The Victim
Your excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Your excellency the Governor of Cross River State, The Chairman of the Senate committee on corruption, The Speaker of the National Assembly, The Speaker of the Cross River State house of Assembly, Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ambassadors Representing Nigeria in other countries, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I salute you all as one whom corruption have victimised in Nigeria, and a combatant of corruption through the social media. “Until the rotten tooth is pulled out the mouth most chew with circumspection” corruption have injected a very poisonous venom into our Nigerian bureaucratic system and the antidote to combat this poisonous venom which stands as a canna worm eating the Nigerian Economy must be fought with a collective responsibility.
I am happy to pick up my pen to join the fight against corruption through the use of social media as a tool to spread the message against corruption to the society at large , as a graduate of Political Science Education from the University of Calabar, Calabar. With a second class upper division and a Masters degree holder in Educational Psychology from the Cross River University of Technology (Crutech ), I am still rooming the streets of Nigeria without a job, I am victimised by corruption and many Nigerians are passing through more difficult situations unknown to the public as result of corrupt practices in Nigeria.
Corruption is a subject that is ever green in Nigeria and indisputable in discussing the wellness of the Nigerian Economy and Africa at large, it is a subject that deserves attention at all times, because corruption has undermine and continue to undermine development in Nigeria and Africa in general. It is true that corruption is to be found in every society, but the reason why corruption in Nigeria must receive greater attention is because corruption in Nigeria continues to be pervasive, pernicious, malevolent and detrimental to the Nigerian society and the continent of Africa at large.
Nigeria would have realised greater Political and Economic development or growth, but such growth and development have been stunted because of corruption, today many of us know that the thirty six (36) states of Nigeria combined have a GDP lower than one state in the United States of America, China, or any state in the Asian continent and this so because of corruption.
The impact of corruption on Governance in Nigeria
Talking about the impact of corruption on Governance in Nigeria, Nigeria is poor because it is poorly Governed, this you may agree and as you look at Nigeria you can ascertain that Nigeria is poor because our Leaders have chosen that part. Therefore, it is as a matter of urgency that one should speak about corruption in Nigeria and spread the ills to all parts of Nigeria.
One of the reasons why corruption strive well in Nigeria is that Nigerians are in the business of canonizing criminal minded honorables and thievery, sanctifying and celebrating the wrong people, while it vilify, denigrate, or defames our good men and women. It is also that Nigerians are in the business of punishing small criminals and thieves and electing the big ones into public offices, and that is why, I ask the question that, why is it that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is never successful?
I therefore, say that there is a place in the legislation in Nigeria and those who will agree with me will see that the problem in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, is not the shortage of legislation in Nigeria, in fact Nigeria has an undeforestated legislation if any grammatical expression like that exist ( undeforestated ) , this then post that question of what is the problem?
The problem in Nigeria is that we have succeeded rather paradoxically to create an environment which allows stealing and thievery to blossom and strive, we have created an environment which ensures that our men and women who engage in official stealing occupy public offices of power and influence and therefore when one is asked to ask, what is it that other continents of the world have done in the fight against corruption which Nigeria can emulate ?
One must remain oneself that they have been a number of countries in the world and Africa which have succeeded in the fight against corruption and the reason why they have succeeded is because of their leadership style and in those countries have demonstrated by what they did, that they mean what they say in the fight against corruption.
Nigeria is quicker in the signing of international instruments that speaks against corruption, if you look at the countries who where first to ratify the United Nations convention against corruption Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 31st Oct 2003, by resolution 58/4, entry into force 14 December 2005, in accordance with article 68 (1) signatories 140 Parties : 186 ( as of 26 June 2018): was Africa and Nigerian inclusively as participants, the text of the United Nations convention against corruption was Negotiated during the seventh sessions of the Ad Hoc committee for the negotiation of the convention against corruption held between 21 Jan 2002 and 1st of October 2003.
The convention covered five main areas which include the following:
I. Preventive Measures against corruption,
II. Criminalisation and Law enforcement,
III. International cooperation,
IV. Assert recovery and,
V. Technical Assistance and Information exchange.
The convention covered many different forms of corruption as follows;
I. Bribery,
II. Trading in influence,
III. Abuse of functions and;
IV. Various acts of corruption in the private sector.
Africa was a leading continent in the signing of the convention, and Nigerians played a vital role.
If you look at the countries who where quick to adopt protocols that speaks against corruption Nigeria was among and was never behind.
