“Where you have injustice, you will have rebellion”(Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman EFCC, 29th May 2009.)
My sympathies go to the relations, families, friends and well wishers of those who have lost their lives in the Niger Delta crisis. These include both the solders and the indigenes of the Niger Delta area. The writer has once lost someone close to this crisis. My heart is bleeding as am writing this article. My heart bleeds because of the senseless killing of Nigerians by fellow Nigerians over an issue that can be settled using an honest approach and dialogue. War has never solved any problem in the world. Dialogue is the only solution.
I totally disagree with the backing given by the House of Representatives for continuation of military operation in the Niger Delta. Besides the president needs the approval of the National Assembly before deploying solders. The House of Representatives should draw lessons from what happened in Odi and Zaki Ibiam where the Nigerian military reduced the entire community to mere rubble. About 2000 people died. Many more were displaced. Thousands are yet to recover from the military attacks. “War never leaves a nation where it found it, the same goes for the individual” Edmund Burke. The Niger Delta crisis is equivalent to a war. Like in all wars, you only know how the crisis will start but definitely not the course it will assume or how it would end. Therefore there should be immediate ceasefire on both sides and let genuine dialogue begin.
I want to join voices with other Nigerians who have called for an end to hostilities. As a way forward towards making peace. I want the federal government to immediately set up a truth and reconciliation commission for the Niger Delta crisis. The purpose will be for the federal government, Niger Delta state governments, Local government councils, communities, traditional rulers, village heads, all the youth groups in the Niger Delta, and various stake holders in the oil industry to come out and tell Nigerians how much they have committed towards improving the development of these regions. Nigerians deserve to know what has really happened in terms of previous government development plans in the region. Nigerians deserve to know who is to be blamed. Am sure this crisis is not far from the environmental degradation suffered by this region which various stake holders claim to be addressing. Therefore the world wants to know the truth.
Nigeria has lost so much from this crisis. Many Nigerians are directly and indirectly affected by this crisis. This is a threat to our national security. This crisis has an impact on the international oil market prices. Whenever there is a crisis in the region, the price of crude oil goes up. Nigerians will then pay higher for their petroleum products since the federal government imports its refined petroleum products from abroad. The entire world is watching how Nigeria will solve this problem. So setting up a truth and reconciliation commission might be the answer. This is in addition to the amnesty which the federal government claims she has offered.
The terms of reference of the proposed truth and reconciliation commission should be to investigate the Niger Delta crisis, to find what happened to various royalties paid by the oil companies, to find out the causes of oil company-community conflicts, to find out the role of the oil companies in the crisis, to find out what happened to federal government agencies like the Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to find out means of achieving lasting peace, to find out what the Niger Delta ministry will do, to find out the militarization of the region and the emergence of small arms etc.
Am sure the Niger Delta crisis claims about 1000 fatalities/casualties yearly. If this crisis continues, there might be total break down in our oil production. Nigeria depends on this oil as her major source of foreign exchange. A total break down will almost be like a disaster to Nigeria. A truth and reconciliation commission should be able to reveal the truth about the whole crisis. As would be expected there has been the criminal elements in this crisis. The criminal elements of this crisis are also because the government has not addressed the crisis properly. But an honesty approach by the federal government to address the issues of the Niger Delta will tackle the criminal elements.
The financial costs of this crisis to both the federal government and Nigerians should run into billions of dollars. Nigerians and the Nigeria government can no longer afford to continue loosing this kind of money. This is made worst was by the present global financial meltdown. Already Nigerian oil production has fallen from a capacity of more than 2.7 million barrels per day to about 1.6 million(less than Angola)
This truth and reconciliation commission should revisit the issue of resource control. Am aware that this conflict cannot be resolved without revisiting the resource control issue. The Oputa panel was very useful to Nigerians. It helped to reveal what transpired in Nigeria. In South Africa truth and reconciliation was used to reveal the human rights abuses that happened during the apartheid era. It was also a means of healing the wounds of the past with a view to reconciling every one for future developments. In Northern Ireland, truth and reconciliation was used to know the truths in order to heal their violent past. In Chile, truth and reconciliation commission has also been used to establish the human right abuses with a view to reconciling Chileans.
A truth and reconciliation commission solely designed for Niger Delta crisis will be a necessary exercise to enable the people of Niger Delta, Nigerians and entire world to come to terms with the causes and solution to this crisis. It will form a morally accepted basis to advance the cause of reconciliation. It’s also needed at this point in time especially because a court in New York has decided to hear a case against Shell. Shell Oil Company has been accused of collaborating with Nigerian authorities to execute Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni people. The case has started in New York. Truth and reconciliation is needed to make peace in the Niger Delta.
Finally, if the federal government hesitates or declines to constitute this commission, the civil society groups, non governmental organizations (NGO’s), human right groups, etc should set up this commission and invite various stake holders. This is in consonance with the views of Professor Wole Soyinka when he outlined the powers of the civil society groups, and individuals at a public symposium in London on the state of the Nigerian Nation. This symposium was held on 29th May 2009, at the London Metropolitan University. We need peace and reconciliation. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
The Niger Delta Crisis: Nigeria Is Sitting On A Keg of Gunpowder
Some time during Abacha’s infamous, brutal, sadistic and despotic tenure in Nigeria, the combined Nigerian armed forces and the Police launched an assault on the Niger Delta, shortly after Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed. One of the British TV stations (I forget which one) showed a documentary of the assault. All I could say was that this documentary reminded me of the genocide in Rwanda. Whole villages were destroyed, dead bodies were lying around and the Nigerian soldiers were shown to be at their brutal best. People were displaced and there were clips of indescribable sufferings perpetrated by Nigerians on Nigerians. I was in tears most of the documentary and came to the conclusion that while we Nigerians tend to think we are a civilised and sophisticated people, we were no different from the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda in the way we regard human lives. I was thoroughly ashamed.
Then during Obasanjo’s quasi-democratic administration, the Odi massacre happened in 1999, unfortunately for him, when he had just assumed office. Now what we have is the Yar ‘Adua administration doing the same evil, if not worse. For the past 2 weeks or more, the Nigerian armed forces, through the Joint Task Force (JTF) finally decided to push through a military offensive, ostensibly aimed at curbing and breaking the Niger Delta militants, but in fact waging a genocidal war against other Nigerians. Only God knows how many innocent Niger Deltans have been killed within those two weeks and how many more will be killed, not to talk of displaced. And don’t forget the JTF had been fighting militants in the area for the past one year or so. And the militants are fighting back, so this is not just an operation to secure the area in order for the oil to start flowing unimpeded again, but a real internecine war going on.
At this juncture, I would like to say that like many other Nigerians, I strongly condemn this tactics of the Nigerian Government. Niger Deltans, militant or civilians, at the last count, are Nigerian citizens, and we should tell the Yar ‘Adua Government that its action is abominable and unforgivable. The military must fight within reasonable limits, and this is crux of the matter; the military are not fighting within reasonable limits. Innocent people are being killed and whole villages are being sacked because of the activities of a few people, and this tragic. If the Nigerian government thinks the Niger Delta crisis can be addressed with maximum military force, it may end up inviting bigger sophistication from the militantst. It is a shame on the Federal Government of Nigeria and a shame on the Nigerian people, most of who are insulated and far from the war-front.
Having said this, we now have to seek ways of ending this shame and genocide. However, we must recognise and admit that everybody on both sides of the fence will have to share the blame in this crisis.
I will concede that any responsible government in the world can not just sit passively by and watch while law and order breaks down in any part of its territory or tolerate any act which will see a disintegration of its sovereignty or territorial integrity. This is precisely what the Nigerian Government has a responsibility for as entrenched in the Constitution. It is the methodology that is being adopted that is the problem. Knowing our soldiers, who are quite, trigger happy and crude in their tactics, innocent lives will inevitably be lost. As Frederick Forsythe wrote in one of his novels, The Dogs of War, African soldiers tend to close their eyes when firing their guns, thereby just shooting indiscriminately at anything and everything in sight. Nigerian soldiers are not exempt from this trait.
From stories and pictures that have been seeping out of the war-zone (and this is a war-zone in the real sense of the word) the horrors of the JTF operation in the Niger Delta is explicitly one of a harrowing disaster, as we are moving towards a full-scale war, which reminds one of the Biafra War. It will further disenfranchise that section of Nigeria and is a positive (if I can put it that way) move towards disintegration of the country. How can we look at our brothers and sisters of the Niger Delta in the eye and say “You are Nigerians”?
