Curbing Corruption in Nigeria: Exploring
Alternative Strategies
by Madaki O. Ameh
PREAMBLE
The
problem of corruption in Nigeria has assumed embarrassing dimensions.
Successive Nigerian governments have always been insincere about their
commitment to the fight against corruption, even as the vast majority
of Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and want, while government
officials, whose legitimate emoluments are low, bestride the Nigerian
terrain like Colossus, parading their wealth and purchasing whatever
catches their fancy with stolen public funds.
This problem which assumed current dimensions since the military
incursion into Nigeria’s politics, has continued unabated and left in
its wake, a long line of wealthy and affluent people, with new members
eagerly waiting to join their ranks with every change of government,
whether military or civilian. It is a recognised fact in Nigeria that
the shortest cut to wealth and influence is through a government
appointment. People therefore scramble for government appointments
and elective offices without any show of candour, and are prepared to
do anything possible to achieve this end. This accounts for the do or
die manner in which elections are pursued, and why electoral fraud
will take a while to become a thing of the past in Nigeria.
So
grave is the problem of corruption in Nigeria that about 8 years ago,
the Catholic Church, at its annual Catholic Bishops Conference,
composed a special prayer against bribery and corruption in Nigeria,
which is still recited today at most masses. When on assumption of
office in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo declared corruption as one
of the main evils his administration would tackle, many saw this as
God’s divine answer to the prayers against bribery and corruption the
Church had offered to God for many years. However, the sluggish and
haphazard manner that ‘war’ has been waged for the past six years has
left many disillusioned, and in their usual manner, Nigerians have
thrown up their hands in despair, and written off Obasanjo’s
anti-corruption crusade as one of those rhetorics designed to give
legitimacy to his government, especially in the international arena.
And the
sceptics have been proved largely right, with the earth shattering
revelations which have been made in the last few weeks on the
monumental scale of corruption in this administration, which has
shaken it to its very foundations. This trend threatens to worsen in
the coming days, as the mud slinging game continues, and everyone
potentially in its path is docking for cover, hoping that the ill wind
will soon pass away, and everything will go back to business as usual.
Before now, any attempt to draw Obasanjo’s attention to the monumental
corruption in his administration has been met with an arrogant
dismissal of such allegations with a wave of the hand, in his usual
all-knowing and messianic fashion. Some of the persons now caught red
handed in the stealing game have been given national honours by
President Obasanjo while allegations of corruption against them were
pending, to underscore his arrogance.
This writer
strongly believes that this is not an ill wind, but a good wind, and
that it will continue to blow until Nigeria becomes a good country of
our collective dreams. The vast majority of Nigerians are good and
decent people who desire the very best for their country, but we have
been really unlucky to have saddled ourselves with probably the worst
crop of leaders that any country can ever have.
By
taking up the current battle against corruption, President Obasanjo
has assumed a responsibility far beyond him, and will be used as the
divine tool to cleanse Nigeria of its many ills, even if that process
will consume the President himself. Questions are already being asked
openly in the press about financial improprieties of high and mighty
public officials, who were seen as untouchables and above the law a
few weeks ago, including members of the President’s family and the
President himself. Such questions include the source of funds for the
President and the Vice President’s reported private universities,
currently said to be under construction in different parts of the
country, and the recent report by the BBC on the President’s
declaration that he earns about N30 million from his Ota farm
monthly. People are interested in knowing whether this income has
been declared to the Nigerian tax authorities, since it is from a
business, and has nothing to do with the presidential income which is
tax exempt, and whether this upsurge in the fortunes of the Ota farm
has always been there, or arose after Mr. President assumed office in
1999, and what his market outlets are, as other farmers are willing to
learn from Nigeria’s foremost farmer.