If you look at countries which adopted legislation on the fight of corruption it was Nigeria in other words, sorry to write but Nigeria have the inclination to sign anything on side without doing what those things inquired and demanded of them, so it is not legislation in and of themselves, it is something else, it is the culture that we have evolved over the years in Nigeria of celebrating ill gotten wealth that is creating a debilitating effect on the fight against corruption.
Moreover, it is not shortage of Political pronouncement in Nigeria, it is those who occupy Political Offices, when they are about to occupy Political Office they will invariably say when we occupy Political office we will joined the fight against corruption, but many times in the fight against corruption their understanding of it is that they should appear to be fighting corruption without actually fighting corruption.
Hence, the question we must ask ourselves is that, what must we do, we who have the privilege and honour of serving our country from the chains of thievery, their those who held the view that Nigeria will perpetually and internally be mired in the mark and mired but the truth is that his Excellency General Muhammad Buhari in his fight against corruption have done a great deal in the fight against corruption in the recovery of stolen monies belonging to the Nigeria through the instrument of the institution of the Economic and Financial Crime commission ( EFCC) , he have demonstrated that when there is a committed leadership at the top corruption can be fought successfully, corruption cannot be fought by only the Political class alone or the fight against corruption cannot be fought by unaccomplished Political pronouncement.
His excellency The President Of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have demonstrated that sometimes, they must be a deliberate conspiracy of institutions in other to fight corruption, he have demonstrated that the Executives must positively and creatively conspire with the legislature and the Legislature must conspire with the Judiciary not to undermine those institution but to strengthen those institutions, I hold the view that it can be done and it must be done and if it is not done most Nigerians will never realised their potentials.
His excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have demonstrated through the EFCC that in other to fight corruption the must be collaboration of Nigerian citizens nature, the EFCC allows Nigerians to participate in the fight against corruption through the information and communication strategy of the informant system in which those who alert the government on the availability of money in certain areas are given percentage of the money recovered, the State, Local government, wards, community leaders, the Market Women, Religious Organisations, the market women and honourable members in the house who are pastors should change their Gospels and tell the people that corruption is evil and report such acts to the constituted authorities. The day Nigeria rises, Africa will rise is my up most ideological believe, you may note that one out of six (6) Africans is two Nigerian and the reason is in my view why Nigeria continue to be corrupt at the manner that it is, is because Nigeria have not realised her potentials, the day Nigeria realises her potentials that day Nigeria will raise.
My Dear Honourable members, it is time that you must play your leadership role not only in your constituencies, but wherever you are, in your homes keep teaching your children that corrupt practices are bad, even to the Gnut trader keep teaching them that the measurements used in their business is bad, Nigeria should ensure that I’ll gotten wealth is bad and should be repatriated and those involved should be punished in accordance to the law that Nigerians may know that if you harvest where you have not planted they are consequences to it, it is also to create an environment which is hostile for people to participate in corruption.
Sometimes I believe that procurement laws in and of themselves where magic ones which upon being followed will eliminate corruption in the civil service, but now I have come to the realisation that procurement laws only allows people to steal in accordance with the law, and therefore do not be under the expression that laws in and of themselves will solve the problem, as a young man hunting in the village it came a time when hunters could not see any animal to kill because animals where awear of hunters, and in the village the was a time during Christmas that the local chicken refused to sleep in the kitchen but were all sleeping on tops of mango trees for fear of being used for Christmas stew, and then people resolved by going to the market to buy chickens and men began to keep white chickens in their homes. So the legislature while making laws about procurement sometimes we do so in a manner that provides an opportunity for the beurocrate to steal in a manner that a grand legality to their illegal activities, so to say the legality of the law made are very important.
Hence, Nigeria must look at the life style of the individuals who engage in public offices, how is it that in Nigeria when an individual who we know to be a puper is privileged to be appointed or elected into a public office or as a honourable member in the house, please forgive me honourable members if it is unlawful to use this expression, that no sooner he begins to live as if money wasn’t a problem, automatically he becomes a narianer counting in millions, if this wasn’t true why are all of you so rich and the masses you claim to be representing so poor, the privatisation of public wealth without consequences is something that we must frown and frown upon that is why life style audit must be significant to the legislators to legislate upon the before you build a house or engage in a business as a public servant you must show evidence of how such finance is gotten .
Corruption is something that undermine democracy, that is the tragedy of corruption and it’s has now been demonstrated that in the country where corruption have been fought and fought successfully Democracy also grows and it dividends is also achievable.