However, we have been asking for it for decades. We have never really addressed the problem of the Niger Delta, and all past governments have been indifferent to the plight of this area of Nigeria which is the source of the wealth of Nigeria. And what with several government officials from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, saying the JTF are merely keeping the peace to one Hon. Balla Na’Allah quoted in the newspapers as saying that Nigeria should sacrifice 20 million Nigerians for the rest 120 million people, we are in a very unfortunate situation. That means the whole purpose is to preserve the source of the oil and who gives a damn about the Ijaws and other Niger Deltans? Let the oil flow to oil the Abuja machinery of corruption.
In my article, “The Niger Delta and Nigeria” published in August 2008, I had this to say “To my mind, we can no longer dodge the issues surrounding the Niger Delta, even as slow and indecisive to take positive action as the Yar’Adua Administration is; we can no longer evade the issues of Northern underdevelopment and it’s real underlying causes, and not shifting the blame to other parts of Nigeria; we can no longer shy away from the fact that Nigeria is not a united country, though we all seem to love being called Nigerians. One thing is certain; Nigerians want change, we want something different; we do not want a government which wastes, mismanages and steal the oil money and neglect where the oil money is coming from. We do not want that anymore. The truth is that for decades, it is the Northern elite, NOT the Northern common man and woman, who have been benefiting from the oil wealth of Nigeria, more than any other region in Nigeria, while the Niger Delta have been short-changed, abused and neglected for the same length of time. Even my own unproductive state of Oyo benefits more from the oil than the people of Bayelsa State, it would seem.
Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, especially with the Niger Delta and all the issues surrounding it. Things are degenerating very fast in this region and only sincere, focused, impartial and committed leaders will be able to defuse these problems, or else there will be no North, South, Niger Delta or indeed, Nigeria for anybody to call their own”.
This is as simplistic as I can put it. And the problem is not a simple one, neither is the solution. Our leaders have refused to take a holistic approach to the problems of the Niger Delta; hence things have degenerated to this point. It has always been like sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
So who are to blame? Everybody, I would say. And this is why the problem is not simple. I have already highlighted partially some of the culpability of our leaders, past and present. At present, there are several delegations representing the Niger Delta (and non-Niger Deltans too) trying to appeal to several Western countries (most of who incidentally have an interest in that region) to put pressure on the Federal Government of Nigeria to put a stop to the assaults. This is a good move, but I do not see it yielding much. Why did they leave it so late?
The blames should rest on the following, apart from the Federal Government of Nigeria, which carries the major proportion of the blame: The leaders – Governors and governments of the Niger Delta States, the militants, the people itself, the oil companies and the rest of Nigeria.
Perhaps very poignant are the roles of the Niger Delta leaders – governors, ministers that hail from the area, their traditional chiefs, civil servants, etc. I don’t need to dwell too long on this, but look at the crop of governors that have been ruling this area for decades now. Look at Ibori; look at Odili; look at Alamieyeseigha, look even at Agagu of Ondo State. What have these leaders done for their states except steal their money during their respective eight years in power? They also routinely used the militants to further their political interests and then discard them after the elections. Ibori was the chief hostage negotiator during Obasanjo’s regime; collecting money from the Federal Government, the oil companies and the militants all at the same time, and that excludes dipping his dirty hands in the state’s treasury. Ibori it was, who was recently fingered in ex-EFCC chief, Nuhu Ribadu’s interview, as trying to bribe him (Ribadu) with $15 million dollars (can you imagine?) to stop investigating him for corruption. And it is the same ex-convict Ibori now walking around free in Abuja, a power behind the throne of President Yar ‘Adua, spreading his tentacles all over the Federal Government apparatus. It is reported that he’s just bought a new private jet. And he is a leader in the Niger Delta.
And Peter Odili? The man is now afraid to enter Port Harcourt, a city he ruled and lived in for eight years, and that he virtually destroyed, while using militants to carry out his evil deeds to stay in power. He was said to have had to refund over 200 billion Naira after his failed Presidential bid in 2006, when Ribadu put his file on Obasanjo’s desk and told Obasanjo that over his dead body will he (Ribadu) let Odili become Nigeria’s next president. All his power projects in Rivers State are nothing more than scams to milk the state dry to finance his Presidential ambitions. He even has a court injunction not to arrest or molest him. So he is still under immunity. And he still is a leader of the Niger Delta today.
The Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) is another avenue that had been used to milk the money meant for development of the area. The place is a bedrock of corruption, but many people are afraid to point this out for fear of offending some sensibilities. Over the years, billions of Naira has gone into that organisation, with very little shown for it. A top official of the NDDC was even exposed recently when he burnt millions of naira to make “juju” to help him stay in his position. And he was a Niger Delta leader.
Is Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan not from the Niger Delta? I would like to really know what effect his position has had to alleviate the problems of his area. Rumour has it that he has become something of a lame duck, being prevented from even having regular access to his boss, the President, a situation similar to when General Oladipo Diya was second in command to Abacha and had to get permissions from a lowly Major to see his boss.
Ex-Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha, a near illiterate, was feted and celebrated when he was released from prison for his corrupt excesses as a governor who disgraced Nigeria in Britain with his antics of jumping bail disguised as a woman to return to Nigeria. Today, he is still being widely regarded as the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and calls the shots in Bayelsa State politics.
And now, what are Timipre Silva, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Rotimi Amaechi and cohorts doing for their people?
And the traditional rulers who take money from the oil companies (and even from the Federal and state governments) meant for community development projects but instead either pocket the whole lot or share it with the militants or their own family members?
The militants have spoilt their own case by their activities. It is no rumour that kidnapping by the militants has become a criminal pastime rather than political pressure by them. They use kidnapping to make money. Ex-MEND leader, Asari Dokubo is now a billionaire. He was used by many Niger Delta Governors to perpetuate themselves in power and then sold down the river to Obasanjo. He should count himself very lucky to be alive today to enjoy his wealth.
It is also known that foreign oil company workers regularly collude with the militants to stage fake kidnappings so that their companies will pay the ransom and then they (the oil workers) get a cut from the ransom. The same scenarios apply to some unscrupulous politicians and businessmen in the area. And the militants are only too willing to do this.
Therefore whatever goodwill and sympathy that the militants might be accorded by both the international community and their fellow Nigerians have gone. Some hostages have been killed inadvertently and this has definitely not endeared them to anybody. A large proportion of their activities are now clearly criminal and not political.
The Niger Deltans, militants or no militants, are not opposed to sharing the oil with other Nigerians; all they are asking for is that they are compensated for the destruction of their lands and rivers adequately, in order that they will not become displaced or extinct. All they asking are that the future of their children is guaranteed under a Nigeria that appreciates their almost 100 percent contributions to its wealth. I do not subscribe to the popular call these days that Nigeria is stealing from the Niger Delta. Niger Deltans, as far as I know are still Nigerian citizens, holding Nigerian passports. The Vice –President of Nigeria is a Niger Deltan, and there are enough Niger Deltans in government to ensure that this region is well represented nationally. They also have their leaders. What they are not getting is fairness and equality in the distribution of Nigeria’s wealth or dividends of democracy, as we like to call it.
All Nigerians have enjoyed the benefits of Niger Delta oil for decades in one way or the other, be it through education, scholarships, good roads in their areas, jobs, healthcare, electricity, etc. The Niger Delta is our problem and we all have to share the blame for what is happening there now, much as we must also find a solution to it.
The Government of Nigeria is not the only side culpable; we all are, though as the government, they must be held ultimately responsible. However, it is apparent that they cannot do it alone. Other ways, bloodless ways, must be sought to resolve the problem, and this calls for cool heads, intelligent discussions and realistic and positive actions instead of a war that will further erode the thin unity of the country or push us further towards the precipice of disintegration.
I remember last year that there was talk of setting up a Government peace committee or something like that, to be headed by Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Department of Political Affairs (until the protest which forced the Government to reconsider his choice to head the committee)? What happened to this committee? Why did the Federal Government back out of it?
What are the alternatives? The international community, especially those who have an interest in Nigeria’s oil, must intervene to ensure peace and justice returns to the area. However, I am not overly optimistic about international (US and UK especially) intervention because of their vested interests in Nigeria’s oil.
The Federal Government must halt its incursion into the area and call for a sincere peace talk that will REALLY address the problems in this area. The militants, having really lost any integrity of purpose, must be ready to discuss with the government. The oil companies must also play their parts in this. The delicate situation in the Niger Delta must not be allowed to blow into a full scale civil war. It will affect all Nigerians and the international community too.
And the Niger Delta leaders must really be honest and sincere with their people and with the rest of Nigeria in deciding how they want to bring development and progress to their people. As at last count, I do not see them doing anything to bring succour to their people. I am not from the Niger Delta, but as fellow Nigerians, they are my people, and I am sure, I and many other Nigerians share their pains and sufferings.
We must bring an immediate peaceful end to the current situation. I do not subscribe to Nigerians killing Nigerians in the name of oil or under the guise of territorial integrity or keeping law and order.
