Elder statesman and octogenarian, Alhaji AbdulKadir Balarabe Musa in this interview with IBRAHEEM MUSA, speaks on the proposed law before the House of Representatives, which seeks to grant amnesty to looters of the economy, if they invest the proceeds in the country, among other issues
There is a bill currently in the House of Representatives, which is proposing that people who have looted the economy should be given amnesty but that they should invest the loot into the some sectors. So far, the bill has generated controversy. What is your opinion on it? Well, it shows that corruption in Nigeria has almost reached its limit. Secondly, it shows that the moral standard of our leaders is so low that what cannot happen in any country today in the world, can happen in Nigeria without concern. And I think something has to be done immediately because we have reached the limit of immorality in this country.
But some people are saying that the bill is pragmatic because of our weak legal system, where it takes so long to prosecute a case involving corruption, especially where the rich and mighty in the society are involved. They also said that these accused people exploit the system and get acquitted at the end of a long trial. (Cuts in) At the same time, the bill will open the door for impunity with regards to stealing! Which means anybody can steal any amount, without the risk of facing justice. What it means in this case is that, if somebody who stole N20 billion, is allowed to go with his N20 billion, and becomes even richer. So, he will get away with legal protection and to continue to commit more crime! What this shows in that the standard of public conduct in Nigeria is very low.
Promoters of the bill argue that the looters will be made to invest in the country, which will create jobs and grow the economy. What about punish for crime!? What about the principle of punish for crime? It means anybody can loot the economy and if he is unlucky and he is caught, he will only be asked to invest in the country!? Th at is if at all he will invest but in most cases they will not! Th ey will rather take the loot overseas. Another principle of the bill is that it will encourage people not to take their money abroad. Th ey will! Th ey will fi nd ways and means of doing it. Th e world is full of organized criminals who will help our corrupt people to take their loot overseas. Beyond condemnations in newspapers, what concrete steps can be done to stop the bill from becoming law? First of all, let’s fully explain what it is all about. Th e bill is for the encouragement and protection of crime. It shows that the moral standard of Nigeria is so low. It shows that Nigeria has no standard of public conduct at all.
It shows that Nigeria is a country where anybody can steal anything! If he is unlucky and he is caught, he will be asked to invest the money without any punishment. Is there any country in the world that such a bill will be introduced in the parliament withoutserious condemnation? In Nigeria, there is hardly any serious condemnation of this. What are principled politicians like you and the civil society organisations doing to quash this bill? First of all, let’s convince members of the National Assembly that it is even wrong for Honourable members to listen to this bill. Th e bill should be thrown away otherwise it will do a lot of damage to the image of Nigeria.
Th e only way to stop this kind of bill from coming up in the fi rst place is to change the system that encourages it and the political leadership produced by the system, which is based on self- interest fi rst and public interest second or even incidental. And it is this system and the leadership that encourages this stealing, corruption and criminal waste of resources and this immoral standard by legislators. Like I said, I have never heard of any country where such a bill has been introduced. Will the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and members of the left mobilize in order to list its demerits if the bill comes up for public hearing? Yes, l think that should be done. I know that those who will do this have also been incorporated into the corrupt system.
But you will fi nd few who will stand up against it and these few people will still be able to raise the level of consciousness against the bill. How do you see the bill vis-à-vis the present administration’s war against corruption? Well, the bill will encourage corruption if it is passed into law. It shows that the war against corruption a hoax. There is a lot of hue and cry over restructuring. While some politicians support it, others oppose it. Do you see restructuring as the single thing that will cure Nigeria of all, if not most of its problems? Yes, it will go a long way in solving the problems of Nigeria and it will encourage Nigerians to make Nigeria worth its name. But of course, we have to ask those who have been campaigning for restructuring to explain what they mean. Some ideas about restructuring are negative, like for instance, restructuring based on ethnic considerations. You can’t build a nation based on ethnic nationalities but based on justice and collective interest. In the fi rst place, restructuring based on ethnicity is exclusive and in the second place, nobody even knows the number of ethnic nationalities that we have. But one thing is sure, if you bring about a country which is well managed, every Nigerian will have There is a bill currently in the House of Representatives, which is proposing that people who have looted the economy should be given amnesty but that they should invest the loot into the some sectors. So far, the bill has generated controversy. What is your opinion on it?