Solutions to corruption
Corruption have created numbers of problems in the Nigerian society and in Africa at large, below are some of the solutions that can remedy the problems:
Public Awareness: In this regard, not merely to tell people that corruption is bad no, people know for when they go to church on Saturdays and Sundays the are told that corruption is bad and when the go to the Islamic schools the are told that corruption is a bad thing. What we must do is to ensure that the is behavioural change and throughout history it have been demonstrated that men only change their behaviour when there is a thread of pain, the pain of deprivation or the pains of imprisonment, we must therefore ensure that those who engages in corruption are punished and punished in accordance with the law.
I have agonised jointly with you that what are the challenges that stands in the fight against corruption.
In this regard, in a multi cultural and multi ethnic country like Nigeria the fight against corruption is even more difficult in an attempt to rationalise corruption, I will say how is it that a fish can swim in the ocean without getting water in his mouth? What this means is that when you work in a public office , how is it that you can not take a little from the public? The answer to this assumption is that, you are not a fish and if you where a fish then swim and close your mouth.
More so, How can you be tried around a tree and you do not graze around the grass that are within the tree? The answer therefore is your not a caw and even if you are a caw equally know that the grasses are not yours. There is no shortage of attempt at rationalising corruption in Nigeria and there is no way in which we are going to fight corruption changing people’s behaviour, the prescriptions is that we must realised that those who engage in corruption belong to a different cadre of people and that they must never be owned.
The culture in the Nigerian Politics is that, if a person engaged in stealing money and is from your ethnic group or tribe or from your Religion group you say , yes we know he is a thieve but he is from our religious group or ethnic group. The ownership of thieves because they come from our Religion, Ethnic, social class or circle is one of the things that undermine the fight against corruption in Nigeria, we must therefore create an environment where those in Nigeria that engages in graft do not have places of refuge in their socio cultural, ethnic group, Political and Religious circle, we must not create an environment where when we punished people because they have engage in graft we then give them protection because they come from our ethnic group or tribes, it is a problem that is going to persist in a country such as Nigeria, but it’s only through the instrument of the law making which is the legislature which encompasses people from different ethnic affiliation or heterogeneous cultural background in Nigeria that we can ensure that this thieves are not given the oxygen to breathe so that they can suffocate through their iniquity and languished in painful punishment.
Dear country Men, according to a speech by Kenyan’s Prof. Lumumba at the Nigerian legislature conference on Anti-Corruption he said “Lady’s and gentlemen the fight against corruption is what one can talk about for a very long time, but when one is speaking in the presence of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria one need to measure one’s words, one only ought to say the things that ought to be said” and therefore as I draw to the conclusion of my writing, I think there are critical points to be noted in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Such points include the followings;
Strengthening the institutions of the state: Political institutions of the state are at the very heart of the Sustainable fight against corruption, his excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is at the right part, he have given us the clearian call, and is now recognised in the world over as one of the chief fighter against corruption, but no matter how well intention he is, he is not going to succeed unless with the support of the legislatures, unless the legislative institution is strengthen and in any event the maximum heat can stay in office is two (2) terms, and one thing about those who engages in graft is that they have the patience, the Patience is amazing, they can sleep quietly for eight (8) years and only to emerge as greater monsters in the Nine (9) year and therefore, what must be done is to create institutions that are sustained over time, those institutions should be the ones that are recognised by the Law, if it is the institution of the Parliament it must stay strong, if it is the institution of the Judiciary it must be a up of man and women who engages not in graft, if is the institution of the Executives it must be strengthen, if it is the EFCC it must be strengthen, if it is the Civil Society it must be strengthen it is only institutions last over time that will ensure that we succeed in the fight against corruption.
The Law: The laws must be that which the autonomy stands and superset all citizens, the law must ensure that those who engages in corruption and will want to do things that are detrimental to the society are punished strictly in accordance to the law and are not allowed to be out leached to the unsuspected public, for a long time Nigerians who stole from Nigeria have save heavens in the Europe and America, but for now, it may interest you to know that the European and Americans are beginning to close their door against such crime perpetuation in regards to Economic and Financial crimes, under that word Bank we have mutual Legal Assistance, if we can ensure that those avenues are closed so that they can not keep their money away, we must therefore ensure that those who served in the public office cannot keep foreign accounts, so if they love this country so much that they serve her, their money should equally be kept in the country, why is that they do not have their faith in the country they serve. This can only be done if we have sound laws.