When are we going to start speaking the home truth?
Then during Obasanjo’s quasi-democratic administration, the Odi massacre happened in 1999, unfortunately for him, when he had just assumed office. Now what we have is the Yar ‘Adua administration doing the same evil, if not worse. For the past 2 weeks or more, the Nigerian armed forces, through the Joint Task Force (JTF) finally decided to push through a military offensive, ostensibly aimed at curbing and breaking the Niger Delta militants, but in fact waging a genocidal war against other Nigerians. Only God knows how many innocent Niger Deltans have been killed within those two weeks and how many more will be killed, not to talk of displaced. And don’t forget the JTF had been fighting militants in the area for the past one year or so. And the militants are fighting back, so this is not just an operation to secure the area in order for the oil to start flowing unimpeded again, but a real internecine war going on.
At this juncture, I would like to say that like many other Nigerians, I strongly condemn this tactics of the Nigerian Government. Niger Deltans, militant or civilians, at the last count, are Nigerian citizens, and we should tell the Yar ‘Adua Government that its action is abominable and unforgivable. The military must fight within reasonable limits, and this is crux of the matter; the military are not fighting within reasonable limits. Innocent people are being killed and whole villages are being sacked because of the activities of a few people, and this tragic. If the Nigerian government thinks the Niger Delta crisis can be addressed with maximum military force, it may end up inviting bigger sophistication from the militantst. It is a shame on the Federal Government of Nigeria and a shame on the Nigerian people, most of who are insulated and far from the war-front.
Having said this, we now have to seek ways of ending this shame and genocide. However, we must recognise and admit that everybody on both sides of the fence will have to share the blame in this crisis.
I will concede that any responsible government in the world can not just sit passively by and watch while law and order breaks down in any part of its territory or tolerate any act which will see a disintegration of its sovereignty or territorial integrity. This is precisely what the Nigerian Government has a responsibility for as entrenched in the Constitution. It is the methodology that is being adopted that is the problem. Knowing our soldiers, who are quite, trigger happy and crude in their tactics, innocent lives will inevitably be lost. As Frederick Forsythe wrote in one of his novels, The Dogs of War, African soldiers tend to close their eyes when firing their guns, thereby just shooting indiscriminately at anything and everything in sight. Nigerian soldiers are not exempt from this trait.
From stories and pictures that have been seeping out of the war-zone (and this is a war-zone in the real sense of the word) the horrors of the JTF operation in the Niger Delta is explicitly one of a harrowing disaster, as we are moving towards a full-scale war, which reminds one of the Biafra War. It will further disenfranchise that section of Nigeria and is a positive (if I can put it that way) move towards disintegration of the country. How can we look at our brothers and sisters of the Niger Delta in the eye and say “You are Nigerians”?
However, we have been asking for it for decades. We have never really addressed the problem of the Niger Delta, and all past governments have been indifferent to the plight of this area of Nigeria which is the source of the wealth of Nigeria. And what with several government officials from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, saying the JTF are merely keeping the peace to one Hon. Balla Na’Allah quoted in the newspapers as saying that Nigeria should sacrifice 20 million Nigerians for the rest 120 million people, we are in a very unfortunate situation. That means the whole purpose is to preserve the source of the oil and who gives a damn about the Ijaws and other Niger Deltans? Let the oil flow to oil the Abuja machinery of corruption.
In my article, “The Niger Delta and Nigeria” published in August 2008, I had this to say “To my mind, we can no longer dodge the issues surrounding the Niger Delta, even as slow and indecisive to take positive action as the Yar’Adua Administration is; we can no longer evade the issues of Northern underdevelopment and it’s real underlying causes, and not shifting the blame to other parts of Nigeria; we can no longer shy away from the fact that Nigeria is not a united country, though we all seem to love being called Nigerians. One thing is certain; Nigerians want change, we want something different; we do not want a government which wastes, mismanages and steal the oil money and neglect where the oil money is coming from. We do not want that anymore. The truth is that for decades, it is the Northern elite, NOT the Northern common man and woman, who have been benefiting from the oil wealth of Nigeria, more than any other region in Nigeria, while the Niger Delta have been short-changed, abused and neglected for the same length of time. Even my own unproductive state of Oyo benefits more from the oil than the people of Bayelsa State, it would seem.
Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, especially with the Niger Delta and all the issues surrounding it. Things are degenerating very fast in this region and only sincere, focused, impartial and committed leaders will be able to defuse these problems, or else there will be no North, South, Niger Delta or indeed, Nigeria for anybody to call their own”.
This is as simplistic as I can put it. And the problem is not a simple one, neither is the solution. Our leaders have refused to take a holistic approach to the problems of the Niger Delta; hence things have degenerated to this point. It has always been like sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
So who are to blame? Everybody, I would say. And this is why the problem is not simple. I have already highlighted partially some of the culpability of our leaders, past and present. At present, there are several delegations representing the Niger Delta (and non-Niger Deltans too) trying to appeal to several Western countries (most of who incidentally have an interest in that region) to put pressure on the Federal Government of Nigeria to put a stop to the assaults. This is a good move, but I do not see it yielding much. Why did they leave it so late?
The blames should rest on the following, apart from the Federal Government of Nigeria, which carries the major proportion of the blame: The leaders – Governors and governments of the Niger Delta States, the militants, the people itself, the oil companies and the rest of Nigeria.
Perhaps very poignant are the roles of the Niger Delta leaders – governors, ministers that hail from the area, their traditional chiefs, civil servants, etc. I don’t need to dwell too long on this, but look at the crop of governors that have been ruling this area for decades now. Look at Ibori; look at Odili; look at Alamieyeseigha, look even at Agagu of Ondo State. What have these leaders done for their states except steal their money during their respective eight years in power? They also routinely used the militants to further their political interests and then discard them after the elections. Ibori was the chief hostage negotiator during Obasanjo’s regime; collecting money from the Federal Government, the oil companies and the militants all at the same time, and that excludes dipping his dirty hands in the state’s treasury. Ibori it was, who was recently fingered in ex-EFCC chief, Nuhu Ribadu’s interview, as trying to bribe him (Ribadu) with $15 million dollars (can you imagine?) to stop investigating him for corruption. And it is the same ex-convict Ibori now walking around free in Abuja, a power behind the throne of President Yar ‘Adua, spreading his tentacles all over the Federal Government apparatus. It is reported that he’s just bought a new private jet. And he is a leader in the Niger Delta.
And Peter Odili? The man is now afraid to enter Port Harcourt, a city he ruled and lived in for eight years, and that he virtually destroyed, while using militants to carry out his evil deeds to stay in power. He was said to have had to refund over 200 billion Naira after his failed Presidential bid in 2006, when Ribadu put his file on Obasanjo’s desk and told Obasanjo that over his dead body will he (Ribadu) let Odili become Nigeria’s next president. All his power projects in Rivers State are nothing more than scams to milk the state dry to finance his Presidential ambitions. He even has a court injunction not to arrest or molest him. So he is still under immunity. And he still is a leader of the Niger Delta today.
The Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) is another avenue that had been used to milk the money meant for development of the area. The place is a bedrock of corruption, but many people are afraid to point this out for fear of offending some sensibilities. Over the years, billions of Naira has gone into that organisation, with very little shown for it. A top official of the NDDC was even exposed recently when he burnt millions of naira to make “juju” to help him stay in his position. And he was a Niger Delta leader.
Is Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan not from the Niger Delta? I would like to really know what effect his position has had to alleviate the problems of his area. Rumour has it that he has become something of a lame duck, being prevented from even having regular access to his boss, the President, a situation similar to when General Oladipo Diya was second in command to Abacha and had to get permissions from a lowly Major to see his boss.
Ex-Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha, a near illiterate, was feted and celebrated when he was released from prison for his corrupt excesses as a governor who disgraced Nigeria in Britain with his antics of jumping bail disguised as a woman to return to Nigeria. Today, he is still being widely regarded as the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and calls the shots in Bayelsa State politics.
And now, what are Timipre Silva, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Rotimi Amaechi and cohorts doing for their people?
And the traditional rulers who take money from the oil companies (and even from the Federal and state governments) meant for community development projects but instead either pocket the whole lot or share it with the militants or their own family members?
The militants have spoilt their own case by their activities. It is no rumour that kidnapping by the militants has become a criminal pastime rather than political pressure by them. They use kidnapping to make money. Ex-MEND leader, Asari Dokubo is now a billionaire. He was used by many Niger Delta Governors to perpetuate themselves in power and then sold down the river to Obasanjo. He should count himself very lucky to be alive today to enjoy his wealth.
