The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Anti-corruption

  • ICPC endorses FHA’s anti-corruption procedure

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) has endorsed the measures introduced by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) to simplify its procedures meant to block leakages and eliminate corruption in its operations.

    Such measures include the establishment of a Central Land and Property Registry (CLPR), which is being upgraded to the FHA Geographic Information System (FHAGIS); creation of a project monitoring and evaluation unit, and the establishment of a one- stop shop for most of the procedures for approvals.

    The introduction of the FHAGIS appears to be well timed given that the anti-corruption commission is planning to conduct a housing audit soon. The FHAGIS, it is believed, would provide good platform to leverage on the numerous opportunities it provides.

    According to a document made available to The Nation Property, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, who gave the nod while receiving the FHA’s team led by its Managing Director, Prof Mohammed Al-Amin in his office, expressed delight that the FHA had become a model agency in the anti-corruption war rather than just remain like many agencies which talk about corruption but would not take steps against it. He, therefore, praised the authority for having the courage to take the necessary steps forward.

    While assuring the authority that the commission would, as soon as it receives the details of the measures, publish them on its website to demonstrate to the world that the organisation had become a leading light in the fight against corruption, Nta said he could see the total change concept playing out in the authority and praised Al-Amin for establishing the CLPR which he said would address the problems of loss or missing files and double allocations.

    The Chairman said when his commission was faced with similar problems and anomalies in the management of case files, it introduced a central registry and digitalised all files from 2001 to date.

    This process, Nta noted, may be the solution to complaints of some members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Germany Chapter, who had complained to the ICPC of being defrauded by Nigerians at home, particularly on housing matters.

    “Those Nigerians abroad made a passionate appeal for the assistance of the ICPC to help them curb the endemic corruption in housing matters in the country,” he explained, while assuring that with the steps already taken by FHA to clean up its system, he would link the Authority with NIDO so that its members could begin to transact all their housing business through the FHA Mortgage Bank.

    Earlier in his address, Al-Amin noted that the monetisation policy adopted by the government created challenges for new staff and those whose status improved as a result of promotion now lack befitting accommodation.

    He said the FHA had designed a housing delivery model which would encourage staff, especially those in the security and law enforcement agencies to acquire land in their preferred location while the authority would assist them in developing it.

    In doing that, the FHA boss said the authority would use its special relationship with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigerian to help those concerned secure their contributions to the National Housing Fund (s) to finance such development.

  • Anti-corruption: Forum gives Buhari pass mark

    Those kicking against the anti-corruption war of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration are the people who benefited from the corrupt government of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    This was the view of the forum of South East candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the States House of Assembly at the weekend.

    The forum, for the second time in three weeks, met at the weekend in Awka, Anambra State, to deliberate on how to move the party forward in the zone.

    In a communiqué, the forum from the five states also thanked the president for the recent agreement signed with China for Chinese currency denominated transactions with Nigeria importers.

    They said importers in the South East would benefit from the federal government’s foresight, especially the traders who do lots of trading with China.

    Furthermore, the forum commended Buhari for his approval for direct trips to United States of America, Dubai, China, among others, from Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.

  • Powerful politicians frustrate anti-corruption trials

    Powerful politicians frustrate anti-corruption trials

    Kayode Oladele is the Chairman, House Committee on Financial Crimes at the House of Representatives. In this interview with Victor Oluwasegun, the lawmaker, who represents Yewa North and Imeko Afon Federal Constituency, Ogun State, speaks on the fight against corruption and other sundry issues. Excerpts

    Can you confirm whether or not your committee has received the audited account of EFCC?

    We are trying our best and we are going to do everything possible to ensure that the EFCC is also accountable to our committee, being the representatives of our people. There’s a general question, who is policing the police? Policing the police in this context means that we, as members of the Committee on Financial Crimes in the House of Representatives together with our colleagues in the Senate are doing everything possible we hold the EFCC accountable to the people.