In
this cleansing exercise, there must be no sacred cows, and no
allegations should be dismissed with a wave of the hand, or by usually
overzealous government officials. This is already being done in
respect of the allegation of having $22 million in a US account
against Gbenga Obasanjo, the President’s son. To show that they are
above board and not chasing others in order to divert attention from
themselves, all such allegations must be subjected to the same level
of investigation, to give the corruption fighters the required moral
high ground to fight on and change Nigeria for the better. President
Obasanjo should learn from the recent experience of the UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, when faced with a similar moral
crisis in respect of his son, allowed due process to prevail and for
the matter to be fully investigated.
In
addition to the conventional approaches to addressing this problem,
this writer suggests some other ways of tackling the hydra headed
problem of corruption in Nigeria, in the hope that an enduring
institutional structure would emerge in the fight, rather than the
current haphazard efforts, which are clearly unsustainable.
PSYCHOLOGY OF CORRUPTION
Corruption
thrives in Nigeria, largely because the most basic things of life are
not immediately accessible, and the fear of poverty drives people in
positions to ensure that, not only do they liberate themselves from
the menace, but also store up enough for their generations yet
unborn. Like all demonic instincts, once they start, they do not know
where to draw the line, leading to depraved situations like the one
the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Tafa Balogun is
undergoing, involving 70 counts of stealing and laundering over N13
billion during his short tenure in office.
In
addition to the above, pressures from relatives, friends, and even
adversaries, make it compelling for those in government positions to
steal as much as possible before their tenures expire. People blame
those who, when they were there, did nothing for themselves and their
families and retired in penury. The legendary neglect of pensioners
in the public sector in Nigeria makes the prospect of retirement a
frightening one indeed, coupled with the fact that legitimate public
sector salaries and emoluments are so low that it is virtually
impossible for a public servant who is not corrupt to own a house, or
afford a decent standard of living, whether in or out of office. The
fact that those who steal and live flamboyant lives are not caught and
punished also makes a mockery of those who, due to their self-imposed
moral standards, have to go begging the corrupt ones to ensure that
they don’t starve to death in retirement.
In
view of the above, it is imperative that, to adequately address the
problem of corruption, the sociological framework within which it
thrives must be addressed, to make it both risky and unattractive.
This approach informs the following suggestions on practical ways of
addressing this problem once and for all. In view of the complexity
of the problem, addressing it effectively will involve a mixture of
measures, as there can be no stand-alone approach.
1.
SHAMING THE PERPETRATORS
In a recent
discussion with a friend, he suggested something that occurred to me
to be very original and worthy of implementation. This process
involves immortalising the names of corrupt public officials by using
funds recovered from them to set up infrastructure projects, which are
thereafter named after them in a negative manner. The idea is that as
soon as they are prosecuted and convicted, the money recovered from
them should be used for a road, a hospital, school, or such other
project of national significance. Bold signposts, with the person’s
pictures are then erected around the project, with inscriptions to the
effect that the project was executed with stolen funds recovered from
Mr. XYZ. As part of the implementation process, a law would have been
passed by the National Assembly, making it severely punishable to
tamper with any of such signposts, which will be regarded as national
monuments and regularly maintained. Where the amount recovered is
relatively small and unable to complete any infrastructure project, it
should be used to procure text books and exercise books for
distribution to students in primary and secondary schools, with the
inscription that the books were printed with stolen funds recovered
from named public officials. That way, at a very early age, the
students will get to know that it does not pay to steal public funds.
To allay
fears that this may be misconstrued and turn corrupt officials to
celebrities of sorts, a variant of it is to build a national cenotaph
of dishonour, preferably at the Federal Capital, where the names of
all Nigerians convicted of corruption charges will be engraved, for
posterity. Future generations of Nigerians would be able to refer to
this cenotaph in the discussion of this vexed subject, and the list
will continue to grow as more persons are convicted.
Since one of
the objectives of corrupt officials is to acquire a larger than life
stature within their communities and outside it, they would have
achieved that objective, but forever ruined their reputation and that
of their families, and the shame of it will hang on them and members
of their families for generations to come, and prevent them from ever
again aspiring to hold public office. It will also act as an
effective deterrence to others.
2.
