By Emmanuel Onwubiko
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is a young but vastly experienced politician who rose from the ranks to become the President of Nigeria in 2011 by popular mandate. When he assumed office, one item that confronted him was the hydra-headed monster of corruption.
Criticized stridently for not paying enough attention to confront and defeat the menace of corruption which has frustrated all attempts to institutionalize good governance, President Jonathan decided to appoint a minister of special duties and inter-governmental affairs whose mandate covers bridging and effectively stopping all the leakages that encourage corruption in the execution of federal projects across board. Also, this ministry is to institutionalize a people-driven ownership process of governance so as to compel Nigerians to imbibe the attitude of embracing government as their own.
Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft campaigner and a former Police officer who headed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at inception MallamNuhuRibadu summed up public apathy towards governance as follows; “Nigerians have massive tolerance. They don’t even see it. They don’t seem to look at government money as their own…there is a total disconnect with government money and the people. That is why it is easy for people to go into government to steal…In Nigeria, if someone is caught stealing they can even burn him. But when you steal government money nobody seems to connect it and say it is my money that was stolen…”
On February 28, 2014, the Bureau for Public Procurement claimed that it helped government to save N95.79 billion that would have been stolen by rogue contractors. The imperative for the creation and sustenance of the ministry of special duties and inter-governmental affairs cannot therefore be over emphasized.
The lot fell on the Kebbi state-born lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria AlhajiKabiruTanimuTuraki who is also a fellow of the Chartered institute of Arbitration. Named Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs a little over a year ago, Turaki’s job is clearly cut out for him given that there is national clamour for bridging and effectively stopping all noticeable leakages in the implementation and execution of government projects, especially those categorized as constituency projects from which large scale corruption takes place.
The mandate of the Special Duties Ministry include; implementation, monitoring and evaluation of constituency projects; monitoring and evaluation of the implantation of Federal Executive Council approved policies and projects by other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and report back to the President in Council, conducting, coordinating, promoting good and harmonious relationship amongst the three tiers/arms of government and relevant international bodies.
The ministry is to oversee the implementation of government policies on anti-corruption crusade, handling all functions of ad-hoc nature, handling specialized requests for assistance such as flooding.
As a researcher in the human rights sector concerned about how to effectively institutionalize good governance at all strata of governance in the country, I have decided to investigate what the federal government has put in place to curb corruption associated with the implementation of constituency projects across Nigeria.
Even as ordinary Nigerians cry out that they are being short-changed in the execution of constituency projects, Speaker of House of Representatives AlhajiAminuWaziriTambuwal shifted the blame to the executive branch of government.
Tambuwal who was the guest speaker at the 2013 International Anti-corruption Day organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja also alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was very corrupt, saying the anti-graft body never accounted for huge sums of money it received from donor agencies.
The current minister of special duties in a document sent to this writer based on request, clearly defended the central government’s anti-corruption strategies.
Writing under the title; “Some observations on the historical context of human rights in Nigeria: 1966-1999”, Dr. Usman stated; “The enactment and the exercise of, and the abrogation and violations of human rights in Nigeria, took place within a context primarily shaped by the country’s political economy. A key and largely neglected aspect of this political economy was the subordination of the public realm and the public services, where human rights provisions of the constitution, and other laws, are to be upheld, to private interest and the private accumulation of wealth by those in public office”.
The Nigerian Constitution has clearly legalized the participation of the people in the governance of their affairs.
Onwubiko wrote from Abuja; [email protected] ; http://www.huriwa.org.