Well, it shows that corruption in Nigeria has almost reached its limit. Secondly, it shows that the moral standard of our leaders is so low that what cannot happen in any country today in the world, can happen in Nigeria without concern. And I think something has to be done immediately because we have reached the limit of immorality in this country. But some people are saying that the bill is pragmatic because of our weak legal system, where it takes so long to prosecute a case involving corruption, especially where the rich and mighty in the society are involved. They also said that these accused people exploit the system and get acquitted at the end of a long trial. (Cuts in)
At the same time, the bill will open the door for impunity with regards to stealing! Which means anybody can steal any amount, without the risk of facing justice. What it means in this case is that, if somebody who stole N20 billion, is allowed to go with his N20 billion, and becomes even richer. So, he will get away with legal protection and to continue to commit more crime! What this shows in that the standard of public conduct in Nigeria is very low. Promoters of the bill argue that the looters will be made to invest in the country, which will create jobs and grow the economy. What about punish for crime!? What about the principle of punish for crime? It means anybody can loot the economy and if he is unlucky and he is caught, he will only be asked to invest in the country!? Th at is if at all he will invest but in most cases they will not!
Th ey will rather take the loot overseas. Another principle of the bill is that it will encourage people not to take their money abroad. Th ey will! Th ey will fi nd ways and means of doing it. Th e world is full of organized criminals who will help our corrupt people to take their loot overseas. Beyond condemnations in newspapers, what concrete steps can be done to stop the bill from becoming law? First of all, let’s fully explain what it is all about. Th e bill is for the encouragement and protection of crime. It shows that the moral standard of Nigeria is so low. It shows that Nigeria has no standard of public conduct at all. It shows that Nigeria is a country where anybody can steal anything! If he is unlucky and he is caught, he will be asked to invest the money without any punishment. Is there any country in the world that such a bill will be introduced in the parliament without a sense of belonging and there will be no agitation based on ethnic nationality. But what is your own idea of restructuring? My idea of restructuring is this; Nigeria has existed for 100 years. During this period, we have made sacrifi ces but I know they have not been suffi cient but defi nitely, every part of Nigeria has contributed to what we have today. In the last 100 years, we have achieved a lot and also lost a lot. Let us sit down and see where we have achieved something and let us fi nd out where our achievement is negative and to change this situation, particularly in three fundamental areas. Th e fi rst area is in reconciling the people to have a sense of belonging, to be proud of their country, to subordinate superfi cial diff erences to achieve fundamental objectives of the nation. And if you have an elected president like we have today, who is the Commander-in-Chief and who controls the resources of the country, what else do you need to manage the aff airs of the country? What else do you need to appeal to the people to reconcile their diff erences and become united? So, reconciliation is like social restructuring to make united Nigeria a reality. Th e second thing is that we have to look at the present political system. Is it working well? We have to go back to the regional system, with the regions as the federating units in the country. Instead of returning to the former four regions, let us return to six regions; they should be viable enough to run their aff airs without reliance on the centre. Th e former regions which were in existence in the fi rst republic, ran their aff airs so well that they didn’t have the ridiculous problem of government not able to pay salaries. Th ere will be healthy competition amongst the proposed six federating units like we had amongst the four regions in the fi rst republic.
Th e present 36 states are unwieldy and unviable. Th e third fundamental reconstruction is the economy. At the moment now, the system is based on self- interest. Let us return to what we had where public interest secured the interest of everybody. In order words, let’s return to when the state played the leading role in the economy to ensure peace, justice and the dignity of the human person and progressive even development throughout the country.
Let us throw away this survival of the fi ttest called free market economy. Do you mean that the present geopolitical zones should be recognized as the federating units that you are proposing? Yes, they should be recognized as the federating units and Abuja should still remain the centre. But what you are suggesting is that the country should have another constitutional conference and accommodate this in the ongoing constitution amendment. We don’t need to have a constitutional conference; a
