FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiFriday, October 9, 2015
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Bonn, Germany

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TOO MUCH NOISE AND NO ACTION:
NOT THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT CORRUPTTION (6)

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Continued from Part 5

Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing (Edmund Burke)

The necessity of every one paying in his own labor for what he consumes, affords the only legitimate and effectual check to excessive luxury, which has so often ruined individuals, states and empires; and which has now brought almost universal bankruptcy upon us (Josiah Warren)

Everything is destroyed by its own particular vice: the destructive power resides within. Rust destroys iron, moths destroy clothes, the worm eats away the wood; but greatest of all evils is envy, impious habitant of corrupt souls, which ever was, is, and shall be a consuming disease. (Menander)

hat we want from Buhari is to properly articulate his mission or a vision of the future. So, he can't tell Nigerians that he's unprepared for the task ahead. Buhari should borrow the words of Benigno Aquino III (1960), and tell Nigerians that "Part of my mandate is to curb corruption and streamline a cumbersome, graft-ridden bureaucracy, to put resources where they will provide the clearest results". I know that 100 days is too short to judge anybody in terms of performance, but the start of a journey might determine how it will end. Buhari would want Nigerians to give him time and to exercise patience with him, and we, Nigerians, have obliged to give him what he asked for. But, we need to remind him always of the onerous duties ahead, before he asleeps at the wheels, as now is a new dawn, and a whole new ballgame, quite different from the first time, when he was the head of state. President Buhari should know that failure is not an option now. What we want Buhari to do is to put things in place so that the day he leaves office, the next president will not have to tackle corruption, because, he did what he was supposed to do, by blocking areas where people are corruptly enriching themselves.

To reinforce the above points, Balarabe Musa said that "He (Buhari) knows the negative state of the nation, the responsibility on him, that he has the mandate of the people and has no reason to fail to do the right thing. He may transform himself than retaining the status quo. We had leaders in the world who were brought about by the powers of thieves, the rich and powerful but immediately they got to power, they took a decision to work for the country and they did. They did not allow those who put them there decide the faith of the country in their own interests. He has a lot of baggage. The thieves in the PDP who damaged their party and Nigeria have their equivalents in the APC. Those in the APC could even be worse because they are probably even greedier because they probably have not made much as the PDP people did. There is even one in the APC who supported Buhari that has no equal in the PDP. He is richer than everybody in the PDP. I do not think that there is anybody in the PDP that is richer than him".

I really want, and pray, that President Buhari succeeds in his fight against corruption, as Nigeria can't survive with the looting with impunity that has been going on, over the years, in the country. But, the problem is where will Buhari find those who will help him do the fighting, as corruption has permeated all facts of life in the country? Just as Carl Honore (1967) noted; "Whether it's mending a failing company, fighting corruption, tackling disease, or rebuilding a marriage, the hardest problems defy just-add-water remedies. Indeed, slapping on a Band-Aid when surgery is needed usually just makes things worse". The point is that the institutions, the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the EFCC, the ICPC etc are all weak and need to be strengthened, before they can be able to make any meaningful impact in the war against corruption. The judiciary, that is supposed to be the bedrock of the fight against corruption, is one of the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria (a judiciary of undisputed integrity is the bedrock institution essential for the war against corruption, but, Nigeria doesn't have it).

The question becomes where Buhari will find the judges, who are not yet tainted by corruption, or, who would be above board, and, would not be compromised by those they're trying? Just as Buhari has good intentions, getting those who will be committed and incorruptible as ministers and corruption busters would be hard. People have rightly said that Nigerian judiciary has been conspiring to undermine the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria. Even if Buhari establishes anti-corruption special courts, the members will still come from the corrupt judiciary, and there's no guarantee that they, the members of the special courts, are those who have developed "thick skin" against corruption. Not only that; before the special courts are established, a bill must be submitted to the National Assembly to amend the constitution to include an anti-corruption court. Who is sure how long it will take the national assembly to pass such law, as the members are also among the corrupt ones; assuming President Buhari submits such bill at all? Remember that the corrupt ones are powerful and will try to sabotage anything that will get them in jail or to refund their loots. Just an instance: We read how the ongoing probe of the power sector from 1999 till date by the senate ad hoc committee was characterized by drama and confusion on September 9, 2015, as the proceeding was disrupted by power failure eight times all in sabotage effort aimed at frustrating the committee.

Even the current governors might be obstacles to the war against corruption. As they, the incumbent governors, know that they are potential culprits, they have outright rejected the suggestion that looters of the nation's resources be sentenced to death. The governors see the death sentence as too harsh. They were responding to the call by Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress that looters should be given the death sentence in order to serve as deterrence to others, as the labor unions see it as the only way the anti-corruption crusade being championed by President Muhammadu Buhari could succeed. The governors said they will not support the death penalty!

President Buhari set a seven-man Presidential Advisory Committee on War Against Corruption that doesn't even know what its role is. Even the committee differs with Buhari on how far the war against corruption should go, as Balarabe Musa tells us "I gathered from the media that the chairman, Prof Sagay, is saying that the probes should be extended to a much longer period. I think some people are saying since 1966. While the president said the probe should be limited to Jonathan's administration alone". All that Prof Itse Sagay, the chairman of the Committee, can say was that they are to "provide support to the anti-corruption agencies and also intensively intervene in the whole process of the anti-corruption war. It is also to ensure that the administration of justice is effective and that all cases of corruption are prosecuted efficiently and as successfully as possible. In other words, we are to ensure that the anti-corruption war is successfully executed at all levels". The Chairman also said that "We are going to look for judges who have the honour and integrity, who are upright and have passion for justice and who can never be compromised. They are going to be indentified and transferred to the criminal division of each court; they will be there. We are not the ones to do this; it is for the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the heads of various courts to do. Once this is done, it will take care of the issue of quality and character of judges and the law. Then, we are ready to meet the challenges of corruption cases".