    What about annual report?

    On the issue of the annual report, I’m aware that the commission do lay before the National Assembly every year, may be around October or so, it’s annual report in accordance with the law because what the law says is that every year, the commission should present to the National Assembly its annual report, whether it is audited or not audited, is a different thing. But at least the law says they must present an annual report. And from what I understand, most of the time, it is audited annual report. We are going to ensure that what they present this year will also be the audited annual report.

    What is the committee doing about the commission’s dump sites?

    On the issue of the dump site, dump sites easily create little confusion, and I will tell you why: Most of the vehicles that are dumped or put at the dump sites were items/exhibits that were seized from individuals EFCC is investigating. EFCC does not have the power to dispose off a property until there is a conviction. So, if EFCC seizes a property from somebody or a vehicle and they put it there, they do not have the power to dispose off that vehicle until there’s a conviction. Because that person might be acquitted and if he’s acquitted definitely, he will be made to go away with his items. But the problem we have is that, most of the people from whose hands these vehicles were seized ran away. They don’t have any interest in claiming those vehicles again and those who even have interests in claiming those vehicles also delay their trials in courts for years. And as I said earlier on, when somebody is delaying, the vehicles rotten, but the EFCC is incapacitated because they are waiting for a decision – whether the person is convicted or acquitted. If he’s convicted, then there will be a forfeiture order by the court, then, they will forfeit the property to the government. But if that person is acquitted of course, all his property will be released to him. So, when you see them there, some of them are subjects of litigation and these cases are unending, and because they’re unending, they have not reached conclusion, the EFCC is powerless and they cannot do anything.

    We also know that a sizable number of them belong to people that ran away, that are no longer interested in claiming them. So, what we want to do is this, my committee is planning to have an oversight visit to the dump sites. What you see in Abuja that you’re talking about is a child’s play compared with what they have in Lagos. As a matter of fact, what you have in Abuja is like a quarter of the dump site in Lagos, another very big dump site is in Port Harcourt. As a matter of fact, there’s a ship there that is sinking already. Because it’s been on one point for a long time, it’s sinking. It’s a seized ship from an accused person. So, we want to visit these areas and without any attempt to pre-empt what we want to do, we have some plans to decongest the place and by the time we come back from the oversight visit, I will tell you what is going to happen.

    What is your committee’s plan to address backlog of cases lined up on Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) under EFCC trial?

    The criminal justice system is a big factor and the President also understands that problem that even if EFCC finished its investigation and charged the case to court, the bulk does not stop at the EFCC desk; it is left to the Judiciary to do its work. And you know that some of these people are very powerful. Some of them have many Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) defending them, so they frustrate cases.

    What then is the way forward?

    As I said earlier, there will be specialised courts; I think when we have such courts, it might go a long way to quickly expedite action. I hope the President would approve that. I know there’s recommendation for that.

  • Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade gets backing

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade has been hailed by the Executive Director, Centre for the Promotion of Ethics Value and National Integration (CENPEVNI), Mrs. Mary Jumai Sokumba.

    She spoke at an event on campaign for ethics values and school clubs in Abuja.

    Mrs. Sokumba said the theme of the event, “Character count for character development/mentoring”, was timely in view of the social vices in the country such as corruption, kidnapping, oil bunkering, terrorism violence and higher rate crimes.

    She urged schools invited to the event to consider themselves as agent of changes in their respective schools, homes and society at large and apply what they have been taught at the occasion.

    A former Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Dr. Tom Adaba, who chaired the occasion, urged the Federal Ministry of Education to consider re-introduction of history in school curriculum, at all levels.

    According to him, it’s only through history children could be able to know heroes of Nigeria in all fields of endeavours.

    He said the scrapping of history in schools has negative implications in children’s future.

    A contributor, Prof. Chili Uchile, cautioned the media against movies and sponsored adverts on television, GSM phones and other media outlets which could seriously affect the moral behaviour of children.