Education: The Educational system must be Planned in that the question of what are we teaching in the one hundred and forty three (143) Universities in the country? What are we teaching even from the Secondary Schools to Tertiary institutions of learning ? Can be answered , what are we teaching them ? Are we teaching our young men and women (students), are we teaching them that you can be celebrated if you have acquired wealth without it sources being given, we must interrogate our curriculum and we must engage everybody, Religious Leaders, Traditional Leaders, and Educational stakeholders, because how can it be that among the various people of Nigeria you will not allow your daughter or your son to marry a criminal who have stolen a goat but a criminal who have stolen naira is celebrated and given titles in the church, and communities, we must give the goat and the naira equal value because a criminal is a criminal.
Sanity: The Political system must be sanitised, man and women who are longing to belong to a Political Class by holding Political Office must be men and women of integrity, who finance their Political campaign in a clean manner without corruption, in Nigeria during campaigns those who engages in campaign speed millions during election this money’s are gotten some through loans, others who have occupied public offices wanting to go back and pick their briefcases a second term are spending monies from projects meant for the public or monies from those who are longing for some political appointments, what is always seen in the office that electorate do not see that such spending is made and most times killings are even accompanied. That which majority always go for is not for the good of the society, it is the opportunity to privatise public wealth, the day elections are sanitised and people who go into public office go because of purity of service to humanity and not privatisation of public wealth, Nigeria will begin to be a great country.
I look forward to the day in Nigeria and Africa that corruption will be an exception rather than the role, a day when the laws that are enacted will be observed by all Nigerians. I look forward to the day we can create an environment that will prevent corruption and the day where national honour given to men and women in Nigeria will be given to people who deserve them not people who have purchased them, I look forward to the day where students in our Universities of higher learning will have in their natural instincts, the instincts to do good. I look forward to the day jobs given to Nigerians are given on the basis of qualifications and merit not purchase and I look forward to the day the EFCC in Nigeria will be abolished because Nigerians are no more corrupt.
Together, collectively, we can fight corruption in Nigeria and Africa.
God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa, God bless you all.
Ntulma Robert Arobor
Aka Ntulism.
Your excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Your excellency the Governor of Cross River State, The Chairman of the Senate committee on corruption, The Speaker of the National Assembly, The Speaker of the Cross River State house of Assembly, Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ambassadors Representing Nigeria in other countries, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I salute you all as one whom corruption have victimised in Nigeria, and a combatant of corruption through the social media. “Until the rotten tooth is pulled out the mouth most chew with circumspection” corruption have injected a very poisonous venom into our Nigerian bureaucratic system and the antidote to combat this poisonous venom which stands as a canna worm eating the Nigerian Economy must be fought with a collective responsibility.
I am happy to pick up my pen to join the fight against corruption through the use of social media as a tool to spread the message against corruption to the society at large , as a graduate of Political Science Education from the University of Calabar, Calabar. With a second class upper division and a Masters degree holder in Educational Psychology from the Cross River University of Technology (Crutech ), I am still rooming the streets of Nigeria without a job, I am victimised by corruption and many Nigerians are passing through more difficult situations unknown to the public as result of corrupt practices in Nigeria.
Corruption is a subject that is ever green in Nigeria and indisputable in discussing the wellness of the Nigerian Economy and Africa at large, it is a subject that deserves attention at all times, because corruption has undermine and continue to undermine development in Nigeria and Africa in general. It is true that corruption is to be found in every society, but the reason why corruption in Nigeria must receive greater attention is because corruption in Nigeria continues to be pervasive, pernicious, malevolent and detrimental to the Nigerian society and the continent of Africa at large.
Nigeria would have realised greater Political and Economic development or growth, but such growth and development have been stunted because of corruption, today many of us know that the thirty six (36) states of Nigeria combined have a GDP lower than one state in the United States of America, China, or any state in the Asian continent and this so because of corruption.
The impact of corruption on Governance in Nigeria
Talking about the impact of corruption on Governance in Nigeria, Nigeria is poor because it is poorly Governed, this you may agree and as you look at Nigeria you can ascertain that Nigeria is poor because our Leaders have chosen that part. Therefore, it is as a matter of urgency that one should speak about corruption in Nigeria and spread the ills to all parts of Nigeria.
