Dear All,
You may wish to read this and contribute to the solution of this nagging problem in our dear country, the only one some of have and are prepared to sacrifice anything for. Even though it is being said that the present regime is doing a lot about curbing corruption and I have no doubt that Dr. Mrs Ferida Waziri and her team are working real hard, I believe that the more productive efforts should be those made to train people above the tendency toward corruption rather than seeking to close the gate and run after the horse after it had escaped!
May God bless Nigeria.
Ifedioramma Eugene NWANA PhD, FESN, JP.
Professor of Agriculture & Economic Entomology
Curbing Corruption in Nigeria
Attempts to curb the spate of corruption in the country have consumed much of government and public attention in Nigeria's bid to self actualization, and this is not only by way of mere lip service. Thus we have several government agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria Police, etc. Journalists and many other concerned citizens of this sleeping giant of Africa have devoted their time and talents in providing moral, legal and practical ideas on the nagging issue of corruption in public and private places and in high and low places.
The most disturbing aspect of corruption is not that one person has stolen money or done some thing unethical, which are the events that get most publicized. When a wrong is done, take for instance a Governor of a State expropriating the State's funds into his private account, or a Bank Executive diverting shareholders' and even depositors' funds to family use, or Legislators anywhere demanding and receiving bribe to clear a candidate for appointment into public office, or a lecturer in the university demanding gratification in cash or kind to award some undeserved marks to a student, something terrible takes place alright, but the real calamity is that such acts, when reported and not properly dealt with, recruit more persons with marginally weak character into the crime gang. The circle of this gang increases daily with every reported case that is not prosecuted to its logical end. This is the corrupting aspect of corruption; the most insidious and invidious attribute. This is why the policemen on road checks demand and collect N20.00 (twenty naira) with impunity from every vehicle that passes their beat, even if it does not justify these acts. You cannot really grudge him a mere N20.00 from transporters when his fellow countrymen, who have the same single head and single mouth as he has, loot millions and billions of Naira that belong to the same citizens.
The whole nation is under the clutches of this monster. Indeed, there may be just a handful of Nigerians who would resist this monster if placed in the position of the current perpetrators of these crimes classified as corruption. Because of the truth in the following statements; one bad apple spoils the rest, and when one finger dips into oil it stains the rest, corruption in Nigeria is treated in general terms. If you are part of the very few that are not corrupt, I thank God for you and hereby congratulate you. More than my gratitude and congratulations, you should join in the real campaign to stop corruption and enthrone healthy practices in the various facets of our national life.
The incidents of corruption are almost continuous (in space and time) in our daily experiences in Nigeria. We have fought this almost all our lives in our own ways; we have encountered desperate and frenetic citizens who see nothing but bleak future in the entire horizon of Nigeria. We have listened to various arguments and discussions. What we find most exasperating is the desire, in a lot of persons we have interacted with, for a change in position with some of the perpetrators of the most heinous of these crimes, not for improving the situation but so as to have the opportunity to cut their own cake!
We have been boxed into accepting that only saints can withstand the pangs of hunger while working in a food factory. Despite the continuous exhortations, saints occur like diamonds; in place of so many tons and tons of clay the earth produces only a few grammes of diamond! The majority of us are like clay, tending towards corruption. So, if one is working and encountering large sums of money, even if only in figures on paper, say in the bank, in government house or presidency, one cannot but be allowed to pilfer or take some of the money lying about because there is no real development project that can serve the people to which that money could be applied. If you will not take you must allow those who know what to do with the money to take it. Ok, a hungry person is allowed to eat. After all there is a new kind of liberation theology that justifies taking to feed hungry persons including self. But if you take because you are hungry, must you become a glutton. Ok, you have food today and do not know whether you would find it tomorrow, so you want to eat and keep reserves for the next day. That may be a wise step. You want to be like the ant that gathered food while the grasshopper flitted about and died of hunger in the winter when there was no more food in the fields. Ok, even our very austere morals should be able to tolerate that. So we do, quite grudgingly. But let me ask you, if your gluttony is allowed, must you horde food while others are dying of hunger; food that you will never ever eat, which you know will get bad and get thrown away? But one does not know how much he would eat or how many hungry mouths he would be obliged to feed in the future. So he amasses food, builds a new ban to store more and more and even employs foreign labour to help throw away spoiled food while amassing additional quantities.
One wonders! Then one begins to feel that it is the lack of knowledge of what money can do that brings about the level of corruption that is being witnessed in our country today. My father told me that the best appetizer was hunger. I appreciate the next naira most when my salary runs out and I get new pay at the beginning of the next month. Then whatever I buy with the fresh salary gives me real joy. Perhaps not every Nigerian should operate at my level and expect the next salary at the end of each month. So you exploit the opportunity created by the call to public service and kidnap funds meant for public projects into your personal or family coffers. Even when we have all become so depraved and lost all sense of rectitude and we begin to tolerate this type of pilfering or taking, pray brother what are you doing with one-, two-, three-, twenty-four billion Naira!? Do you have a proper understanding of that amount of money? So you buy cars, you buy houses, you go on holidays, you wed your children and celebrate birthdays; you call parties and all that. When will your most frivolous spending consume one billion Naira? Of course, there was the case of a former Minister who gave his son the "paltry" sum of N50 million for agreeing to wed the girl he loved!