  • Buhari’s anti-corruption war claims first casualty

    Buhari’s anti-corruption war claims first casualty

    The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced a former Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Temisan Raymond Omatseye to five years imprisonment over N1.5 billion contract scam.

    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia convicted him on a 27-count charge bordering on bid rigging and contract splitting.

    It is the first major high profile conviction since President Muhammadu Buhari began his anti-corruption crusade.

    Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia found Omatseye guilty of 24 out of the 27 counts preferred against him. She, however, discharged and acquitted him of three of the 27 counts bordering on bid rigging.

    Ajumogobia found Omatseye guilty of the offence of awarding contracts above stipulated threshold and accordingly convicted him on counts 1 to 20,24,25,26 and 27. She discharged and acquitted him on counts 21, 22 and 23 of the charge.

    The judge held: “In the instant charge, the defendant testified in his evidence in chief that he was released on administrative bail and asked to come back the following day and in his statement, he responded that his threshold for supply was N2.5 million.

    “Furthermore, his statement was corroborated by Pw2 (prosecution witness two) and Pw3. Pw2 stated in his testimony that in line with the Public Procurement Act, the Chief Executive Officer had a threshold of N2.5 million for goods and N5 million for works.

    “From the foregoing, I find that the exhibit PD 16 A-Y are all above the threshold and approved limit of the DG; that means, they are all above N2.5 million.

    “The testimony of Pw2 and Pw3 that the approved threshold of the defendant on goods and services was N2.5million does not only corroborate the statement of the defendant, but totally lends credence to the threshold limit applicable on the defendant as DG of NIMASA.

    “I find that the threshold as contained in exhibit PD 16 Z is applicable to the defendant, setting his limit as N2.5 million for procurement of goods, and N5 million for procurement of services.

    “A calm perusal of exhibit PD 16 series reveals that they are repetitive awards of contract for the supply of goods approved by the defendant in his position as DG of NIMASA. It is clear that all the contract sums are above the threshold as set out in exhibit PD 16 Z, thereby violating the provisions of section 161 (a) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

    “Accordingly, based on the foregoing before this court, I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt, in the face of the offence contained in counts 1-20,24,25,26,and 27. I accordingly find him guilty as charged on these counts.

    “The second issue is whether the prosecution has proved the offence of bid rigging? It is trite law that the prosecution must prove all the essential ingredients of the offence before it can be said to have been proved beyound reasonable doubt.

    “It is my view that the prosecution has not established the offence of bid rigging against the defendant to secure a conviction on that ground, and I so hold.

    “The accused is hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment on counts 1 to 20,24,25,26 and 27 of the charge.He is discharged and acquitted of counts 21, 22, and 23 of the charge. The terms of imprisonment are to run concurrently.”

    Omatseye was arraigned on January 21, 2013 by the EFCC before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia on an amended 27 counts of engaging in contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of over N1.5bn while in office as the DG of NIMASA.

    The offence, the anti-graft agency said, contravened Section 58(4) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

    Omatseye was also accused on breaching the provisions of Section 14(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004.

    Upon his re-arraignment on January 21, 2013, he pleaded not guilty, following which the court ordered the prosecution to open its case.

    EFCC, through its lawyer, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), called three witnesses, including an EFCC investigator, Ibrahim Ahmed; a former Acting Director of Procurement with NIMASA, Mohammed Shehu; and an officer of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Aminu Aliyu.

    Omatseye, through his lawyer, Mr. Olusina Sofola (SAN), filed a no-case submission, contending that the charge filed against him by the EFCC was defective.But the judge, last February 2, ordered him to defend the charge.

    Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia said she was satisfied that the EFCC proved the allegations in 24 out of the 27 counts against Omatseye beyond reasonable doubt.

  • Anti-Corruption War: Saraki seeks private-public partnership

    Anti-Corruption War: Saraki seeks private-public partnership

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Monday  called for closer collaboration between private organizations with the Federal Government for an effective fight against corruption.