One of the reasons why corruption strive well in Nigeria is that Nigerians are in the business of canonizing criminal minded honorables and thievery, sanctifying and celebrating the wrong people, while it vilify, denigrate, or defames our good men and women. It is also that Nigerians are in the business of punishing small criminals and thieves and electing the big ones into public offices, and that is why, I ask the question that, why is it that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is never successful?
I therefore, say that there is a place in the legislation in Nigeria and those who will agree with me will see that the problem in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, is not the shortage of legislation in Nigeria, in fact Nigeria has an undeforestated legislation if any grammatical expression like that exist ( undeforestated ) , this then post that question of what is the problem?
The problem in Nigeria is that we have succeeded rather paradoxically to create an environment which allows stealing and thievery to blossom and strive, we have created an environment which ensures that our men and women who engage in official stealing occupy public offices of power and influence and therefore when one is asked to ask, what is it that other continents of the world have done in the fight against corruption which Nigeria can emulate ?
One must remain oneself that they have been a number of countries in the world and Africa which have succeeded in the fight against corruption and the reason why they have succeeded is because of their leadership style and in those countries have demonstrated by what they did, that they mean what they say in the fight against corruption.
Nigeria is quicker in the signing of international instruments that speaks against corruption, if you look at the countries who where first to ratify the United Nations convention against corruption Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 31st Oct 2003, by resolution 58/4, entry into force 14 December 2005, in accordance with article 68 (1) signatories 140 Parties : 186 ( as of 26 June 2018): was Africa and Nigerian inclusively as participants, the text of the United Nations convention against corruption was Negotiated during the seventh sessions of the Ad Hoc committee for the negotiation of the convention against corruption held between 21 Jan 2002 and 1st of October 2003.
The convention covered five main areas which include the following:
I. Preventive Measures against corruption,
II. Criminalisation and Law enforcement,
III. International cooperation,
IV. Assert recovery and,
V. Technical Assistance and Information exchange.
The convention covered many different forms of corruption as follows;
I. Bribery,
II. Trading in influence,
III. Abuse of functions and;
IV. Various acts of corruption in the private sector.
Africa was a leading continent in the signing of the convention, and Nigerians played a vital role.
If you look at the countries who where quick to adopt protocols that speaks against corruption Nigeria was among and was never behind.
If you look at countries which adopted legislation on the fight of corruption it was Nigeria in other words, sorry to write but Nigeria have the inclination to sign anything on side without doing what those things inquired and demanded of them, so it is not legislation in and of themselves, it is something else, it is the culture that we have evolved over the years in Nigeria of celebrating ill gotten wealth that is creating a debilitating effect on the fight against corruption.
Moreover, it is not shortage of Political pronouncement in Nigeria, it is those who occupy Political Offices, when they are about to occupy Political Office they will invariably say when we occupy Political office we will joined the fight against corruption, but many times in the fight against corruption their understanding of it is that they should appear to be fighting corruption without actually fighting corruption.
Hence, the question we must ask ourselves is that, what must we do, we who have the privilege and honour of serving our country from the chains of thievery, their those who held the view that Nigeria will perpetually and internally be mired in the mark and mired but the truth is that his Excellency General Muhammad Buhari in his fight against corruption have done a great deal in the fight against corruption in the recovery of stolen monies belonging to the Nigeria through the instrument of the institution of the Economic and Financial Crime commission ( EFCC) , he have demonstrated that when there is a committed leadership at the top corruption can be fought successfully, corruption cannot be fought by only the Political class alone or the fight against corruption cannot be fought by unaccomplished Political pronouncement.
His excellency The President Of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have demonstrated that sometimes, they must be a deliberate conspiracy of institutions in other to fight corruption, he have demonstrated that the Executives must positively and creatively conspire with the legislature and the Legislature must conspire with the Judiciary not to undermine those institution but to strengthen those institutions, I hold the view that it can be done and it must be done and if it is not done most Nigerians will never realised their potentials.
His excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have demonstrated through the EFCC that in other to fight corruption the must be collaboration of Nigerian citizens nature, the EFCC allows Nigerians to participate in the fight against corruption through the information and communication strategy of the informant system in which those who alert the government on the availability of money in certain areas are given percentage of the money recovered, the State, Local government, wards, community leaders, the Market Women, Religious Organisations, the market women and honourable members in the house who are pastors should change their Gospels and tell the people that corruption is evil and report such acts to the constituted authorities. The day Nigeria rises, Africa will rise is my up most ideological believe, you may note that one out of six (6) Africans is two Nigerian and the reason is in my view why Nigeria continue to be corrupt at the manner that it is, is because Nigeria have not realised her potentials, the day Nigeria realises her potentials that day Nigeria will raise.