It is also known that foreign oil company workers regularly collude with the militants to stage fake kidnappings so that their companies will pay the ransom and then they (the oil workers) get a cut from the ransom. The same scenarios apply to some unscrupulous politicians and businessmen in the area. And the militants are only too willing to do this.
Therefore whatever goodwill and sympathy that the militants might be accorded by both the international community and their fellow Nigerians have gone. Some hostages have been killed inadvertently and this has definitely not endeared them to anybody. A large proportion of their activities are now clearly criminal and not political.
The Niger Deltans, militants or no militants, are not opposed to sharing the oil with other Nigerians; all they are asking for is that they are compensated for the destruction of their lands and rivers adequately, in order that they will not become displaced or extinct. All they asking are that the future of their children is guaranteed under a Nigeria that appreciates their almost 100 percent contributions to its wealth. I do not subscribe to the popular call these days that Nigeria is stealing from the Niger Delta. Niger Deltans, as far as I know are still Nigerian citizens, holding Nigerian passports. The Vice –President of Nigeria is a Niger Deltan, and there are enough Niger Deltans in government to ensure that this region is well represented nationally. They also have their leaders. What they are not getting is fairness and equality in the distribution of Nigeria’s wealth or dividends of democracy, as we like to call it.
All Nigerians have enjoyed the benefits of Niger Delta oil for decades in one way or the other, be it through education, scholarships, good roads in their areas, jobs, healthcare, electricity, etc. The Niger Delta is our problem and we all have to share the blame for what is happening there now, much as we must also find a solution to it.
The Government of Nigeria is not the only side culpable; we all are, though as the government, they must be held ultimately responsible. However, it is apparent that they cannot do it alone. Other ways, bloodless ways, must be sought to resolve the problem, and this calls for cool heads, intelligent discussions and realistic and positive actions instead of a war that will further erode the thin unity of the country or push us further towards the precipice of disintegration.
I remember last year that there was talk of setting up a Government peace committee or something like that, to be headed by Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Department of Political Affairs (until the protest which forced the Government to reconsider his choice to head the committee)? What happened to this committee? Why did the Federal Government back out of it?
What are the alternatives? The international community, especially those who have an interest in Nigeria’s oil, must intervene to ensure peace and justice returns to the area. However, I am not overly optimistic about international (US and UK especially) intervention because of their vested interests in Nigeria’s oil.
The Federal Government must halt its incursion into the area and call for a sincere peace talk that will REALLY address the problems in this area. The militants, having really lost any integrity of purpose, must be ready to discuss with the government. The oil companies must also play their parts in this. The delicate situation in the Niger Delta must not be allowed to blow into a full scale civil war. It will affect all Nigerians and the international community too.
And the Niger Delta leaders must really be honest and sincere with their people and with the rest of Nigeria in deciding how they want to bring development and progress to their people. As at last count, I do not see them doing anything to bring succour to their people. I am not from the Niger Delta, but as fellow Nigerians, they are my people, and I am sure, I and many other Nigerians share their pains and sufferings.
We must bring an immediate peaceful end to the current situation. I do not subscribe to Nigerians killing Nigerians in the name of oil or under the guise of territorial integrity or keeping law and order.
When are we going to start speaking the home truth?
Sunday, 24 May 2009
The British MPs Expenses Scandal and The Nigerian Experience
For about three weeks now, the British Media have been a having a field day with the inconvenience and embarrassment of British Members of Parliament and the Government in the scandal of the fiddling of expenses by various elected members of the British government.
Many MPs (as we call them) have virtually fallen on their own swords. Cabinet Officers have been forced to resign; some MPs are standing down at the next election (whenever that is called); the Prime Minister himself was implicated and embarrassed (what with all his other problems); some MPs have also been forced to make public apologies to their constituents, and above all, almost all the politicians implicated have all returned the monies they illegally claimed. And to cap it all, history was made when the Speaker of the House of Commons was forced to resign for his role in the expenses scandal, the first Speaker in 300 years of British democracy to be forced to do so. The Speaker himself was not implicated in any fiddling of expenses, but somebody has to be held responsible for the mess, so he had to go.
I do not need to regale you with the sordid details (at least, in the eyes of the British public, who were very much aghast and scandalised at the shenanigans going on with their elected officials). Another consideration is that the expenses scandal cut across party boundaries, with both the ruling Labour and opposition Conservative politicians implicated. The continued revelations about excessive expenses claims are embarrassing British parliament members from all parties. Some lawmakers have paid back money to public funds; others face disciplinary action and possible prosecution. Opposition leader David Cameron, of the Conservative Party, forced eight of his senior parliament members to get out their checkbooks and repay claims they had made for furniture and maintenance on their second homes, warning them they would lose their jobs otherwise.
In Britain, it is likely that you will not hear that horrible word “corruption” being bandied about. The alternative word, and apparently, a word which is more tolerable, is “sleaze”. In other words, what is “corruption” in Nigeria (and indeed, other countries) is referred to as sleaze in the United Kingdom. Yet we all know that whether we call it sleaze, fiddling, or whatever, corruption is corruption in any form. It has even been suggested that (and we know this to be true) what goes on in the European Parliament makes what goes on in the British Parliament make our British MPs look like saints.
Corruption exists in all societies and in all areas of human endeavour and activity; there is no doubt about that. However, what has made Western countries to be less prone to the negative and debilitating effects of corruption is their ability to manage corruption to a level which does not affect their ability to perform their functions as democratic and good governments, such as providing for their people and ensuring good governance generally. They have honed this virtue to an art form. They take care of their people while reducing corruption to a manageable level. Above all, they have ensured that there is accountability, rule of law, fairness, justice and security for their people. This is one of the reasons why people from corruption-ridden Third World countries like Nigeria are flooding to these Western countries.
I have in the past written an article about managing corruption (Corruption Management – An Alternative Proactive Approach. http://www.championsfornigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=268&Itemid=35 ) “Corruption is a complex and adaptive phenomenon that affects many aspects of society and has plagued societies from the beginning of time. It is difficult to define, understand, and control. Because of the complexities associated with corruption and the differing perceptions individuals have of the phenomenon; it is not easy to define a realistic anticorruption goal.
• Is it realistic to strive for the total elimination of corruption in any society?
• Can a corruption-free society actually exist?
Although a number of societies may have reduced corruption to relatively low levels, none has created a utopian society where corruption does not exist.
Today, corruption in its various forms and manifestations is prevalent in all societies, even the most advanced Western democracies. Transparency International's Annual Corruption Perception Index does not reveal any country receiving a "perfect 10" or "zero corruption" in the annual country corruption environment rankings.
• Rather than creating unrealistic public expectations suggesting that corruption can be eliminated, would it not be preferable to educate the public to the reality that corruption cannot be eliminated but can be effectively managed?”
Whatever the case, this article is not to lampoon the MPs of Britain or to gloat that the British Society is corrupt too. That is not my concern, although, as a resident of the UK who pays his taxes, it is my money that these MPs are claiming illegally. However, I can also verify that whether you pay taxes or not, we can physically see that these politicians do perform their functions and what is expected of them creditably. They are responsible to their people and constituents who elected them. That is hard to say for our elected officials in Nigeria who hardly represent their people. Most of them bought or rigged their way into positions in the first place anyway, so how do you expect them to have any sense of responsibility to their constituents.
As an aside, in the late 80s, massive corruption was unearthed in the Pentagon of the United States, It was discovered that the pentagon was paying highly inflated prices for materials they purchased locally. In one instance, the Pentagon was purchasing simple hammers, which each cost just about a dollar for close to $200. Somebody or some officials were getting kickbacks from the inflated prices from the suppliers of these equipments. Heads rolled, as would be expected and everybody implicated in the fraud, no matter how highly placed, were disciplined accordingly.
Herein lies the contradiction with the Nigerian situation. A friend of mine, a politician in Nigeria wrote to me, gloating that “Do you see now, Akin? It is not only in Nigeria that corruption exists”. I was saddened, first because everybody in the world knows what my friend is saying, but he was trying to reinvent the wheel. Secondly, he is a typical Nigerian politician who can never accept blame, but instead has that mindset of “Well, others are doing it also, it’s not only me”. Thirdly, they are never contrite, our political leaders. They are immune to change or blame. They find it impossible to acknowledge that what they are doing is tantamount to genocide.
One contradiction to the British scandal is that when the British politicians were exposed, they immediately owned up and started refunding the money they falsely claimed. Some even resigned. Some may even face prosecution for abuse of privileges. In Nigeria, this has never happened, nor will ever happen.