    Saraki gave the charge when he played host to the executive members of the Institute of Directors (IOD), led by its President/Chairman of Governing Council, Mr. Samuel Yemi Akeju, in his office in Abuja.

    He said it is part of the 8th Senate’s Legislative Agenda to contribute maximally towards the elimination of corrupt tendencies in the country.

    A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, said that Saraki told his guests that the Executive arm of government is on the same page with the National Assembly in resuscitating the economy, ensuring adequate security and alleviating unemployment across board.

    The Senate President was quoted to have said, “Our agenda in the Senate and that of the present administration is geared towards improving the economic situation of our dear country, adequate security and fight against corruption.

    “The fight against corruption is key to this administration and we are in full support of this task. I want to call on the Institute of Directors of Nigeria to join the fight in every capacity to bring to normalcy ways of doing things and take our nation out of economic doldrums.”

    He recalled that the 8th Senate from inception have been an inclusive Senate.

    He said, “We had meetings with players in Public and private sectors on how to amend our outdated laws and make them acceptable and blend with the modern trend.

    “That is the major reason why we seek collaboration and support of private organizations and bodies like Institute of Directors of Nigeria in ensuring that government’s actions and approaches are directed towards providing better lives Nigerians.”

    Akeju was quoted to have said that the 8th Senate since inception has lived up to the yearnings of the people in terms of professionalism and legislation adding that if sustained, it will give room for best practices in all ramifications of governance.

    Akeju who unfolded the purpose of the visit to the Senate President said the Institute has agreed to present a draft Bill to the National Assembly on the workings of the Institute saying the Bill when passed into Law will further boost the day to day activities in the business world.

    He said that the IOD, as a foremost organization in the country, will continue to play the leadership role saying over the last two years, the Institute has inducted over 800 Directors just as he suggested a mandatory membership for lawmakers in the National Assembly.

     

  • Lagos CAN seeks support for anti-corruption war

    Lagos State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), Apostle Alexander Bamgbola has appealed to Christians to support the government in its fight against corruption.

    He spoke last week with reporters ahead of a three-day prayer and fasting scheduled by the body for May 10-12 at the Christ Chapel, Alausa, Lagos.

    Bamgbola said the nation will only advance when Nigerians join hands with the current administration to expose and destroy corruption.

    According to him: “It should be clear to all Nigerians now after fifty years, that if we do not destroy this demon, it will destroy Nigeria.”

    Bamgbola said Nigerians can be involved in efforts to rid the society of corruption by taking deliberate and personal decision to steer clear of all appearances of the evils of corruption.

    He said the fasting and prayer session is organised to tackle the spiritual roots of corruption in the nation, calling on Christians to converge on Chapel of Christ The Light on May 12 for rigorous prayers.

    He also called on the federal government to resuscitate the Nigeria Inter-Religion Council (NIREC) established by the Constitution to solidify interpersonal relationships among Christians and Muslims.

    “We must never forget that Nigeria is a truly religious nation in all our efforts in building it as a project. The absolute majority is composed of Christians and Muslims who have lived together in peace and harmony for over a century.

    “Hence it should clear, that no ruler or political leader can successfully rule a nation like Nigeria without regular and continuous consultation with the religious leaders of the Land,” he pointed out.

  • Comic relief in season of anti-corruption war

    To the average human being, comedies can serve salutary purposes. They can also provide relief from the pressures and tensions of life. Everybody laughs and those who always exhibit the Idiagbon mien of believing that laughing is anathema to a serious minded life will even find relief in exercising a few muscles of the cheeks, whether due to contrived or induced smiles. Comic strips make life worth living and give escape routes for the tensions of the moment. They can also bring more rewards beyond the muscular exercise which they are known to elicit.

