azikiwe had resigned as chairman of the bank, the current chairman was an agent of his.
In western Nigeria, Adegoke Adelabu was investigated following charges of political corruption leveled against him by the opposition. The report led to demand for his resignation as district council head.
 In the North, the British administration was accused of corrupt practices in the results of elections which enthroned a Fulani political leadership in Kano, reports later linking the British authorities to electoral irregularities were discovered.
 
 
The Gowon led government birth the new era of wealth seeking governors and other political office holders. Yakubu Gowon was seen as timid in terms of how he dealt with corrupt officials in his junta. There was the popular corruption saga of the importation of cement which was literarily carried out by officers from the Defense Ministry and the Central bank. They were accused of falsifying ship manifestos and inflating amount of cement to be purchased, thus a cabal system crept in.
 
Murtala Muhammed toppled the Gowon government and he immediately sacked a large number of inherited government officials and civil servants, most of whom were criticized as being corrupt. The Murtala government didn’t last as a result of assassination.
 
Obasanjo continued the Late Murtala led government in February 1976. The international telecommunication firm ITT led by Chief MKO Abiola in Nigeria, the Operation Feed the Nation Program, and the associated land grab under the Land Use Decree implemented by the then Head of State was used as conduits to reward cronies, and his now famous Otta Farm Nigeria (OFN) are some of the projects that critics opined that Obasanjo permitted corruption to key into Nigeria governance.
 
Corruption was practically pervasive during the administration of Shehu Shagari. A few federal buildings mysteriously went on fire after investigators started probe on the finances of the officials working in the buildings. In late 1985, investigations into the collapse of the defunct Johnson Mathey Bank of London shed light on some of the abuses carried on during the second republic. The bank acted as a conduit to transfer hard currency for some party members in Nigeria. Money laundering birthed!
 
Buhari/Idiagbon led military government from December 1983 – August 1985, kick started with a strong will of fighting corruption and sanitizing Nigeria’s public social behaviors, like having to queue up at bus stops, no urinating on the streets, late coming to work, etc. However, the 53 dollar stuffed suitcases marred the nation’s military junta seen as the first government to fight corruption from the top. "The 53 suitcases saga arose in 1984 during the currency change exercise ordered by the Buhari junta when it ordered that every case arriving the country should be inspected irrespective of the status of the person behind such. The 53 suitcases were, however, ferried through the Murtala Muhammed Airport without Customs check by soldiers allegedly at the behest of Major Mustapha Jokolo, the then Aide-de-Camp, (ADC), to Gen. Buhari.  Atiku was at that time the Area Comptroller of Customs in charge of the Murtala Muhammed Airport. 

 
The Babangida military Administration (August 1985 – August 1993) overthrew the Buhari/Idiagbon government on corruption allegations, however, the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida or IBB, has been seen as the government that legalized corruption in Nigeria. Some of IBB corrupt allegations are:

 * His administration refused to give account of the Gulf War windfall, which has been estimated to be $12.4 billion.
      
*He rigged the only successful election in the history of Nigeria in June 12, 1993.

* He lives in a very exquisite mansion in his home state (Niger-state) in the Northern part of the country

 * The term "IBB Boys" emerged, and was synonymous to fronts for the head of state in business realm to transact dirty deals from drug dealing to money laundering. The President was reportedly deeply involved in drug dealing through the first lady, Maryam Babangida and Gloria Okon (his girlfriend) and the near revelation by DeleGiwa triggered the assassination of the journalist by the Presidential death squad using letter bomb.

*Liberalization of the economy through privatization to reward friends and cronies, which eventually gave rise to the current class of new-rich in Nigeria.   Corruption in government and civil service sector got rooted!
 
Abacha Administration (Nov 1993 – June 1998). It is now obvious that the Abacha led junta was and is the peak of stupendous money laundering in Nigeria history. The World Bank as at January 2016 still couldn’t figure out how much of abachas loot is in Europe! His wife once boasted that if she is broke, she is richer than Dangote.
 
Abdusalami was short and focused on transiting the country quickly to democracy. Albeit, suspicion remains that quite a huge of wealth was acquired by him and his inner circle in such short period, as he lives in quite exquisite mansion of his own adjacent IBB's that exceeds whatever he might have earned in legitimate income. Indeed, the major Halliburton scandal implicated his administration, and this might have financed his opulence.
 