Another contradiction is the amount of money involved. In some cases with the British MPs, relatively small amount of expenses caused their embarrassment or downfall. In Nigeria, massive, unbelievable amounts of money are stolen or misappropriated, and nobody is held accountable. Also remember, that these British MPs are not accused of dipping their hands in the till nor have they been implicated in massive embezzlement or misappropriation of funds meant for the development of their constituencies, but just fiddling expenses. There is a difference. At least they are submitting receipts – genuine receipts – for what they claimed; the issue is that they were claiming for what they should not have claimed for in the first place or fiddling with their expenses, that is inflating their expenses claims. In our country, receipts rarely exist, and if they do, they are false. Anyway, no self-respecting Nigerian government official will give a receipt for a bribe he or she receives, would they? And they don’t take cheques for bribes. It is cash in “Ghana must go” bags.
Another issue is that of accountability. There is always an audit trail, as opposed to Nigeria where everything is not on paper and where such are, often disappear into thin air. Also in our dear country, everybody involved, including the Government itself, will cover up. Please note that I did not say “try to cover up”; what the Government does is ignore the calls of the public to be open, and arrogantly, actively, cover up. And you know what, paradoxically; the Nigerian public also has blame in this.
As Max Siollun wrote in Nigeria Today Online (18th May 2009), “Nigeria has bred something far more sinister and sophisticated than petty graft and bribery. Corruption is not just an offshoot of collapsed social and governmental institutions, nor is it the result of a hostile economic environment.
The roots go much deeper and are symptomatic of the residual breakdown of Nigerian societal values and morality. It is the result of Nigerians' failure to distinguish right from wrong, and of a nationwide refusal to condemn dishonesty. Societal values have broken down so much that Nigerians are often blind to situations where they are the victims of corruption. After former Governors Alamieyeseigha, Dariye and Ibori were arrested on charges of massive corruption, they were cheered in their communities by jubilant crowds who feted them as returning heroes. This despite the fact that they were accused of stealing from the same people who cheered them. It would be odd to see robbery victims lining the streets to cheer the robbers that stole from them. Nigerians resist attempts to inhibit the corrupt acquisition of wealth. Government initiatives to tackle it are resisted as unwelcome impediments. Nigerians disapproved of the anti-corruption campaign of Major-General Buhari. Such disapproval was not explicit, but was subtly presented as principled critiques of his "high handed" attitude to corruption. Nigerians celebrated when Buhari was overthrown and replaced by Babangida. The anti-corruption efforts of the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu were also derided for being "selective". The truth is that Nigerians were unhappy that they were being asked to acquire wealth honestly”.
Therefore, there really are no basis for comparison of this unique British scandal with what goes on in Nigeria on a daily basis, and openly, unchecked and in some cases, unreported. How many of us actually know what is being stolen from us? If not for occasional breaks like the Halliburton, Siemens, Wilbros, Power Projects, NNPC, etc probes, the Nigerian public are blissfully unaware of, or unconcerned about how much their leaders are stealing. The percentage of us who really know and are concerned cannot be more than 3 percent. And that is why we have situations like what Max Siollun described above, despite the majority of Nigerians being victims of corruption.
This again shows the contradiction with the British case. I cannot imagine such happening in the British society. And it is not about the public knowing their rights. It is about the British public’s indignation that their elected leaders cannot be trusted not to put a few quid in their pockets while conducting the affairs of state. Again, please note that these claims were not actual money being embezzled, but paying for things they should normally be paying for out of their own pockets, after their high salaries and legitimate expenses, for which they are entitled.
In our Nigerian situation, officials (executive or legislative, civil servants, etc) are actively stealing, or accepting massive bribes. And there are no audit trails. Governors boldly put state allocations in personal accounts, inflate contracts, demand for and accept kickbacks on contracts, and perpetrate all other forms of corruption. In short, these cliques of irresponsible leaders virtually get away with murder. These cannot happen in Britain, without being found out almost immediately. Hence the difference between the two countries; and therefore the lack of any basis for jubilation in the knowledge of British MPs suffering some inconvenience and embarrassment.
While the corrupt officials in the Western world are very few and do away with an infinitesimal fraction of the public fund, the corrupt officials in a country like Nigeria are the majority and more often than not, they embezzle or misappropriate the whole fund at their disposal.
The only instance of politician forced to resign in Nigeria that I can remember is that of former hairdresser and Speaker, Patricia Etteh, who was forced to fall on her sword after a protracted and bitter public outcry. On 30 October 2007, following weeks of pressure, Etteh resigned her position as Speaker. Her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, also resigned. Ministers, commissioners, Senators or other legislators and other officials rarely resign after being implicated in wrongdoings in Nigeria. They try to weather the storm out and scurry about lobbying to stay in their posts.
In the meantime, reforms in the British Parliament means that it will be a long time before politicians can abuse the system again, or find loopholes to do so. In Nigeria, the loopholes are inbuilt into the system by us, and this is not just for expenses claim.
On the news this morning (Friday, 22 May 2009) is a report that tension is so high at Westminster, there’s fear of suicide. (And that is after apologies, promises of refunds, resignations and suspensions) Do any of our Nigerian politicians feel any remorse for the state the country is in or for the suffering masses? Do the British experience, regret and remorse mean anything to them? No doubt their only regret would be getting caught. As I write another batch are on the sidelines waiting to get to the National Assembly to continue where others left off. Yes, corruption will always exist and I make no excuses for MP's who were told "yes you can claim for this and that" when they started, but we all know this entire fiddle in the British Parliament does not even amount to what ONE Nigerian politician puts away with one contract.
All these perhaps explain why Nigerians must not gloat at the embarrassment of the British politicians. There are no bases for it.
Many MPs (as we call them) have virtually fallen on their own swords. Cabinet Officers have been forced to resign; some MPs are standing down at the next election (whenever that is called); the Prime Minister himself was implicated and embarrassed (what with all his other problems); some MPs have also been forced to make public apologies to their constituents, and above all, almost all the politicians implicated have all returned the monies they illegally claimed. And to cap it all, history was made when the Speaker of the House of Commons was forced to resign for his role in the expenses scandal, the first Speaker in 300 years of British democracy to be forced to do so. The Speaker himself was not implicated in any fiddling of expenses, but somebody has to be held responsible for the mess, so he had to go.
I do not need to regale you with the sordid details (at least, in the eyes of the British public, who were very much aghast and scandalised at the shenanigans going on with their elected officials). Another consideration is that the expenses scandal cut across party boundaries, with both the ruling Labour and opposition Conservative politicians implicated. The continued revelations about excessive expenses claims are embarrassing British parliament members from all parties. Some lawmakers have paid back money to public funds; others face disciplinary action and possible prosecution. Opposition leader David Cameron, of the Conservative Party, forced eight of his senior parliament members to get out their checkbooks and repay claims they had made for furniture and maintenance on their second homes, warning them they would lose their jobs otherwise.
In Britain, it is likely that you will not hear that horrible word “corruption” being bandied about. The alternative word, and apparently, a word which is more tolerable, is “sleaze”. In other words, what is “corruption” in Nigeria (and indeed, other countries) is referred to as sleaze in the United Kingdom. Yet we all know that whether we call it sleaze, fiddling, or whatever, corruption is corruption in any form. It has even been suggested that (and we know this to be true) what goes on in the European Parliament makes what goes on in the British Parliament make our British MPs look like saints.
Corruption exists in all societies and in all areas of human endeavour and activity; there is no doubt about that. However, what has made Western countries to be less prone to the negative and debilitating effects of corruption is their ability to manage corruption to a level which does not affect their ability to perform their functions as democratic and good governments, such as providing for their people and ensuring good governance generally. They have honed this virtue to an art form. They take care of their people while reducing corruption to a manageable level. Above all, they have ensured that there is accountability, rule of law, fairness, justice and security for their people. This is one of the reasons why people from corruption-ridden Third World countries like Nigeria are flooding to these Western countries.
I have in the past written an article about managing corruption (Corruption Management – An Alternative Proactive Approach. http://www.championsfornigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=268&Itemid=35 ) “Corruption is a complex and adaptive phenomenon that affects many aspects of society and has plagued societies from the beginning of time. It is difficult to define, understand, and control. Because of the complexities associated with corruption and the differing perceptions individuals have of the phenomenon; it is not easy to define a realistic anticorruption goal.
• Is it realistic to strive for the total elimination of corruption in any society?
• Can a corruption-free society actually exist?
Although a number of societies may have reduced corruption to relatively low levels, none has created a utopian society where corruption does not exist.
Today, corruption in its various forms and manifestations is prevalent in all societies, even the most advanced Western democracies. Transparency International's Annual Corruption Perception Index does not reveal any country receiving a "perfect 10" or "zero corruption" in the annual country corruption environment rankings.
• Rather than creating unrealistic public expectations suggesting that corruption can be eliminated, would it not be preferable to educate the public to the reality that corruption cannot be eliminated but can be effectively managed?”