How is he, Sagay, sure of getting such judges, and that the Chief Justice or the heads of courts will not be biased in the appointments, thereby compromising the whole process? Remember that we have cases of judges who were probed, and some of them were disrobed. How do we know that the defense lawyers, who are good in using every means to stall cases, will change their attitudes, because, it will be of no use to haul corrupt people into court, but can't get them convicted, because, their lawyers stalled the cases? For Donald Rumsfeld (1932), "Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up", and, Harry Bender asked us to "imagine the appeals, dissents and remandments, if lawyers had written 'The Ten Commandments'". The Presidential Committee can't even work out modalities on how to go about the fight against corruption with the existing agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau. So, how can progress be made in such a situation? We just read that the secret exploratory talks between the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the presidential advisory committee on anti-corruption, on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, reportedly failed to provide a clear roadmap for the anti-corruption war promised by President Muhammadu Buhari. While the ICPC reportedly favoured preventive measures, the presidential team reportedly favoured prosecution, recovery and jail-term. The list of ongoing cases presented to the committee by the ICPC was also said to be considered "weak". The list was said to be devoid of "heavyweight" suspects like former governors, former ministers and former National Assembly members" (Tribune).

It's good that the long awaited ministerial nominees have been unveiled, as things were almost falling apart. The qualm here is that the people on that ministerial list will not add anything positive and tangible to the war against corruption; instead, most of them will derail it. Okechukwu P. Oranika wrote about the damages that President Buhari's inability to get his government up and running is causing Nigeria. He wrote that Nigeria is facing worsening economic retrogression and mounting fiscal and budgetary crisis because of the inability of Buhari to formulate his economic plan and agenda for Nigeria since March since he won the election (about 7 months ago). He maintained that in the end, the ministers Buhari nominated will be no different from past ministers Nigeria has had in the past. The only new variable here may be a possible change in political climate and circumstance under which the new ministers may operate in. But I take no credit away from Buhari if indeed the new ministers become more careful in accounting for the federal appropriations made to their ministries. It may be viewed as a net positive step. Chidinma wrote that while Buhari goes looking for fearless judges; JPMORGAN delists Nigeria; Foreign Investors pull over N400 billion from our economy; Banks are laying off staff in large numbers; Construction Sector has laid off over 30,000 workers; Inflation rate keeps getting higher; Cost of food stuff is all time high since 5 years; Nigeria is no longer investors favorite destination; Boko Haram terrorists continues their onslaughts; Fulani Herdsmen kills and kidnap; CNNMoney removes Nigeria from the list of countries with steady economic growth rate; APC fighting APC; In all these, POVERTY seem to be winning.

Economically, the country is falling apart as Buhari flip flops due to lack of economic acumen. Buhari ordered all federal ministries, departments and agencies to operate Treasury Single Account, TSA, and he gave them until August 11 to fall into line, claiming that the TSA would checkmate corruption and financial leakages. After all the ministries, departments and agencies complied with Buhari's directive as regards to the TSA, then, a week after the commencement, came another order exempting 13 parastatals, including NNPC, from TSA. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said it granted an exemption to thirteen MDAs in line with the e-collection and mop up exercise by the federal government. A circular from the AGF's office to the Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, Banking & Payments System Department, said that "By virtue of this circular, the following bodies will not be subject to the TSA: NNPC, PHCN, BOI, Railways, Mortgage Bank, Bank of Agriculture, NIPP, Galaxy Backbone, Ajaokuta Steel, Niger Delta Power, Urban Development Bank, NEXIM and Transcorp Hilton". Nobody's incharge of Nigerian economy; no wonder it's losing steam. Niran Adedokun noted the lack of clear cut economic policy of this administration, when he wrote that "it is in the same breath that I do not understand this week's exemption of the NNPC and 12 other agencies from operating the Treasury Single Account which Buhari ordered last August. This flip-flop is pathetic because the NNPC, given several allegations of misapplication and misappropriation of national revenue, inspired the idea of the TSA in the first instance. So, was this idea not well-thought out from the outset?" Odera also wrote "Since swearing-in, the nation has been moving on a slippery slope without Ministers. The President told the nation that he wants to choose ANGELS as Ministers and lo and behold, here we have the list of the ANGELS. The Party, APC, promised to eradicate BOKO HARAM within 3 months but as we speak, the same Boko Haram that former Government chased into hiding and into Chad, are now back in full force and Bombs are exploding even in our National Capital. Now we bury more Bomb victims within this short period than the last 4 years put together".

To be continued!

You need to hear this, if you haven't by now:

Former Secretary to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Odia Ofeimun, has stated that former President Goodluck Jonathan was kicked out of office by foreign powers because he wanted to truly liberate Nigeria from relative colonialism. On the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Ofeimun said so far, the President is further strengthening the North-South divide that was put in place by the colonialists. Ena Ofugara wrote: "If you love Nigeria, You will listen to this man and listen well. He was talking":

https://www.thetrentonline.com/jonathan-was-punished-because-he-wanted-to-liberate-nigeria-awolowos-secretary-video/

TIT BITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdlJX-5WiOk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORgooDTrjSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF5oldfSpJI

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

Continued from Part 5

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