REFORM OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
PROCESS
The above
step will work effectively only if the criminal justice process is
substantially reformed. Since the shaming exercise will not be
effective until after a conviction to protect innocent people from
suffering the same fate as the guilty, the current slow pace of
dispensation of justice in Nigeria will be a major hindrance. To this
end, it is suggested that special criminal courts should be set up to
try corruption and economic crimes, to enable them dispose of such
cases expeditiously. Regular judges appointed through the normal
process will preside over these courts, but their focus will be on
such cases alone. The current practice of adjournments, poor
preparation by lawyers and other intrigues in the prosecution process
makes it possible for criminals to escape or for the public to lose
touch with the trend of the evidence, and for the cases to slip out of
their view as one of those things. The law setting up the courts
should prescribe that cases must be disposed of within a maximum of
three months from first arraignment, even if it implies adjourning
such cases from day to day, as is done in other countries for high
brow cases. The Ministries of Justice at both the Federal and State
levels should also be staffed by lawyers who are dedicated and trained
for the prosecution of such cases, without having to saddle them with
other assignments which could make them lose focus. The press should
also keep the public up to date with the proceedings.
Setting up
special courts for this purpose will free up the time of the regular
courts, which are currently overburdened, and also create a pool of
experienced professionals dealing with this problem in a focused
manner. The problem of corruption is so endemic, and its impact on
national development so significant that setting up special courts for
it will not be too much of an effort, but will instil fears in the
minds of potential suspects that, not only would they be caught, but
the justice system is sufficiently robust to ensure that they are
punished quickly, and this should serve as sufficient deterrence.
3.
REFORM OF ICPC AND EFCC
At the
moment, the ICPC and EFCC appear to be duplicating efforts, with no
clear definition in their roles, and therefore, no clear focus in
prosecution of corruption and economic crimes. The ICPC has not been
very effective since inception, and the EFCC, which appears to be more
result oriented in its approach, is hamstrung in its efforts, as they
have to hand over cases investigated to the ICPC for prosecution.
This is a duplication of roles, which adds no value to the process,
but only serves to create delays and avenues for criminals to escape
justice.
It is
therefore suggested that either the ICPC should be scrapped and its
functions transferred to the EFCC, or the ICPC and the EFCC should be
merged to form the Economic, Financial Crimes and Corrupt Practices
Commission. This Commission should be adequately staffed, funded and
empowered to carry out extensive investigations into all facets of
economic crimes, both within and outside Nigeria, and to prosecute
such offenders in a timely and focused manner. This Commission should
network with international agencies and governments, and mount
pressure on them to make information available on past and serving
government officials, to enable them effectively discharge their
functions. The growing intolerance by the international community for
corruption in Nigeria and the rest of Africa may well be a springboard
on which the Commission can anchor its renewed efforts.
States
should also be required to set up their own Commissions with similar
roles and responsibilities, to address corruption cases at State and
Local Government levels, witd making them bigger and stronger, also
put an effective system in place to discourage cash transactions, and
enhance payments by cheques, debit and credit cards, and other non
cash methods as is prevalent in other modern economies. The Ghana
Must Go (GMG) syndrome will disappear if large cash withdrawals from
bank accounts become impossible through effective banking regulation
and all transactions become traceable and auditable within the banking
system.
5.
REFORM OF THE BUDGETING PROCESS
The annual
ritual of Nigerian budgets has always been a source of grave concern
to many informed Nigerians. The time and efforts spent on
preparation, justification, debates at the national and state
assemblies and eventual signing into law of the Appropriation laws are
all aimed at giving credibility to a highly flawed process, devoid of
checks and balances. The Osujigate scandal in recent weeks has
finally put paid to any form of credibility Nigerian budgets can
pretend to have, as it has become obvious that the budgeted amounts
are only there on paper, and after the approval, can be spent in any
manner government officials and their accomplices want. The more the
national budget increases, the less services the government delivers
to the populace. At the end of the year, there is no reconciliation
between budgets and actual expenditure, as is done in other civilised
countries and the organised private sector. This leads to a situation
where the country learns nothing from its prior year experience in
budgeting, always starting on a clean slate, and usually reporting
deficits, meaning that the government spent more than it projected,
without anything to show for even the originally projected
expenditure, not to talk of the additional one.