Obasanjo administration (May 1999 – May 2007) political analysts opines that the new democratic era headed by obasanjo surpasses other governments since 1960 in terms of corruption and political corrupt scandals.
Some of which are:
The KBR and Siemens bribery scandals, which was serially investigated by the FBI and led to various international indictments that indicated high-level corruption in Obasanjo administration.
 According to reports, while Nigeria dithered, the United States Department of Justice had on January 18, 2012 announced that a Japanese construction firm, Marubeni Corporation, agreed to pay a $54.6 million criminal penalty for allegedly bribing officials of the Nigerian government to facilitate the award of the $6 billion Liquefied Natural Gas contract in Bonny, Nigeria to a multinational consortium, TSKJ".
 The Transcorp shares scandal that violated the code of conduct standards for public officers, and the presidential library donations at the eve of his exit from power that pressured associates to donate.
Obasanjo was also said to widely facilitate his failed campaign to alter the constitution to get a third term by actively bribing the legislature. Godfatherism and Money bag politics climaxed!
 
The Umaru Musa Yar'Adua administration (May 2007 –May 2010) remains one of the shortest and most suspence filled government owing to the fact that Nigeria was governed by kitchen cabinet staff of the hospitalized President Yaradua. His vice was shut out of governance and it was assumed that the First Lady, Turai Yaradua called the shots in Aso Rock. Albeit with a fair share of corruption scandals from previous administration coming to light under his tenure and going without investigation due to lack of political will and poor health. In addition to these, WIkileaks revealed that the Supreme Court Justices were bribed to legitimize the corrupt elections that saw to his emergence as president through massive rigging. WIKILEAKS documents also revealed the staying power of corruption under Yaradua that saw illegal payments from NNPC to Presidents continue unabated.
 
Goodluck Jonathan Administration (2010-2015). The Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi informed President Goodluck Jonathan that the state oil company, NNPC had failed to remit US$20 billion of oil revenues, which it owed the state. Jonathan however dismissed the claim and replaced Sanusi for his mismanagement of the central bank's budget.  Goodluck Jonathan had several running scandals including the BMW Purchase by his Aviation Minister, $250 million plus security contracts to militants in the Niger Delta, massive corruption and kickbacks in the Ministry of Petroleum, Malibu Oil International Scandal, etc.
 After the handing over of government in May 2015, various facts did emerged that indicts government officials under Jonathan and the figures that are publicly declared as being misappropriated or embezzled peaked the Jonathan led government as the most corrupt government in the history of Nigeria. Ministers, civil service officials and the military are all involved in embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.
The fight against Boko Haram lingered under Jonathan because funds meant for procurement of arms and military welfares were diverted and pocketed by few individuals.
 
 
THE ENCOURAGING FACTORS
 
Seeing the corruption lineage in Nigeria, and the fact that corruption index shows that corruption is now cancerous in the polity and fabrics of the nation’s governmental structures, and the society at large. The major factor that has contributed to the escalating index of corruption from government to another government in Nigeria is the encouraging factor.
Corruption is being celebrated and encouraged by the subjects and leaders in Nigeria, some of these encouraging factors are:

* The pressure on elected public officers by immediate family members and constituencies while in office is a social abnormality. Not minding the monthly earnings of a public officer, people around him/her expect financial miracles from public officers. Chieftaincy and royal titles are given to the highest bidders.

* Another encouraging factor is the norm of serving civil service personnel owning landed properties and cars that are far above their annual earnings without any checks from law enforcing departments.

* Politicians are ends to corrupt practices but civil service personnel are medium through which politicians perfect any act of embezzlement. The encouragement gotten from administrative officers at various government departments stimulates the art of corruption.

* Nigerian Police is believed to be one of the most corrupt departments of all the government institutions. The encouraging factor of corruption in the Police department is largely weighed on poor welfare for officers, admittance of illiterates into the police force, poor shelter and bad infrastructure for police officers living in the barracks and low wages for junior officers.

*Thousands of loyalists and political party faithfuls are sometimes ignorant of the fact that money spent after elections on partying and thanksgiving receptions are platforms for corruption. A governor who has just been swore in or who just won court cases against him shouldn’t be spending millions of tax payers’ money on partying.
 
Nigerians needs to wake up and collectively deal with the age long monster in the society called CORRUPTION. Politicians and the major financial market players in the country will do all they can to discourage any move to sanitize the polity; however, the citizens should unite and resist all forms of PRO CORRUPTION agenda.
Nigerian's perception of any elected public office should change from a ‘Wealth Office’ to a ‘Servant office’.
 
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria …….
 
 
 
 
Okanlawon Tijjani
Content director
eUpdateNG Consults
 
: @eUpdateNG
: eupdateonline@gmail.com