Whatever the case, this article is not to lampoon the MPs of Britain or to gloat that the British Society is corrupt too. That is not my concern, although, as a resident of the UK who pays his taxes, it is my money that these MPs are claiming illegally. However, I can also verify that whether you pay taxes or not, we can physically see that these politicians do perform their functions and what is expected of them creditably. They are responsible to their people and constituents who elected them. That is hard to say for our elected officials in Nigeria who hardly represent their people. Most of them bought or rigged their way into positions in the first place anyway, so how do you expect them to have any sense of responsibility to their constituents.
As an aside, in the late 80s, massive corruption was unearthed in the Pentagon of the United States, It was discovered that the pentagon was paying highly inflated prices for materials they purchased locally. In one instance, the Pentagon was purchasing simple hammers, which each cost just about a dollar for close to $200. Somebody or some officials were getting kickbacks from the inflated prices from the suppliers of these equipments. Heads rolled, as would be expected and everybody implicated in the fraud, no matter how highly placed, were disciplined accordingly.
Herein lies the contradiction with the Nigerian situation. A friend of mine, a politician in Nigeria wrote to me, gloating that “Do you see now, Akin? It is not only in Nigeria that corruption exists”. I was saddened, first because everybody in the world knows what my friend is saying, but he was trying to reinvent the wheel. Secondly, he is a typical Nigerian politician who can never accept blame, but instead has that mindset of “Well, others are doing it also, it’s not only me”. Thirdly, they are never contrite, our political leaders. They are immune to change or blame. They find it impossible to acknowledge that what they are doing is tantamount to genocide.
One contradiction to the British scandal is that when the British politicians were exposed, they immediately owned up and started refunding the money they falsely claimed. Some even resigned. Some may even face prosecution for abuse of privileges. In Nigeria, this has never happened, nor will ever happen.
Another contradiction is the amount of money involved. In some cases with the British MPs, relatively small amount of expenses caused their embarrassment or downfall. In Nigeria, massive, unbelievable amounts of money are stolen or misappropriated, and nobody is held accountable. Also remember, that these British MPs are not accused of dipping their hands in the till nor have they been implicated in massive embezzlement or misappropriation of funds meant for the development of their constituencies, but just fiddling expenses. There is a difference. At least they are submitting receipts – genuine receipts – for what they claimed; the issue is that they were claiming for what they should not have claimed for in the first place or fiddling with their expenses, that is inflating their expenses claims. In our country, receipts rarely exist, and if they do, they are false. Anyway, no self-respecting Nigerian government official will give a receipt for a bribe he or she receives, would they? And they don’t take cheques for bribes. It is cash in “Ghana must go” bags.
Another issue is that of accountability. There is always an audit trail, as opposed to Nigeria where everything is not on paper and where such are, often disappear into thin air. Also in our dear country, everybody involved, including the Government itself, will cover up. Please note that I did not say “try to cover up”; what the Government does is ignore the calls of the public to be open, and arrogantly, actively, cover up. And you know what, paradoxically; the Nigerian public also has blame in this.
As Max Siollun wrote in Nigeria Today Online (18th May 2009), “Nigeria has bred something far more sinister and sophisticated than petty graft and bribery. Corruption is not just an offshoot of collapsed social and governmental institutions, nor is it the result of a hostile economic environment.
The roots go much deeper and are symptomatic of the residual breakdown of Nigerian societal values and morality. It is the result of Nigerians' failure to distinguish right from wrong, and of a nationwide refusal to condemn dishonesty. Societal values have broken down so much that Nigerians are often blind to situations where they are the victims of corruption. After former Governors Alamieyeseigha, Dariye and Ibori were arrested on charges of massive corruption, they were cheered in their communities by jubilant crowds who feted them as returning heroes. This despite the fact that they were accused of stealing from the same people who cheered them. It would be odd to see robbery victims lining the streets to cheer the robbers that stole from them. Nigerians resist attempts to inhibit the corrupt acquisition of wealth. Government initiatives to tackle it are resisted as unwelcome impediments. Nigerians disapproved of the anti-corruption campaign of Major-General Buhari. Such disapproval was not explicit, but was subtly presented as principled critiques of his "high handed" attitude to corruption. Nigerians celebrated when Buhari was overthrown and replaced by Babangida. The anti-corruption efforts of the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu were also derided for being "selective". The truth is that Nigerians were unhappy that they were being asked to acquire wealth honestly”.
Therefore, there really are no basis for comparison of this unique British scandal with what goes on in Nigeria on a daily basis, and openly, unchecked and in some cases, unreported. How many of us actually know what is being stolen from us? If not for occasional breaks like the Halliburton, Siemens, Wilbros, Power Projects, NNPC, etc probes, the Nigerian public are blissfully unaware of, or unconcerned about how much their leaders are stealing. The percentage of us who really know and are concerned cannot be more than 3 percent. And that is why we have situations like what Max Siollun described above, despite the majority of Nigerians being victims of corruption.
This again shows the contradiction with the British case. I cannot imagine such happening in the British society. And it is not about the public knowing their rights. It is about the British public’s indignation that their elected leaders cannot be trusted not to put a few quid in their pockets while conducting the affairs of state. Again, please note that these claims were not actual money being embezzled, but paying for things they should normally be paying for out of their own pockets, after their high salaries and legitimate expenses, for which they are entitled.
In our Nigerian situation, officials (executive or legislative, civil servants, etc) are actively stealing, or accepting massive bribes. And there are no audit trails. Governors boldly put state allocations in personal accounts, inflate contracts, demand for and accept kickbacks on contracts, and perpetrate all other forms of corruption. In short, these cliques of irresponsible leaders virtually get away with murder. These cannot happen in Britain, without being found out almost immediately. Hence the difference between the two countries; and therefore the lack of any basis for jubilation in the knowledge of British MPs suffering some inconvenience and embarrassment.
While the corrupt officials in the Western world are very few and do away with an infinitesimal fraction of the public fund, the corrupt officials in a country like Nigeria are the majority and more often than not, they embezzle or misappropriate the whole fund at their disposal.
The only instance of politician forced to resign in Nigeria that I can remember is that of former hairdresser and Speaker, Patricia Etteh, who was forced to fall on her sword after a protracted and bitter public outcry. On 30 October 2007, following weeks of pressure, Etteh resigned her position as Speaker. Her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, also resigned. Ministers, commissioners, Senators or other legislators and other officials rarely resign after being implicated in wrongdoings in Nigeria. They try to weather the storm out and scurry about lobbying to stay in their posts.
In the meantime, reforms in the British Parliament means that it will be a long time before politicians can abuse the system again, or find loopholes to do so. In Nigeria, the loopholes are inbuilt into the system by us, and this is not just for expenses claim.
On the news this morning (Friday, 22 May 2009) is a report that tension is so high at Westminster, there’s fear of suicide. (And that is after apologies, promises of refunds, resignations and suspensions) Do any of our Nigerian politicians feel any remorse for the state the country is in or for the suffering masses? Do the British experience, regret and remorse mean anything to them? No doubt their only regret would be getting caught. As I write another batch are on the sidelines waiting to get to the National Assembly to continue where others left off. Yes, corruption will always exist and I make no excuses for MP's who were told "yes you can claim for this and that" when they started, but we all know this entire fiddle in the British Parliament does not even amount to what ONE Nigerian politician puts away with one contract.
All these perhaps explain why Nigerians must not gloat at the embarrassment of the British politicians. There are no bases for it.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Dealing With Corrupt And Oppressive Governments
There is no institution that is more abhorrent than a corrupt government. No entity kills more. No entity plunders the treasury more. No one entity violates more individual and human rights more often, with more impunity. And none spews more propaganda and lies. History proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Whether it is a democracy, monarchy, military, union of socialist republics, or a communist state, you can rest assured that a corrupt government will be the bane of progress and development every time. And a corrupt government will always be an oppressive one. It has always been this way. Corrupt governments are always dangerous and inimical to the health, well-being and progress of the people they rule.
Therefore such government must be checked. Politicians and civil servants who run the country must be resisted and called to order. They must be over-ruled. They must be gotten rid of.
We often presume that government corruption involves certain government employees (or elected officials) breaking the law, taking bribes, or wrongfully issuing special favours to select individuals or cliques to promote their own career or perpetuate themselves in power. To a great extent, this is government corruption, but such activity only scratches the surface. It represents a small fraction of the real corruption going on. The most egregious corruption originates right in plain view in the business sector, in public, in the communities. It happens routinely now; it's just that most people don't recognize it, or refuse to recognise it.