    In the United Kingdom there is an annual event termed “Comic Relief” where several leading personalities go out of their ways to carry out exercises that they are not, by virtue of their positions, normally associated with. These could be Ministers or other top Politicians and it also features celebrities all over the society. The events are usually primed to raise funds for the poor and the disadvantaged in the society by compelling these personalities to do all sorts of weird things for the simple purpose of making people laugh and there-from raise precious funds for noble causes in the society.

    I have seen whole communities benefit from such funds while several sick children have had their lives delivered from the misery of congenital diseases that would have made life a hell for them. This shows that Comic Relief may not after-all be limited to moments of jesting in order to provoke laughs from the audience. However, the comic relief coming from Nigeria in recent times is of a different sort but at least we are being treated to several performances from hitherto national characters who at one time were looked upon as icons of our national polity. Many are singing better than D’banj, Olamide and Don Jazzy put together. Many have even taken to consuming paper like they’ll consume “Kilishi” and we are loving the performances.

    Mankind actually needs periodic amusement but the cost may be a disincentive because of the shame that might accrue to those who provide it. Unfortunately in 2016 Nigeria we are being treated to another version of comic relief, the sort that does not provoke the emotion of shamefulness to the principal actors. The shame is on us, innocent Nigerians, who have been taken for a ride.

    The daily exposes of how our collective wealth has been pillaged by a set of human beings who acted like jackals would do to a wounded antelope has been giving us a lot of amusement but beyond this, we see the tragedy of a nation that had almost “gone to the dogs”.

    It is unimaginable that human beings in 21st century Nigeria could act like a pack of wolves would do to less fortunate beings. Instead of hiding their heads in shame, most of the actors and villains in the saga have been making boastful statements to the extent that one should be bothered about the state of their sanity.

    The recent exposes have given us a cause to have a rethink on how we see the act of governance. More worrying however are the puerile defences and obnoxious positions adopted by politically exposed persons who do not see beyond politics in the management of the information we have garnered in the past few months.

     My countrymen have seen it all but I personally get pissed off when meanings are read to otherwise simple acts of interdicting criminals who have acted like termites would do to soft wood. One source of bother is the disposition of these looters. They seemed to have adopted a mindset that never believed there could be a today even before a tomorrow. Did they know there will be a day of  reckoning? I am tempted to answer my own question in the negative.

     We have seen elder statesmen adopt boastful postures instead of hiding their heads in shame. They never believed there was a day of reckoning, even though at the peak of the campaigns certain “wise” individuals in their midst actually forewarned that many of them would need to be visited by their spouses in prison. I have seen this sort of constant battle when we do Christian evangelism. Everybody knows there’s a day of reckoning but this doesn’t deter men from pursuing a life of sinfulness. It has been impunity at its apogee but for good cause its a good thing we are being presented with this national amusement for now.

    Against this background the scale of the pilferage of funds meant for fighting the Boko Haram insurgency still does not bother a few Nigerians. I am so definite that greater revelations are coming by the time we peek into the deals in Nigeria’s “Golden Goose”, the NNPC. Many have not had the kindest of words for the Buhari government for its doggedness in the pursuit of corruption which had hitherto been as elusive as the Abominable Snowman. Does it occur to those demonstrating outrage that but for the slowness of the last government to act, many of our soldiers, even fine ones, would have faced the firing squad for failing to confront the Boko Haram insurgents with their bare knuckles? The hapless lot cried to the High Heavens about an Armed Forces that had been seriously depleted and was incapable of even fighting “Aluta” action by students? We never listened to them, rather, we sent them to jail and had many sentenced to death for acts of cowardice. Now we know what happened to the money! And we now know who the real cowards are!

    Sadly, the nation’s economy is comatose and President Muhammadu Buhari may not even have the solutions. Several actions so far taken in the management of our foreign exchange have been likened to sending a bulldozer to a weed infested maize farm. The sad part is that we had an internationally acclaimed economist as the coordinating minister for the economy yet the economy was run aground and someone else is now saddled with the responsibility of cleaning up the mess. It is however comical for us to exonerate Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the economic farce of her government and the lack of accountability that allowed funds to be withdrawn from the Treasury for the purpose of pursuing an election which everyone already knew was a dead horse.