It is
suggested that rather than remain a ritual as is currently the case,
pains should be taken to incorporate accountability into the budgeting
process, by making it a precondition for approvals of current budgets,
a line by line account of how the prior year budget was spent in
implementation of the listed programmes and activities, which should
be subjected to a transparent audit process. This ensures that the
same projects are not budgeted for, year in, year out, and that
Ministers and other public officials don’t have to bribe members of
the legislature to inflate their budgets, as has been recently
revealed, a phenomenon that has always been with us in past budget
exercises.
The work of
the Due Process Office, which seeks to check inflated contracts and
other government expenditure, should be strengthened and spread to all
tiers of government, as it is very well known that one of the major
tools sustaining corruption in Nigeria is the inflation of contracts.
Competitive tendering for all government projects should be the strict
norm rather than the exception, and even after the tendering exercise,
such estimates should be double checked to eliminate or drastically
reduce collaboration. The identities of shareholders and directors of
companies which execute government contracts should also be routinely
declared as part of the bidding exercise, to throw up issues of
conflict of interest of serving government officials and their
cronies.
6.
ESTABLISHING A PROPER REWARD
SYSTEM IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE
The current
reward system in the Nigerian Public Service is largely hypocritical.
In a highly materialistic society like Nigeria, it is a mirage to
expect that public servants will be insulated from the expectations of
society, where, after some years of service, one is expected to
possess some basic things in life, like a car, a house, and sufficient
income to pay school fees of his children in private schools,
especially in the face of the total collapse of the public schools
system, and other needs of the extended family. At current legitimate
income levels, public servants cannot honestly expect to measure up to
societal expectations, no matter how hard they work. The absence of a
performance driven bonus system in the public sector also does not
encourage public servants to go the extra mile, as their entire
legitimate expectation is their often delayed salaries at the end of
the month.
In view of
this, it is suggested that a performance based reward system be put in
place in the public service, to enable public servants legitimately
aspire to own the assets required of them by society. This should be
driven by achievement of tasks and targets set at the beginning of the
year, and regularly reviewed and transparently evaluated. Rewards for
meeting and exceeding targets should include ownership of houses, cash
incentives, and promotions, depending on the level of achievement and
the category the staff belong to. This approach is popular in the
western world, where the government is a very attractive and
competitive employer of labour.
The
advantage of this approach is that if public servants can see a
legitimate outlet for achieving their goals in life through hard work,
they will be hard pressed to take the illegitimate route of stealing
public funds, when they know that they risk being found out, and
having the full sanctions of the criminal justice system visited on
them. This carrot and stick approach will go a long way in driving
home the required positive behaviour, and gradually change the psyche
of the average public servant for good.
CONCLUSION
The above
suggestions are by no means exhaustive, and may well require a lot of
detailed study prior to implementation. It is however the firm belief
of the writer that if consistently applied, they will go a long way in
providing an outlet, if the current anti corruption posture of
President Obasanjo is to be sustained. The need to do something
drastic about corruption now cannot be underscored any more than the
consistent refusal of the international community to grant debt relief
to Nigeria until they show a commitment to addressing the problem of
corruption in an effective manner. And who can blame them? This
writer believes that Nigeria does not deserve any form of debt relief
at this time, if a single individual can embezzle the sort of funds
being revealed by recent happenings, as this confirms the position of
the creditor countries that Nigeria has the ability to pay. After
all, most of those spurious debts were incurred by Nigeria, only to be
embezzled by the same people who have been mismanaging the affairs of
the country over the years. Debt forgiveness would therefore not
result in any relief to the average Nigerian, but only ensure that
those who stole the borrowed funds have taken it for free.
[back
to Top News]
