Abacha barometer in corruption war in Nigeria

SOME worried observers and analysts are apt to describe Nigeria as a failed state. They are not short of cogent reasons. Everything that works well in other parts of the world works in almost the opposite direction in a country crippled by corruption. Nigeria has been labeled the poverty capital of the world despite the huge human and material resources with which God blessed the country. Nigeria is also rated as being in the forefront of the most terrorized nations of the world, a function of socio-economic and political retrogression. Mass unemployment, especially among the youths, has become one of the major defining characters of Nigeria to the extent that the future of the youths has become very bleak than any other time in the history of the country.  Since survival is the first major instinct in man, many disappointed and hapless Nigerians, especially the youths, see criminal activities as the readily available option for survival. Most Nigerians working in both public and private sectors see nothing wrong in cutting corners by appropriating company and public resources for personal use because this has become more of a norm in the country. Since the era of military dictatorship in Nigeria, corruption appears to have unwittingly been institutionalized as the veiled language of official transactions. This explains the existence of what can be described as the pervading money culture and the attendant ubiquity of crime in every facet of the nation’s life.

Money culture foists monetary gain as the chief determinant of any action or inaction on any issue. This is akin to what analysts of communism see as economic determinism. Armed robbers, kidnappers, yahoo boys, pen robbers, ubiquitous fraudsters etc, are captives of this aberration. Innocent Nigerians, the economy, the image of the country and the polity itself are the immediate ready victims of this malady. Microscopically few genuine foreign investors would today find Nigeria not repulsive to their investment interest.  The pertinent question is: how did we get to this pitiable situation? A Yoruba proverb provides a reasonable approach to addressing the weighty question. The proverb says that unlike a child who continues in his dangerous track even after stumbling, when an elderly person stumbles, the first thing he does is to look back to see the stumbling block. Many reasonable and sincere analysts are apt to take the elderly approach and would readily point at corruption as the major single factor that has hitherto crippled Nigeria socially, economically and politically. It has immediate or remote causal effect in most of the other problems facing the nation today.

In spite of seeming efforts towards dealing with the problem of corruption by some leaders over the years, Nigeria remains an unenviable chief among the most corrupt nations globally. In fact, it appears that the more noise being made about corruption war in the country, the more the malady festers with all forms of subtlety. The pathetic and bitter truth however remains that nobody has hitherto made any comprehensive and genuine effort in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. So far, what we have been witnessing is tantamount to mere window dressing. In other words, what we have been seeing so far, which government call war against corruption is nothing more than punishing and/or embarrassing some targeted culprits and assumed culprits. Because nobody has been fighting corruption in the country in the real sense of it explains why nothing has been done so far to effectively discourage people from embarking on corrupt activities, especially public office holders. This oversight or negligence has reduced the problem of corruption to an intractable war. No wonder therefore that someone saddled with the responsibility of leading the so-called war on corruption is himself being accused of having questions to answer on corruption allegations.

The issue of corruption in Nigeria is so deep-rooted that the genuine war against it would take a fundamental and holistic approach that will not give room for sacred cows. Neither will it allow witch-hunting to settle political scores under the guise of corruption war. Apart from punishing all real culprits (not some of them), measures must be clearly taken or put in place to make corruption unattractive or even repulsive especially to public officials. This is where the idea of the headline of this write-up emerges.  My take is that, if something had been done before now about the looting spree which General Sani Abacha perpetrated with unreserved impunity for instance, it could have discouraged most people being caught in the corruption web today and even those who have not been caught and may never be caught. In other words, this could have served as a preventive measure to all especially public office holders who are highly susceptible to kleptomania.  There is no argument or dispute in the country today about whether Abacha looted the nation’s treasury or not during the era of his military dictatorship. He did loot the treasury to such an unprecedented level that one begins to wonder what he wanted to do with such inglorious fruits of kleptomania. We are aware that it is not possible to call the expired dictator to come and answer any question on his monumental looting of the nation’s treasury, but something can be done with what appear to be his legacies to discourage other kleptomaniac from embarking on such despicable and harmful route in public office.  In other words, anyone who will genuinely fight corruption in Nigeria will go beyond mere loot recovery, including even the awesome loot of Abacha. After all, since all these years, has the government been able to recover all the Abacha loot from many parts of the world where he craftily hid all the monies?

It is quite unfortunate that in spite of the shameful and despicable activities including incredible high level of economic sabotage perpetrated while in office, we still have monuments in honour of Abacha in many parts of the country today to prove that no war on corruption yet in Nigeria. There are: Stadium; roads; barracks; hospital etc in many parts of the country still standing in the name of someone who created galling record in the looting of the nation’s treasury. This is a veritable source of encouragement and perhaps template for looters in the country with the belief that after all, any looter could still be decorated with awards in the country. Most of today’s looters in Nigeria see what they are doing as the normal thing for public office holder in the country. The Abacha example and that of many other past looters who are enjoying undeserved honour are there for everyone to see. This is why the struggle to get to public office in Nigeria especially through politics is usually seen by the politicians as a do-or-die affair, the attendant violence and political instability notwithstanding.

For anyone who will sincerely and genuinely fight corruption in Nigeria today, the starting point would be to void all the monuments and awards aimed at immortalizing the name of  any confirmed looter of the nation’s treasury. No looter deserves such honour. This will definitely serve as deterrent to all potential kleptomaniacs in the country. In addition, rather than allowing any confirmed looter to go with honour, a black book should be opened for the name of every looter to be recorded and be made available at public places all over the country. In other words, a kind of “HALL OF SHAME” containing the names and pictures of confirmed looters should be displayed in public places all over the country as an effective deterrent measure. Everyone in the hall of shame should forever be denied access to public office.  I am sure this will go a long way in making corruption unattractive in the country. I am not saying this is the only measure in tackling the corruption malady in the country, but a starting point. In other words, as far as corruption war in Nigeria is concerned, what is done to Abacha as a looter, even posthumously, could serve as the barometer for measuring the effectiveness of any war against corruption in Nigeria.

• Adesua is a former MD/Editor-in-Chief, Nigerian Tribune

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