That corruption has been the bane of Nigeria’s development is stating the obvious. What is lacking, however, is the political will to tame this monster. Thus, the oft assurances by the President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to stem corruption is a welcome relief to many a Nigerian. Buhari read the riot act, vowing to tackle corruption when he assumes office on May 29.
He described corruption as a worse evil than insurgency in Nigeria, saying it would not be allowed to stand as “respected” monument in the nation. Buhari made the pledge shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, in Abuja recently.
The president-elect also promised to make judicious use of the nation’s resources, declaring that he will neither embezzle nor allow anyone to embezzle the country’s resources.
“We will run a transparent government and in doing so I will not favour my family,’’ he reassured and pledged to improve the country’s economy, Buhari saying, “I want to assure Nigerians that Nigeria will stand strong in economic growth and development”.
He listed the fight against corruption, insecurity and enhancing educational development as areas of priority for the incoming government. He noted that most of the social ills bedevilling the country could be traced to dearth of education.
Buhari decried the high level of corruption in the country which he blamed for the years of decay that led to massive unemployment, and asserted that, to address the situation, he would invest massively in agriculture and exploit the mineral resources sector in order to create employment.
Buhari noted that for Nigeria to get out of the woods, the people must persevere in nation building, adding that in the face of the massive decay in the system, tackling Nigeria’s problems would be a daunting task. He also stated that the country was endowed with human and natural resources “but unfortunately the resources were mismanaged and squandered, leading to the present situation in the land”.
It is nauseating that Nigeria is being consistently ranked on the inglorious list of the most corrupt countries in the world by the global graft watchdog, Trans¬parency International (TI), which 2014 report placed Nige¬ria 39th on the corruption ranking of 175 countries.
The TI’s report, which was released on December 3, 2014, indicated that corruption was very high in Nigeria essentially because of the kid gloves with which both government and anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Finan¬cial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) treat corruption offences.
It is inexplicable that while over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s 170 million populace lives below the poverty line of £1.29 a day, struggling with a failing infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages because of a lack of petrol refining capacity, the ruling elite own luxury homes in London or Paris, and top-end cars as well as jets.
The endemic corruption in Nigeria is most blatant in the oil industry, the nation’s cash cow, where 136 million barrels of crude oil worth $11 billion (£7.79 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from 2009 to 2011, while hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies were given to fuel merchants to deliver petrol that never materialised. It is estimated that since 1960, about $380 billion (£245 billion) of government money has been stolen. And that even when successive governments attempt to recover the stolen money, much of this is looted again.
We are, however, optimistic that given Buhari’s antecedents as a former head of state and chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund, his pledge to fight corruption will not be a flash in the pan like those of his predecessors. His template, requiring all cabinet members to publicly declare their assets, is the right step in the right direction. Buhari should go further to overhaul the judiciary and strengthen the anti-corruption mechanism.