    I have seen the way political campaigns had buoyed up the national economy in times past but the last exercise broke all the rules. Precious dollars and freshly minted Naira notes went out in the pursuit of a lost cause without any effect on the money supply into the economy. Now we know why. Many of those who got the credit alerts and the Ghana-must-go bags knew all the while that they were pursuing a lost cause hence refused to allow the monies collected to filter into the economy. Now we are all forced to pay the price while the stolen monies have been lodged in septic tanks and obscure foreign accounts. What a shame!

    Our public officers do not know when to throw in the towel and it would seem it is because our people do not have a sense of shame. I searched and it has become apparent that when you stay too long in a putrefying environment, your olfactory organs begin to adjust to the pungent smells and the senses become deadened. This deadening is responsible for our lack of restraint in our decision making. That is why it is so easy for one to even see good, yet call it evil or vice versa. That is why a person so afflicted can even take his food to the toilet and proceed to eat without any feelings even while defecating at the same time. The Holy Bible refers to this as “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having…..conscience seared with a hot iron”.

     After such a long time on the rubbish heap, every man needs a fresh breadth of air to allow the system to recalibrate. That is why we are feeling a sense of revulsion now at the exposes going on, even though the real perpetrators and their praise singers don’t see any reason for the hue!

    Dasuki for President?

    When I read a full page advert in The Guardian alluding to an attempt to silence Dasuki due to 2019 calculations, I couldn’t but feel a rush of blood to my head because I felt too scandalised as a Nigerian. What do these goons take Nigerians for? I bet they take all of us for fools. Seems these people do not understand what endears leaders to the led neither can they still feel the seething anger of my countrymen especially when their sordid deeds are being exposed on a daily basis. I am really convinced they are living in a self constructed cocoon where they are feeding themselves with hallucinogens and are not even in tune with reality. Let them keep dreaming. Says so much for who and what they think we are. They may have managed to steal us blind but they cannot withdraw our sense of collective outrage.

     Thank God we are civilised people otherwise we would have taken them all to the zoo to feed them to the lions. I really don’t think they can have any more use besides providing nutrition for lesser beings. If this is their understanding of leadership, aren’t we doomed? I recently wrote on shamelessness and was hoping to wash the ideas espoused there out of my system but I can now see that they seem to be incapable of knowing what Nigerians want. They are definitely finding more trouble by stroking the beard of the lion.

    The blame game

    There is a comic relief of some sort going on in “Gods own country”, the United States of America. Many do not seem to realise that America is the cause of our problems and President Obama is the major trouble for Nigeria’s inability to market its crude oil yet he isn’t valued at home. His economic policies have put the American economy where it used to be. He has broken the back of OPEC and crude oil is sold for peanuts – a desire of America for decades. He has consistently fought terrorism and got rid of all the enemies of “Uncle Sam” yet he is not valued by the conservative establishment. Why not ship him to Nigeria where we have leadership problems. The likes of Donald Trump are stinging in their rebukes of this man who is a testimony to Black entrepreneurship. Why? Could it be because of his skin? One thing I know is that Obama is not a black man! He is half white and half black. If the whites don’t accept him as one of theirs, why should I accept him? After-all he isn’t as black as myself.

    Even though Trumps ideas are a danger to humanity, I am not much bothered because of my faith in the American society. At the appropriate moment if he hasn’t been obliterated by challengers in his own party, Donald Trump will be trumped by a Hilary Clinton who will perform a clinical decimation of this irritant to the American political landscape. Anyway the system needs a lot of comic relief too and Mr. Trump is doing a damn good job.

