Is there truly anything novel left to articulate about the pervasive corruption saturating our nation that could still jolt any Nigerian? I dare to question. Save for those domiciled in the diaspora or those who purposefully cloak themselves in ignorance, shielding their ears and eyes from the ceaseless tales of gargantuan thefts unfolding daily in Nigeria, there seems scant new ground to tread. Even dating back to the days when it was in vogue to discuss the wholesale embezzlement of funds within ministries, departments, and agencies, it is universally acknowledged that the discourse has shifted. It has morphed from the transport of slush funds overseas to an entrenched pattern of pillage and despoliation, a veritable rape of the national treasury orchestrated by a consortium of power-wielding figures and their shadowy counterparts. What we confront is a swarm of ravenous, unscrupulous locusts – individuals poised with bated breath, for the chance to sink their fangs into the vaults of our endangered national economy.
As the weakened coffers teeter under the ceaselessly innovative and rapacious onslaught of this cadre of greedy plunderers, the looting of our country’s riches persists, adapting and morphing in form, scope, and targets with each passing government, heedless of the yearnings of well-intentioned citizens for good governance and a corruption-free society. The singular focus of these voracious few remains fixated on the urgent craving to ‘make it big’ the moment one is beckoned to ‘come and partake’ (as the politicians of yesteryears would jest) in any government position.
On another plane, it appears that all enduring safeguards, which have nurtured other democracies into their current form, either falter here or are rendered impotent by corruption. Criminal enterprises, particularly white-collar crimes, are exhibited with breathtaking ingenuity. The concept of checks and balances, even when powers are ostensibly separated, becomes compromised, existing merely in theory. Such checks are nonexistent in our version of democracy, where a handful of buccaneers, spanning the executive, legislature, and to some extent, the judiciary, coalesce to raid the national coffers and shatter the national dream. When they engage in petty squabbles, brandishing threats of fire and brimstone, it’s largely a theatrical performance for the cameras. They understand that the impoverished populace revels in the spectacle, oblivious to the hollow nature of the theatrics, perpetually longing for a semblance of earnestness.
Since May 29, 1999, when this grandiose spectacle commenced its convoluted narrative under civilian rule, nothing substantial has shifted. And it is abundantly clear that nothing will change as long as the subjugated citizenry continues to condone the malaise and sheer buffoonery unfolding before their eyes. Why do I make such a claim? Allow me to elucidate.
Beyond the sporadic cameo appearances and star-studded media trials of alleged kleptocrats, cunning tax evaders, and billionaire plunderers, can we honestly assert that Nigeria is making headway in the fight against corruption? We once believed that nothing could surpass the plunder of our commonwealth under the watch of General Sani Abacha, whose singular heist continues to stupefy even those born long after his demise on June 8, 1998. Yet, we may have erred in that assumption, particularly when not a single former leader, deceased or alive, has been indicted for corruption. While all these former leaders departed office enriched, only a handful of their loyal lieutenants have faced scrutiny, indictment, or trial for dipping their filthy hands into the public coffers with the intent of illicit self-enrichment.
For example, three ministers – Chief Sunday Afolabi, Mahmud Shata, and Husseini Akwanga were once charged with corruption offenses relating to a multi-million dollar contract awarded to a French firm, Sagem SA. These ministers, along with a former National Secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, and a former Permanent Secretary in the Interior Ministry, Turrie Akerele, were accused of accepting hefty bribes to facilitate the $214 million contract for the execution of the national identity card project. Later, during his second tenure, President Obasanjo made a public spectacle of his resolve to combat corruption when he, in a national broadcast, sacked the Minister of Education, Fabian Osuji, for allegedly bribing lawmakers with over $400,000 to expedite the passage of that year’s budget without scrutiny. Although Obasanjo claimed the money had been recovered from the implicated lawmakers, including the then Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, he lamented that their actions not only “violated all known norms of good governance, progressive leadership, integrity, and credibility” but also risked undermining Nigeria’s plea for a $35 billion debt relief, given the perception of rampant corruption within its legislative apparatus.
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Some may dismiss these actions as the pot calling the kettle black. Yet, it should trouble us that many years after Obasanjo’s minuscule display of anticorruption fervor, not a single blow has been dealt to the rampant corruption that continues to metastasize. There is scarcely a sector in the national economy untouched by the blight of corruption. This pervasive corruption is why the country’s security architecture flounders daily, grappling to address our nation’s security challenges, despite the resolute vote of confidence it receives from an equally corrupt and patronizing legislature, more focused on securing a larger slice of the annual budget than holding itself accountable for its ineptitude and failures.