My Dear Honourable members, it is time that you must play your leadership role not only in your constituencies, but wherever you are, in your homes keep teaching your children that corrupt practices are bad, even to the Gnut trader keep teaching them that the measurements used in their business is bad, Nigeria should ensure that I’ll gotten wealth is bad and should be repatriated and those involved should be punished in accordance to the law that Nigerians may know that if you harvest where you have not planted they are consequences to it, it is also to create an environment which is hostile for people to participate in corruption.
Sometimes I believe that procurement laws in and of themselves where magic ones which upon being followed will eliminate corruption in the civil service, but now I have come to the realisation that procurement laws only allows people to steal in accordance with the law, and therefore do not be under the expression that laws in and of themselves will solve the problem, as a young man hunting in the village it came a time when hunters could not see any animal to kill because animals where awear of hunters, and in the village the was a time during Christmas that the local chicken refused to sleep in the kitchen but were all sleeping on tops of mango trees for fear of being used for Christmas stew, and then people resolved by going to the market to buy chickens and men began to keep white chickens in their homes. So the legislature while making laws about procurement sometimes we do so in a manner that provides an opportunity for the beurocrate to steal in a manner that a grand legality to their illegal activities, so to say the legality of the law made are very important.
Hence, Nigeria must look at the life style of the individuals who engage in public offices, how is it that in Nigeria when an individual who we know to be a puper is privileged to be appointed or elected into a public office or as a honourable member in the house, please forgive me honourable members if it is unlawful to use this expression, that no sooner he begins to live as if money wasn’t a problem, automatically he becomes a narianer counting in millions, if this wasn’t true why are all of you so rich and the masses you claim to be representing so poor, the privatisation of public wealth without consequences is something that we must frown and frown upon that is why life style audit must be significant to the legislators to legislate upon the before you build a house or engage in a business as a public servant you must show evidence of how such finance is gotten .
Corruption is something that undermine democracy, that is the tragedy of corruption and it’s has now been demonstrated that in the country where corruption have been fought and fought successfully Democracy also grows and it dividends is also achievable.
Solutions to corruption
Corruption have created numbers of problems in the Nigerian society and in Africa at large, below are some of the solutions that can remedy the problems:
Public Awareness: In this regard, not merely to tell people that corruption is bad no, people know for when they go to church on Saturdays and Sundays the are told that corruption is bad and when the go to the Islamic schools the are told that corruption is a bad thing. What we must do is to ensure that the is behavioural change and throughout history it have been demonstrated that men only change their behaviour when there is a thread of pain, the pain of deprivation or the pains of imprisonment, we must therefore ensure that those who engages in corruption are punished and punished in accordance with the law.
I have agonised jointly with you that what are the challenges that stands in the fight against corruption.
In this regard, in a multi cultural and multi ethnic country like Nigeria the fight against corruption is even more difficult in an attempt to rationalise corruption, I will say how is it that a fish can swim in the ocean without getting water in his mouth? What this means is that when you work in a public office , how is it that you can not take a little from the public? The answer to this assumption is that, you are not a fish and if you where a fish then swim and close your mouth.
More so, How can you be tried around a tree and you do not graze around the grass that are within the tree? The answer therefore is your not a caw and even if you are a caw equally know that the grasses are not yours. There is no shortage of attempt at rationalising corruption in Nigeria and there is no way in which we are going to fight corruption changing people’s behaviour, the prescriptions is that we must realised that those who engage in corruption belong to a different cadre of people and that they must never be owned.
The culture in the Nigerian Politics is that, if a person engaged in stealing money and is from your ethnic group or tribe or from your Religion group you say , yes we know he is a thieve but he is from our religious group or ethnic group. The ownership of thieves because they come from our Religion, Ethnic, social class or circle is one of the things that undermine the fight against corruption in Nigeria, we must therefore create an environment where those in Nigeria that engages in graft do not have places of refuge in their socio cultural, ethnic group, Political and Religious circle, we must not create an environment where when we punished people because they have engage in graft we then give them protection because they come from our ethnic group or tribes, it is a problem that is going to persist in a country such as Nigeria, but it’s only through the instrument of the law making which is the legislature which encompasses people from different ethnic affiliation or heterogeneous cultural background in Nigeria that we can ensure that this thieves are not given the oxygen to breathe so that they can suffocate through their iniquity and languished in painful punishment.
