As early as the 4th Century B.C., the Greek philosopher Plato, had written a book, The Republic, in which he stated that whether there is justice or injustice in any society is an empirical fact, more so in one that claims to be a republic. He went on to expatiate that this simple fact is discernible from how the people in that society live. In other words, if you were to conduct a social scientific inquiry into whether or not there is justice in Nigeria, just isolate a number of social indices such as housing, schools, prisons and means of transportation.
If the social scientist were coming from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), where the per capita income is the world’s highest, over $40,000, the researcher would discover that Nigeria’s superrich are enjoying much more superior housing than leaders in Europe who have, over the years, sublimated and moderated their passions and desires so as to accommodate the lower classes, to the extent that housing facilities are virtually uniform.
Such a researcher would further discover that schools in Nigeria are markedly different, with wide gulfs between the schools attended by rich kids and the hardly equipped ones attended by the poor. On means of transportation, while Nigeria’s upper classes jet around in airlines, with the president, some governors, corporate chiefs and religious leaders boasting of their own private planes, the poor, on the other hand, are subjected to the most horrendous experiences in badly maintained rickety buses plying roads that are no better than death traps.
The researcher would conclude, from these and other indices, that at the root of the social malaise and disorganization in our country is the discontent bred by corruption and injustice. Thus, most cases of prostitution, robberies, kidnappings, lying and cheating, advance fee fraud (‘419’) and so on are induced consciously and subconsciously by what is happening at the top. It is shocking how many are in our prisons and police cells for trivial offences such as stealing food and for having “arguments with madam.”
The entire political landscape has been taken over by corruption in its many dimensions. When one reads that the Senate President David Mark’s total quarterly emoluments are approximately N250 million, while his deputy Ike Ekweremadu’s own amount to N150 million, it sickens the stomach. Eight other principal officers of the Senate take home N78 million each per quarter. Based on what they see as gross disparity, some Senators are now asking for N90 million per quarter, an increase of 100%. In the Lower House, the Representatives are asking for a commensurate increase of their N27 million total quarterly emoluments to N45 million.
Jesus asked in one of the most quoted scriptures, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul”? Senate President Mark is a Christian, and so are many of our legislators. These people go to church on Sundays or to the mosque on Fridays, but the actual god they worship is Avarice, the archdemon in charge of senseless accumulation of riches.
Our legislators are the world’s highest paid government officials in one of the world’s poorest countries where the debate is yet to be concluded as to whether government can afford N15,000 monthly minimum wage (i.e. $100) to those who are lucky to find employment. What our legislators are practising is legitimized corruption, in the sense that it is being done openly and is being backed by law. What they forget is that, in the end, they will face God’s justice, with no room for manipulations as they are currently doing with allowances and fictitious expenditures.
One has read so many incredible praises and flatteries of our former President, Umaru Yar’ Adua, about how great, patriotic and virtuous he was. I am afraid God’s justice is not that lenient. Corruption was and remains the greatest challenge any Nigerian President has to confront.
How would Yar’ Adua be viewed in eternity for the free hand he gave to former Delta State Governor James Ibori to run the Federal Government with his (Ibori’s) own hand-picked officers, including Michael Aondoakaa, the Attorney-General under Yar’ Adua. Ibori is likely to receive a stiff jail term for corruption in the U.K., while Aondoakaa has been declared by a Calabar High Court as a man so low in calibre as never to be considered for any high public office in the future. Corruption in Nigeria, which encompasses moral decay and debased behavior patterns, has not been tackled in any serious manner by past Presidents.
In the excitement of the early days of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ascendancy, we heard that fighting corruption would, together with electoral reform and steady electric power, be the focus of this administration. It appears now that politics has taken over. Even Aondoakaa, who should be facing stiff investigation, is now one of those lining up to be recognized as Jonathan’s supporters for the 2011 election. Moves like this have weakened the President’s resolve, because a candidate needs financial backers, and in Nigeria, it matters little where the money is coming from.
The President who will successfully slay the monster of corruption must be detached from “money bags” and dubious characters. The EFCC and the ICPC, the two major anti-graft agencies, must be seen to be even-handed and not selective in accosting those alleged to have misappropriated funds. When we read in our papers about the Vaswani brothers and 25 of their Indian associates, under charge by the EFCC, returning to Nigeria with the help of the Presidency, we are utterly confused about Jonathan’s purported war against corruption. It is the momentum set by the Presidency that will determine the rigour and vigour of the agencies charged to arrest offenders. This momentum will also be a signal to the judiciary.
From the proceedings at the U.K. Crown Court where Ibori’s accomplices were recently sentenced to five years jail term each, it emerged that the world is taking note of the failures and corruption of our judges. When defence lawyers pleaded for leniency on the grounds that Ibori’s influence over the Nigerian leadership was pervasive, Judge Christopher Hardy was not moved. Rather, he regretted that a character like Ibori had usurped the rights of the Nigerian judiciary. For example, Justices Awokulehin and Buba respectively have effectively blocked the EFCC and its attempts to bring Ibori and Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers State, to justice. It is absurd and preposterous that this type of thing is happening and it is a challenge to both Mr. President and the National Judicial Council.
Presidential democracy does not work in Nigeria. It has lost its raison d’être. This French phrase (translates as reason for being) best describes the situation. A government loses its right for being when, by its action or inaction, it cancels the social contract, whether written or understood, by which it justifies its existence. This rationale has been at the root of all major revolutions in history-the French, the American, the Russian and even the stranggles for decolonization.
The primary role of government in society is to protect the weak against the mighty, but in Nigeria, the overwhelming power of government has been brought to bear against the lower classes. That a revolution has not occurred in Nigeria is largely due to the peoples’ lethargy and disparate national affiliations by which the masses view every fundamental political issue from the prism of ethnicism. Most Nigerians, for example, are content to bear the ugly consequences of corruption, rather than see a kinsman jailed.
The big man periodically invites his kinsfolk to parties to celebrate a son or daughter’s wedding or a birthday or electoral “victory”. The poor folks sit under canopies or under shades of trees where they are served jollof rice with wretched pieces of fried meat and soft drinks, with a lot of palaver over malt drinks and small bottles of stout, which are hardly enough.
The big man sits with his cohort in spacious air-conditioned lounges where assorted salads and delicate meats are dished out by uniformed servants, with a lot of champagne and choice wines. Perhaps a few of the villagers may be on the big man’s scholarship but that’s all the poor get vis-à-vis the billions amassed by the big man. We need to address this mentality in fighting corruption.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Odum writes from Lagos.
aloymaria_best@yahoo.co.uk
