When President Buhari started the war against corruption, he started a worthy struggle, a direction that our country desperately needs. His prosecution of that war is still commendable as far as it goes. But there are already potent indications that this war may soon plunge into some sort of confusion.
Already, from some of our eminent voices, as well as from the mostly unheard voices of the masses of our people, troubling questions are being asked about the agenda. Some days ago, one of our country’s most respected Christian leaders proposed that the war against corruption should end simply with the recovery of stolen public money. He suggested that once the thief has surrendered his loot, our government and law enforcement agencies should do nothing further against him – indeed that he should be left alone. The implication of this is that recovery of stolen public money is the end purpose of the whole war. But very many citizens are wondering whether this is right. What about our laws? Are we now maneuvering ourselves into a new culture – one more destructive than the culture of corruption, a culture in which our country’s laws will become negotiable. If a Nigerian be accused of a crime, will it become sufficient for him to send influential relatives and friends to beg the rulers of the land or make some retribution which the rulers arbitrarily deem acceptable? Is this the future we are striving towards? A sort of primitive ‘pre-law’ society?
A few days ago also, another eminent Nigerian, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, proposed in the course of a public discourse that President Buhari should start the war on corruption from the highest level – that is from the presidency itself. Apparently, he was not thinking of asking anything other than that the probes should start from Buhari’s own presidency. It would appear also that he did not think that his question could have wider ramifications. To his surprise, someone in the audience asked him whether he meant that the probes should extend all the way back to the Obasanjo presidency. The former president sidestepped the question in his response and preferred only to remind his audience that it was he who had created the legal instruments that are now being used by President Buhari to fight corruption. In that, he is right; but most Nigerians would still want to ask him if it would be right to limit the probes only to the present.
Nigerians know that the era of unrestrained public corruption in our country started in 1966, or at the latest, 1979. The big question is this: Can we really destroy the culture of corruption if we deal with the thieves of the past six years only and leave those of earlier years to luxuriate in their loot? Moreover, is this a war against federal level corruption only or will it also take on functionaries of state and local governments also? And then there is an overarching question: Can we really be said to be killing corruption if we are doing it only amongst the highest public officials only? What about the deep roots that corruption has dug into other levels of our society? Afterall, no nook or cranny appears to have escaped the scourge! Are we going to do something about senior civil servants who regularly take bribes from folks seeking civil service jobs? Or those who dream up phantom contracts, award them to phantom contractors and pay the contractors for the phantom completion of the jobs? How about university officials who take bribes to manipulate university admissions, or those lecturers who coerce their students to buy shoddy handouts or give various types of gifts as a condition of passing the examinations? What shall we do about the rampant passing of bribes at all levels of public service, customs service, immigration service, passport office, driver licensing offices, land administration offices, etcetera? How about the rampant practice of bank employees stealing from their employers and customers? Or the general fear of Nigerian employers about the tendency of Nigerian employees to cheat and steal? For that matter, will we do anything about the perpetual rumour that church officials also steal from church coffers? The list is endless!
In short, how far do we, as represented by the Buhari presidency, intend to go with this war on corruption? These questions are now emerging because not much is being told us Nigerian citizens by our government. All we hear is a constant stream of stories of mind-boggling amounts of loot that has been detected and sometimes huge amounts that have been returned by the thieves. The president has started the most important war in our country’s history – a war for which he deserves our commendation. But he is not talking to us as he should about it. Perhaps it is his military background that predisposes him to believe that his government can fight this overwhelming war alone. He needs to consider that he may be wrong. This is a war that all Nigerians are mightily interested in. We want it to be won. We have all had enough. We therefore want to understand what is happening in this great war.
We want to be able to help in whatever small or large way we can. We know there are powerful forces hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to wage a counter-offensive. We perceive the rumblings of corruption’s fight back already. President Buhari will need us, the masses of common Nigerians, to resist that counter-offensive. He needs to prepare us accordingly.
He must begin to do that now. He must leverage all the authority of the presidency to do so. This is a war for all Nigerians who love their country and want her to become prosperous and respectable. We are in a fight for the very soul of our nation. Those who seek to keep corruption alive and well are akin to vampires who care nothing for their victims but seek only to suck the very lifeblood out of her.
President Buhari has begun the rescue of Nigeria from those predators who would bleed her dry and indeed have been doing so for decades. Many hands they say, make light work. Not that this work could ever be light. But it can be made lighter by the participation of millions of willing Nigerians. President Buhari must harness their involvement. Ultimately, this great war will only be won when most of us citizens accept the mantle of ‘corruption fighter’. When love for country supersedes desire for convenience. When we return to the days when dishonesty carried a stigma and thieves were shunned by decent, upright citizens. Then and only then, will we win this war on corruption.
NATION
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