Dear country Men, according to a speech by Kenyan’s Prof. Lumumba at the Nigerian legislature conference on Anti-Corruption he said “Lady’s and gentlemen the fight against corruption is what one can talk about for a very long time, but when one is speaking in the presence of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria one need to measure one’s words, one only ought to say the things that ought to be said” and therefore as I draw to the conclusion of my writing, I think there are critical points to be noted in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Such points include the followings;
Strengthening the institutions of the state: Political institutions of the state are at the very heart of the Sustainable fight against corruption, his excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is at the right part, he have given us the clearian call, and is now recognised in the world over as one of the chief fighter against corruption, but no matter how well intention he is, he is not going to succeed unless with the support of the legislatures, unless the legislative institution is strengthen and in any event the maximum heat can stay in office is two (2) terms, and one thing about those who engages in graft is that they have the patience, the Patience is amazing, they can sleep quietly for eight (8) years and only to emerge as greater monsters in the Nine (9) year and therefore, what must be done is to create institutions that are sustained over time, those institutions should be the ones that are recognised by the Law, if it is the institution of the Parliament it must stay strong, if it is the institution of the Judiciary it must be a up of man and women who engages not in graft, if is the institution of the Executives it must be strengthen, if it is the EFCC it must be strengthen, if it is the Civil Society it must be strengthen it is only institutions last over time that will ensure that we succeed in the fight against corruption.
The Law: The laws must be that which the autonomy stands and superset all citizens, the law must ensure that those who engages in corruption and will want to do things that are detrimental to the society are punished strictly in accordance to the law and are not allowed to be out leached to the unsuspected public, for a long time Nigerians who stole from Nigeria have save heavens in the Europe and America, but for now, it may interest you to know that the European and Americans are beginning to close their door against such crime perpetuation in regards to Economic and Financial crimes, under that word Bank we have mutual Legal Assistance, if we can ensure that those avenues are closed so that they can not keep their money away, we must therefore ensure that those who served in the public office cannot keep foreign accounts, so if they love this country so much that they serve her, their money should equally be kept in the country, why is that they do not have their faith in the country they serve. This can only be done if we have sound laws.
Education: The Educational system must be Planned in that the question of what are we teaching in the one hundred and forty three (143) Universities in the country? What are we teaching even from the Secondary Schools to Tertiary institutions of learning ? Can be answered , what are we teaching them ? Are we teaching our young men and women (students), are we teaching them that you can be celebrated if you have acquired wealth without it sources being given, we must interrogate our curriculum and we must engage everybody, Religious Leaders, Traditional Leaders, and Educational stakeholders, because how can it be that among the various people of Nigeria you will not allow your daughter or your son to marry a criminal who have stolen a goat but a criminal who have stolen naira is celebrated and given titles in the church, and communities, we must give the goat and the naira equal value because a criminal is a criminal.
Sanity: The Political system must be sanitised, man and women who are longing to belong to a Political Class by holding Political Office must be men and women of integrity, who finance their Political campaign in a clean manner without corruption, in Nigeria during campaigns those who engages in campaign speed millions during election this money’s are gotten some through loans, others who have occupied public offices wanting to go back and pick their briefcases a second term are spending monies from projects meant for the public or monies from those who are longing for some political appointments, what is always seen in the office that electorate do not see that such spending is made and most times killings are even accompanied. That which majority always go for is not for the good of the society, it is the opportunity to privatise public wealth, the day elections are sanitised and people who go into public office go because of purity of service to humanity and not privatisation of public wealth, Nigeria will begin to be a great country.
I look forward to the day in Nigeria and Africa that corruption will be an exception rather than the role, a day when the laws that are enacted will be observed by all Nigerians. I look forward to the day we can create an environment that will prevent corruption and the day where national honour given to men and women in Nigeria will be given to people who deserve them not people who have purchased them, I look forward to the day where students in our Universities of higher learning will have in their natural instincts, the instincts to do good. I look forward to the day jobs given to Nigerians are given on the basis of qualifications and merit not purchase and I look forward to the day the EFCC in Nigeria will be abolished because Nigerians are no more corrupt.
Together, collectively, we can fight corruption in Nigeria and Africa.
God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa, God bless you all.
Ntulma Robert Arobor
Aka Ntulism.