If we can curb corruption, our efforts need to be comprehensive, real and all inclusive. The President, as the number one citizen on whose table the buck stops, should lead. Such leadership should be practical and not end with lip-service as has been the case. He should then get his immediate aides (Ministers, Special Assistants, all Political Office Holders as currently defined) to take up the crusade, ensuring that the determination flows down the line. The Courts should function as courts of justice and speedily too. Whenever any case is reported, it must be brought to a head for every one to see. Take the cases of the N50 million scandal in the Senate sometime ago with the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the allegations against some former State Governors, the allegations traded by the former President and his Vice in the dying days of the past regime, the allegations against a former Inspector General of Police and against the former Chairman of EFCC, etc. When any allegation has been found to be untrue, that fact needs to be made public. Real acts of corruption must be punished adequately too. There are many recommendations that have been made by greater minds and greater writers. Yet corruption sways high and frequent on the land!
I have given many hours of thinking to the real and objective cause of the level of corruption in our country today. I have come to the undisputable conclusion that the cause is lack of proper education. My father told me that the only value that money has is what it can purchase; that is when you spend it. Money horded in the bank or personal vault in Nigeria or overseas has no real value. It can only serve as trip in reflexology to the delusions of a mentally depraved person. Medical doctors tell me that there are various types of madness and that many rash or thoughtless behaviours arise from sordid ignorance. Corruption is one such madness, caused by lack of proper education. When a chap works hard and out of his sweat gathers a lot of wealth, like Bill Gates and his Microsoft colleagues, one has no complaint as to the amount of money that flows to him. Even such persons soon get fed up with money and begin to give it away to charity. Let me posit that the madness called corruption in Nigeria can only be curbed through the proper education and re-education of the citizenry. Unfortunately the institutions of formal education are being left to decay and wallow in the corrupting influence of the countrywide corruption.
Therefore the first step in any successful effort to curb corruption shall be the revitalization of our educational institutions, not just the tertiary institutions but most especially the primary and secondary schools. The requirements include renovation of the infrastructure -- buildings, furniture, laboratories, studios, and playgrounds; upgrading of the personnel through in-service training (currently during the vacations teachers attend all sorts of sandwich courses, sometimes not related to the courses they teach in their various schools. These sandwich courses should be organised by government at government expense to develop special competence and skills as well as devotion in the teachers of primary and secondary schools). What is called education actually takes place in the primary and secondary schools where the art of reading and searching for knowledge and the culture of good and acceptable character are developed. In the tertiary institutions candidates are assisted to develop special competence and skills that enable them satisfy definite task-demands, which promote economic growth and social cohesion in their environment. The crises in the education sector have been erroneously boxed into discussions on the salary of workers in the industry. Nothing could be further from the truth. The institutions for formal education in this country have suffered almost total collapse. There is need for a State of Emergency to be declared for recovery. Unfortunately when this is being discussed the powers that be think only of the welfare of current players and believe that we are not the best in the country. This feeling may be so but the truth is that the current players are the same who have born the burden of keeping the fort under the present deteriorated facilities and welfare. If Nigeria would take steps to reinvigorate her educational establishments, institutionally and structurally, she can even weed out persons who are not good influences in the system. The university professor or lecturer who demands gratification before doing his job needs re-education and if he is not amenable should be weeded out, the State Governor or Commissioner, the President or Minister who diverts funds for public projects to his personal or family use, the Legislator who demands bribe to screen a candidate for public office, the law enforcement officer (whether a police officer, lawyer or judge of any rank) who thwarts the law to favour self, relative position or friend etc all need re-education and where any fails to repent and convert he should be weeded out of the relevant system, and adequate punishment that would deter others should be promptly imposed.
When Nigeria would have got our educational establishments and institutions correct, we can look forward to limited corruption. Then, when money is voted for building roads the roads would be built, power generating plants would be built and electricity supplied according to budget, even persons who enter the Army and Police or hold political offices would become more efficient and serve the country better. It can be seen, therefore, that when there is a cry, no matter how feebly or loudly, gently or violently, for revitalizing the education sector the intension is not to favour the current players only; the successful execution of such projects would have far reaching beneficial effects that extend to all facets of the national economy. No one has ever advocated the allocation of 26% of National budget to education for the salaries of personnel who work in the education sector, and such allocation or even more would be not only for the direct benefit of schools, colleges and universities; the entire economy and socio-political structure of the country are the ultimate beneficiaries. There will be a higher level of mental input into plans for all levels of activities in the nation. There will be appropriate skills for executing and implementing such reasoned plans. Then the country will proceed in the path that leads to real progress. Think about this.
Ifedioramma Eugene NWANA PhD, FESN, JP(Justice of Peace)
Professor of Agriculture & Economic Entomology
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