A corrupt government is one that extends unlawful jurisdiction over the people it is supposed to protect. A corrupt government is one that legislates beyond its rightful power by erecting laws that do injury to liberty, justice, and individual rights. A corrupt government believes that might make right, and that its mission is to curtail freedom and information to the public and claiming it is acting in their best interest.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was appointed with the primary object being the defence of freedom, and of promoting good governance which will, on the longer term, be beneficial to all the people of Nigeria. In the Constitution, specific powers are delegated to three distinct branches of government: The legislative (Senate and the House of Representatives, both called the National Assembly), the administrative or executive (Presidency), and the judicial (Courts and Jurors). The National Assembly can only create laws in the pursuance of good governance -- in pursuance of the Constitution. And two conditions must be met: One, Jurisdiction must exist and two, National Assembly act(s) must not violate the rights of any individual citizen(s). If both of the conditions are not met, any anti-constitutional decree the National Assembly might install is not valid. An example of a violation of a person's rights would be corrupt enrichment by officials entrusted with certain functions to provide instruments or infrastructure which will better the lives of the people he/she rules.
The federal government must uphold the immutable rights of the people of Nigeria to enjoy the dividends of democracy, freedom (all kinds), good governance, to access to quality healthcare, quality education, good food, guaranteed liberty and justice, progress and development. The National Assembly and the executive branch are bound by the Constitution. Every citizen is guaranteed liberty and justice here. We people; we commoners give the government its just powers. It operates at our consent. Power is derived from the people.
Many people think that what makes a country progressive or modern is that it is a democracy. Well, Nigeria is not a democracy in that sense. But there is nothing inherently good about either form of government. There are bad republics. There are bad democracies. There are bad dictatorships and bad governments. What makes a democratic country unique is that it has a limited form of government, in the sense that when the government of the day is not performing its duties or functions, not only according to the Constitution, but to the people it governs, we can go to the polls and deny it a further mandate. There is a government whose power can't lawfully extend beyond that which has been expressly delegated to it.
If the Constitution doesn't expressly give jurisdiction to the federal government over a certain subject, it may not act on it. Nigeria has a Constitution with checks, balances, and limitations on all branches of government. It may seem a novel concept to many, but we citizens have powerful tools at our disposal that can stop corrupt governments dead (in some cases literally) in their tracks. The government will not tell you this. They in fact blatantly lie about it. It is important that they do not reveal anything that will jeopardise their hold on power to the people who brought them, rigging or not, into power.
Today, most of us are subjects of a corrupt government or corrupt governments. Many are involved knee deep in it. But we are not powerless. We, in fact, should not allow the government to act wrongfully against us. Most Nigerians don't even realize how far off course our government has strayed, and this is where education of the masses comes in. We can talk of democracy and good governance again and again. And we can not do it at the polls alone, or via legislative actions. It won't be accomplished by way of executive order/decree. Politicians and bureaucrats do not deliver the dividends of democracy, as we like to call it, they take it! More Nigerians are beginning to understand this, but very slowly. It will probably take less than ten percent of us to stand tall, exercise, demand, and reaffirm our absolute right. When enough are educated of this power, the light of freedom and democracy will begin to shine bright again. It is the failure to exercise this fundamental right that has brought us into this quagmire that we are in today.
I have read many comments from fellow Nigerians, listened to arguments and opinions as to the problem of corruption in Nigeria, and unfortunately what I have gathered from my countrymen and women is that Nigeria will never change, that corruption will always be endemic and there is nothing we can do about it. People tell me that if even I enter the system I will be corrupted.
I beg to differ very strongly. One, if we all keep our hands behind our backs, stick our heads into the ground like ostriches and expect God to change Nigeria for us, Nigeria will never change and things will become worse for everybody. It is for us to fight corruption and corrupt governments; nobody will do it for us, I always opine. Secondly, I, as a person, as an individual do not need to be corrupt in order to implement or effect the desired change for my people or country. I don’t need all the money. I am not greedy. I am not impressed by acquisition or accumulation of wealth, because I am not carrying it with me to heaven when I die. I derive my joy; satisfaction and contention by ensuring people around me are not in want or suffering. And the only way I can achieve this, if I have the chance, the power and the money to do this, is to do what a true leader is supposed to do – govern well, lead well. And if this means not employing members of my family or friends into positions which will compromise my ideals and purpose, so be it. I am not indebted to anybody in this world, except to my God. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. In this world, your worth as a person is determined by what you do for others while you are living; when you are dead, you are really of no use to anybody anymore, but your name lives on with esteem, respect and acknowledgement of the good you have done. This is eventually transferred to those you leave behind to enjoy. The reason or purpose why God and Man make some people leaders is to give them a chance to alleviate the problems of the weak; if a leader detracts from that purpose of Man and God, his/her life is truly worthless.
Thomas Jefferson often referred to the term good government. In his opinion, the Government ought to be judged by how well it meets its legitimate objectives. For him, good government was the one who most effectively secures the rights of the people and the rewards of their labor, which promotes their happiness, and also does their will. For instance, he said: "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the only legitimate object of good government." --Thomas Jefferson to Maryland Republicans, 1809. ME 16:359.
According to the UN paper, What is Good Governance?, the term “governance” means “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)”. In other words, dealing with governance involves the analysis of the processes and systems by which a specific society, or organisation, operates. Though government is one of the main actors of governance, it is far from being the only one; depending on the specific entity under study, other actors can include “influential land lords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military, [… as well as the] media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, etc.” Moreover, governance applies to several contexts: corporate governance, international governance, and national, regional or local governance.
Good governance is a form of governance that embodies eight specific characteristics, and can be seen as an ideal of governance. The eight characteristics of good governance as defined by the United Nations embodies processes that are:
1. participatory,
2. consensus oriented,
3. accountable,
4. transparent,
5. responsive,
6. effective and efficient,
7. equitable and inclusive,
8. and [which follow] the rule of law.
Moreover, good governance “assures that corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account, and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society”. Clearly, there is a close relation between good governance and respect for human rights.
From the above definitions, it should be clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality.
A basic practical example of good governance would be where a member of a committee, with a vested interest in a topic being discussed at committee, would absent themselves from the discussion and not attempt to exert influence. This certainly does not apply in our country. Another example is that of ensuring that there is no electoral fraud in the voting system and that the wishes and rights of the people to elect who they want into government or any position of power and leadership are sacrosanct. For decades, Nigerians have been denied this right, as was again demonstrated by the Ekiti State debacle most recently. Osun State is going that way too, as have several other states, including my own Oyo State.
And with a lot of corruption scandals being swept under the carpets through several decades, and the constant misinformation to the public, electoral and political fraud and corruption, Nigeria is far from being classified a “good governance” material. We all know it, despite any kind of propaganda or “re-branding” efforts being put out by the government. Even, we know that politicians and ex-leaders that have been indicted of corruption charges are still in power today, playing poker or Russian roulette with our lives.
If a law doesn't fit, you must acquit! If a government does not fit, we must get rid of it. If a system of governance is not apt to the needs of the people, the people must get rid of that system and look elsewhere. We do not need to wait for the "right" politicians to erect the "right" legislation to take back our immutable rights. We people are the ultimate check against despotic corrupt governments. Effective use of the ballot boxes, the Press, labour unions, is deadly to government bureaucrats, politicians, and their henchmen. It's a highly efficient and bloodless form of rebellion that must be employed.
Shall we take back our country now?
Therefore such government must be checked. Politicians and civil servants who run the country must be resisted and called to order. They must be over-ruled. They must be gotten rid of.
We often presume that government corruption involves certain government employees (or elected officials) breaking the law, taking bribes, or wrongfully issuing special favours to select individuals or cliques to promote their own career or perpetuate themselves in power. To a great extent, this is government corruption, but such activity only scratches the surface. It represents a small fraction of the real corruption going on. The most egregious corruption originates right in plain view in the business sector, in public, in the communities. It happens routinely now; it's just that most people don't recognize it, or refuse to recognise it.
A corrupt government is one that extends unlawful jurisdiction over the people it is supposed to protect. A corrupt government is one that legislates beyond its rightful power by erecting laws that do injury to liberty, justice, and individual rights. A corrupt government believes that might make right, and that its mission is to curtail freedom and information to the public and claiming it is acting in their best interest.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was appointed with the primary object being the defence of freedom, and of promoting good governance which will, on the longer term, be beneficial to all the people of Nigeria. In the Constitution, specific powers are delegated to three distinct branches of government: The legislative (Senate and the House of Representatives, both called the National Assembly), the administrative or executive (Presidency), and the judicial (Courts and Jurors). The National Assembly can only create laws in the pursuance of good governance -- in pursuance of the Constitution. And two conditions must be met: One, Jurisdiction must exist and two, National Assembly act(s) must not violate the rights of any individual citizen(s). If both of the conditions are not met, any anti-constitutional decree the National Assembly might install is not valid. An example of a violation of a person's rights would be corrupt enrichment by officials entrusted with certain functions to provide instruments or infrastructure which will better the lives of the people he/she rules.