    • Professor Olumekun is the Dean of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State.
  • Kwara elders support Buhari’s anti-corruption war

    Kwara elders support Buhari’s anti-corruption war

    The Kwara Elders Committee (KEC), a group of eminent Kwara State indigenes, has supported the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    A statement by the body’s Chairman, Alhaji Yekeen Obalowu, said the country is witnessing for the first time, “a systematic approach to anti-graft war.”

    He added: “For instance, the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPS) and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) have blocked leakages and saved Nigerians from official graft.”

    The statement said if corruption was not stemmed, it would not only worsen the economy, it would lead to moral devaluation.

    Obalowu said: “The prosecution of highly placed public officials, who have corruptly enriched themselves, is sending a signal to the international community that corruption and indiscipline will no longer be condoned.

    “We are delighted that despite pressures from quarters, President Buhari has remained true to his promise to rid the country of corruption, no matter whose ox is gored.

  • Is Buhari’s anti-corruption war anexercise in futility?

    Is Buhari’s anti-corruption war anexercise in futility?

    But it would appear that President Buhari is shielding the former president from being invited to testify, even if only as a witness. 

    – The ‘Goodluck Jonathan Alibi’ diplomatic pussyfooting?

    “What component of our education is missing in the upbringing of our political leaders, who fight in the respected chambers of the national assembly, who loot the national treasury, so much so that 500 or so of them take 25% of the resources meant for 150 million of us? What component of our education is missing in the development of our Governors, who when caught in the net of EFCC, plea bargain or run away or use the court to cut the rest of us to pieces?  I ask what component of our education is missing in the upbringing of our parents that make them jam JAMB, squeeze the neck of NECO and fabricate certificates so their children can gain admission into our centers of decomposed educational excellence. What component of our education is missing in the training of our civil servants and contractors that make them inflate contracts, execute budget in the real sense of EXECUTION, and fiddle with documents to filch our finances. Finally, what component of education is missing in the upbringing of our pastors and preachers that make them defecate on the altar of celestial adulation” – Professor  Oyewale Tomori, FAS, former Vice-Chancellor, Redeemer University, and President, Nigerian Academy of Science in *BUILDING A NEW GENERATION UNIVERSITY: PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS”.