How can they hold themselves accountable when they know the charade they engage in during scheduled and unscheduled oversight visits to various MDAs and closed-door budget defense sessions? Years after Obasanjo’s broad indictment of the entire National Assembly for corruption, leading to a change in leadership, has anyone endeavoured to alter the narrative? Is it not even more dire in the state assemblies, where lawmakers prostrate themselves as stepping stones for governors to trample upon at will? Is this not why, despite the increase in revenue allocation following the removal of fuel subsidies, state governors continue to line their pockets with lucre while citizens languish in poverty? Which lawmaker has deemed it a key duty to summon state chief executives to account for their stewardship in the past decade? I struggle to recall even one.
The crux of the matter is that we will continue to bear witness to ever more staggering instances of corruption as long as we turn a blind eye to institutional malfeasance or fail to penalize proven cases. Just this Wednesday, a former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, was handed a one-year sentence with a six-month suspended sentence for “illegally funding his 2012 re-election campaign.” While Sarkozy maintains his innocence, an appeal court in Paris upheld a lower court’s judgment that he had indeed enlisted a PR firm to conceal the excess funding lavished on extravagant campaign rallies and events. His UMP party had reportedly doubled the 22.5 million euros (money that is just used as occasional gift to Oga’s wife here) cap approved for the presidential campaign. For this, he was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, later reduced to six months on appeal, pending confirmation by France’s highest court, potentially subjecting him to electronic monitoring, community service, or a fine. Such is the operation of justice in other climes.
Here in Nigeria, cases involving politically exposed persons accused of siphoning millions of dollars for personal use are either dismissed for “lack of diligent prosecution” or shelved when the Attorney General submits a Nolle Prosequi, effectively halting the trial. There are even instances where the accused secure perpetual injunctions against prosecution for corruption by any federal, state, or government agencies empowered to carry out such responsibilities. Before long, society bestows chieftaincy titles and national honours upon these sons and daughters who, oftentimes, resort to plea bargains, where the culprits return an agreed sum to the national treasury and walk away with their ill-gotten gains. What an ingenious approach to combating corruption.
As ludicrous as it may sound, no one can definitively state whether the billions of dollars recovered from the Abacha loot were utilized as intended. What is known is that a portion of the funds was either re-looted or distributed among a select few in government circles at some point. Tales abound of recovered funds from these unscrupulous individuals, including the sale of properties worth millions of dollars. Some were purportedly sold, while others were allocated to government agencies for use as office spaces.
Yet, concerns linger regarding the manner in which these properties were disposed, amidst whispers of backdoor deals and underhand transactions. To this day, no comprehensive records exist detailing the properties sold or allocated to specific persons or agencies. The relentless rumor mill churns out a myriad of speculations concerning clandestine arrangements in the disposal of these assets, including luxury vehicles and more.
In Abuja, on Tuesday, an audit report submitted to the National Assembly by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF) provided a stark illustration of the extent of decay within our institutions. The report unequivocally stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria failed to furnish records of funds recovered between 2016 and 2019, despite that period coinciding with the time when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were proudly announcing the recovery of millions of dollars from alleged economic saboteurs nationwide. This was also a time when images of opulent structures seized from politicians, dubious contractors, and indicted civil servants were circulated, followed by court orders forfeiting these properties to the Federal Government. Given the ostensible incorruptibility of President Muhammadu Buhari, one would have scarcely imagined that institutions such as the CBN would flounder in their duty to account for these funds. How did this lapse occur, and what steps can lawmakers take to rectify this egregious anomaly? Answers to these questions may elude us. It has always been the case anyway. But one thing is unmistakably clear: Nigeria’s entrenched history of official graft and the perpetrators’ escape with nominal repercussions shows no signs of abating in the foreseeable future.
This is not a curse; it’s a chilling reality. It stares us in the face with revelations that someone purportedly received a staggering $6.2 million directly from the CBN’s coffers via a forged letter bearing none other than the signature of the President and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria! It’s utterly ludicrous that the funds were purportedly meant to pay foreign election observers, who historically had been the ones supplementing our election budgets. Now, those who orchestrated this heist are likely chuckling somewhere, mocking our collective folly for perpetuating a system that has elevated corruption to a national ethos. What a disgrace.