    One needs not be an economist to know that Nigeria’s current economic circumstances demand a meeting of economically literate minds – not the all-comers jamboree some Nigerian Labour Union leaders are canvassing – to clinically interrogate our problems and plot a way out, at least in the short term, since only a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria can cure its many ills. Persons with whom I have interacted on the issue can attest to my vibrant enthusiasm about it all. But things must be put in their proper perspective and so it must be said that corruption sits atop every factor that brought Nigeria to its present circumstances. A good reading of our history, spanning, especially the regimes of General Ibrahim Babangida through Abacha, Abubakar, Obasanjo ( second coming) and President Goodluck Jonathan will affirm the view that dealers, rather than leaders, ruled Nigeria throughout that long period. This is, no doubt, a grave charge but I will proceed to prove it and before heading to the courts, they should first do Nigerians a small favour: go on prime time television and invite President Muhammadu Buhari to subject their records as Head of State to a forensic audit, the report of which should be published in at least ten national newspapers in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo languages. If they come out smelling like a thousand roses, they can, in addition to their legal victories, banish me to the Gulag Archipelago.
    In the first place, these are a group of people who, after opportunistically getting into office, rather than diversify the economy and moderate their greed, luxuriated in, and mercilessly frittered away the billions of petro dollars that poured endlessly into the country’s coffers. Rather than encourage massive investment in agriculture and solid minerals, their greater concern was for amassing huge personal fortunes that today see them holed up, almost solitarily, on hilltop castles. Yet, in spite of their bulging wealth, they remain so conscienceless they still collectively earn billions in unearned pensions and sundry benefits at the expense of the poor – monies they really do not need, nor are morally entitled to. But that was not even half the story of those Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan calls “Dealers as Leaders”, in his column in The Nation of Thursday, 3 March 2016, where he wrote as follows: “The real tragedy is that Buhari is yet to start the war on corruption. All he has done so far is attacking the symptoms of a deep rooted malaise unleashed on our nation through Babangida’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and Obasanjo mismanaged privatisation programme. The former allowed Babangida’s ‘army of anything is possible’ to pillage our land like a conquered territory resulting in the betrayal of the vision of our founding fathers. Part of the fallout is the depreciation of our naira from Babangida’s pre-structural adjustment programme value of N1 to US$1 to today’s over N300 to the US$1. With the latter, Obasanjo presided over the sales of N100b assets acquired over 50 years (1958 and 2008) for a paltry $1.6b to dealers and wheelers who embarked on asset stripping to buy private jets and build skyscrapers instead of running the industries they bought at next to nothing, efficiently”. President Buhari cannot close his eyes to these, talk less of Halliburton and co, if he wants to win the anti corruption war. Too much is known of the dark goggled Kano general to delay us here and it will take his immediate successor, General Abubakar, to take up my challenge to prove his complete innocence. Their subalterns, as military governors all over the country did no less harm to the country’s financial an economic well-being – the scandals surrounding the sales of Cocoa Industries Limited under the Babangida liberalisation policy and the Ajaokuta Steel Complex during Obasanjo privatisation drive readily call to question the loyalty of the two to our nation, whatever the protestations to the contrary.
    Other individuals, even inanimate organisations like banks have been used in stealing the country blind. For instance, each and every penny of our stolen trillions went through Nigerian banks, one of which is known to have illegally helped a government agency to transfer huge sums of money to the accounts of some of the agency’s executives who thereby succeeded in stealing large sums. To imagine that these are the stolen monies for which Nigerian banks turned our mothers of tomorrow to well dressed prostitutes chasing after these lousy irritants. Nigerians can wait no more to see some of these banks heavily penalised and their executives hauled into jails if President Buhari really wants to make a success of this war that has clearly defined him.
    The same day that Oluwajuyitan wrote, a usually very restrained Emeritus Professor Jide Osuntokun could not help writing as follows in his column in the same newspaper: “The kind of looting we are being told happened is enough to depress any sane and patriotic Nigerian. The level of looting poses existential threat to this republic. In China, some of what happened in the recent past would have attracted the ultimate punishment (death). Some of the stories sound like they are from Ali baba and the 40 thieves. People walk into the office of the National Security Adviser, sign a piece of paper, and walk out with a mandate to go to the CBN or banks where government has money to go and collect billions for some spurious work for government or the ruling party or for no work at all! Nigerian oil was sold without the treasury being credited with the proceeds. People have come out to say their accounts were credited with huge amount of money without their knowledge or without having performed any assignments for government. Billions if not trillions were shared among party bigwigs as if people were playing the game of monopoly with the nation’s money. Government’s decision to bring the guilty parties to book had better been hastened and speeded up before people lose their patience. Money taken from these economic saboteurs had better be deployed to pay the millions of Nigerian miserably awaiting the payment of their salaries and pensions.”
    Another reason for the lingering fear that informed the title of this article is what Stephanie Findlay of AFP calls: “the Goodluck Jonathan Alibi”. This alibi, already pleaded by Metuh in his money laundering no case submission, and according to informed sources, former National Security Adviser, Col. Dasuki would also plead, is that both men were obeying President Jonathan’s orders. But it would appear that President Buhari is shielding the former president from being invited to testify, even if only as a witness. This is said to be on account of a so-called pledge to Jonathan by him on account of the former’s concession telephone call as if, with the President Gbagbo example, he had a choice after Obasanjo had earlier drawn his attention to Gbagbo’s travails. I am sure the president needs not be told that if any of these cases miscarries, there goes his anti-corruption war. And he should please put Nigerian survival first, before any diplomatic pussyfooting.
    However, whichever way President Muhammadu Buhari chooses to be remembered by history, is strictly in his hands.