The federal government must uphold the immutable rights of the people of Nigeria to enjoy the dividends of democracy, freedom (all kinds), good governance, to access to quality healthcare, quality education, good food, guaranteed liberty and justice, progress and development. The National Assembly and the executive branch are bound by the Constitution. Every citizen is guaranteed liberty and justice here. We people; we commoners give the government its just powers. It operates at our consent. Power is derived from the people.
Many people think that what makes a country progressive or modern is that it is a democracy. Well, Nigeria is not a democracy in that sense. But there is nothing inherently good about either form of government. There are bad republics. There are bad democracies. There are bad dictatorships and bad governments. What makes a democratic country unique is that it has a limited form of government, in the sense that when the government of the day is not performing its duties or functions, not only according to the Constitution, but to the people it governs, we can go to the polls and deny it a further mandate. There is a government whose power can't lawfully extend beyond that which has been expressly delegated to it.
If the Constitution doesn't expressly give jurisdiction to the federal government over a certain subject, it may not act on it. Nigeria has a Constitution with checks, balances, and limitations on all branches of government. It may seem a novel concept to many, but we citizens have powerful tools at our disposal that can stop corrupt governments dead (in some cases literally) in their tracks. The government will not tell you this. They in fact blatantly lie about it. It is important that they do not reveal anything that will jeopardise their hold on power to the people who brought them, rigging or not, into power.
Today, most of us are subjects of a corrupt government or corrupt governments. Many are involved knee deep in it. But we are not powerless. We, in fact, should not allow the government to act wrongfully against us. Most Nigerians don't even realize how far off course our government has strayed, and this is where education of the masses comes in. We can talk of democracy and good governance again and again. And we can not do it at the polls alone, or via legislative actions. It won't be accomplished by way of executive order/decree. Politicians and bureaucrats do not deliver the dividends of democracy, as we like to call it, they take it! More Nigerians are beginning to understand this, but very slowly. It will probably take less than ten percent of us to stand tall, exercise, demand, and reaffirm our absolute right. When enough are educated of this power, the light of freedom and democracy will begin to shine bright again. It is the failure to exercise this fundamental right that has brought us into this quagmire that we are in today.
I have read many comments from fellow Nigerians, listened to arguments and opinions as to the problem of corruption in Nigeria, and unfortunately what I have gathered from my countrymen and women is that Nigeria will never change, that corruption will always be endemic and there is nothing we can do about it. People tell me that if even I enter the system I will be corrupted.
I beg to differ very strongly. One, if we all keep our hands behind our backs, stick our heads into the ground like ostriches and expect God to change Nigeria for us, Nigeria will never change and things will become worse for everybody. It is for us to fight corruption and corrupt governments; nobody will do it for us, I always opine. Secondly, I, as a person, as an individual do not need to be corrupt in order to implement or effect the desired change for my people or country. I don’t need all the money. I am not greedy. I am not impressed by acquisition or accumulation of wealth, because I am not carrying it with me to heaven when I die. I derive my joy; satisfaction and contention by ensuring people around me are not in want or suffering. And the only way I can achieve this, if I have the chance, the power and the money to do this, is to do what a true leader is supposed to do – govern well, lead well. And if this means not employing members of my family or friends into positions which will compromise my ideals and purpose, so be it. I am not indebted to anybody in this world, except to my God. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. In this world, your worth as a person is determined by what you do for others while you are living; when you are dead, you are really of no use to anybody anymore, but your name lives on with esteem, respect and acknowledgement of the good you have done. This is eventually transferred to those you leave behind to enjoy. The reason or purpose why God and Man make some people leaders is to give them a chance to alleviate the problems of the weak; if a leader detracts from that purpose of Man and God, his/her life is truly worthless.
Thomas Jefferson often referred to the term good government. In his opinion, the Government ought to be judged by how well it meets its legitimate objectives. For him, good government was the one who most effectively secures the rights of the people and the rewards of their labor, which promotes their happiness, and also does their will. For instance, he said: "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the only legitimate object of good government." --Thomas Jefferson to Maryland Republicans, 1809. ME 16:359.
According to the UN paper, What is Good Governance?, the term “governance” means “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)”. In other words, dealing with governance involves the analysis of the processes and systems by which a specific society, or organisation, operates. Though government is one of the main actors of governance, it is far from being the only one; depending on the specific entity under study, other actors can include “influential land lords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military, [… as well as the] media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, etc.” Moreover, governance applies to several contexts: corporate governance, international governance, and national, regional or local governance.
Good governance is a form of governance that embodies eight specific characteristics, and can be seen as an ideal of governance. The eight characteristics of good governance as defined by the United Nations embodies processes that are:
1. participatory,
2. consensus oriented,
3. accountable,
4. transparent,
5. responsive,
6. effective and efficient,
7. equitable and inclusive,
8. and [which follow] the rule of law.
Moreover, good governance “assures that corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account, and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society”. Clearly, there is a close relation between good governance and respect for human rights.
From the above definitions, it should be clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality.
A basic practical example of good governance would be where a member of a committee, with a vested interest in a topic being discussed at committee, would absent themselves from the discussion and not attempt to exert influence. This certainly does not apply in our country. Another example is that of ensuring that there is no electoral fraud in the voting system and that the wishes and rights of the people to elect who they want into government or any position of power and leadership are sacrosanct. For decades, Nigerians have been denied this right, as was again demonstrated by the Ekiti State debacle most recently. Osun State is going that way too, as have several other states, including my own Oyo State.
And with a lot of corruption scandals being swept under the carpets through several decades, and the constant misinformation to the public, electoral and political fraud and corruption, Nigeria is far from being classified a “good governance” material. We all know it, despite any kind of propaganda or “re-branding” efforts being put out by the government. Even, we know that politicians and ex-leaders that have been indicted of corruption charges are still in power today, playing poker or Russian roulette with our lives.
If a law doesn't fit, you must acquit! If a government does not fit, we must get rid of it. If a system of governance is not apt to the needs of the people, the people must get rid of that system and look elsewhere. We do not need to wait for the "right" politicians to erect the "right" legislation to take back our immutable rights. We people are the ultimate check against despotic corrupt governments. Effective use of the ballot boxes, the Press, labour unions, is deadly to government bureaucrats, politicians, and their henchmen. It's a highly efficient and bloodless form of rebellion that must be employed.
Shall we take back our country now?
Nigeria’s Theater of the Absurd
“The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off ….how can I? Light up the darkness!” - Bob Marley
Most people in the Arts, or more specifically, theater and acting world will know what the Theater of the Absurd is: A designation for particular plays written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theater which has evolved from their work. Plays within this group are absurd in that they focus not on logical acts, realistic occurrences, or traditional character development; they, instead, focus on human beings trapped in an incomprehensible world subject to any occurrence, no matter how illogical.
According to Martin Esslin, Absurdism is "the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose" The characters in Absurdist drama are lost and floating in an incomprehensible universe and they abandon rational devices and discursive thought because these approaches are inadequate. Many characters appear as automatons stuck in routines speaking only in cliché. The more complex characters are in crisis because the world around them is incomprehensible.
This theater of the absurd is apt to the Nigerian socio-political situation, economic evolution, national and human development, all rolled into one play. For the past 49 years, it has been a vicious cycle of absurdities for the country’s inhabitants, held ransom by greedy, inconsiderate and corrupt leaders and their acolytes and sycophants, so much so that any glimmer of hope that sometimes flicker at us is soon extinguished, seemingly never to be lighted again, like a dying comet.
I had not wanted to write anything about the fiasco called Ekiti State re-run elections, because all had been said, and merely repeating what others have seen, done, written about, will just amount to just that: repetition. However, my frustration, conscience and that urge to say or write something got the better of me. I am really very despondent now.
It is unfortunate for Nigeria’s Government (and definitely, people too) that this Ekiti State debacle came right on the heels of their so-called “re-Branding” exercise, which was given maximum publicity by the Minister for Information, Prof. Dora Akunyinli. On the positive side, it confirms again, to us and the whole world, the futility of the exercise and the insincerity and ineptness of our leaders. Nothing has, or will change. They have been exposed for what they really are again. That is why I was nonplussed by the result of the Ekiti election. So, I don’t know why people were surprised, given all the happenings. However, despondency and desperation has set in.
There was even a dash of the ludicrous and the absurd when a 74-year old woman resigned, disappeared, was pronounced sick, then declared wanted by the Inspector General of Police himself, resurfaced in the capital and then rescinded her resignation to say she was still the conductor of the election. What more could be absurd than this? In the end, nobody is thanking or praising her. And we still remain uncertain about her role in the entire farce. And where is her “Christian conscience” now? She will soon be consigned to the bins of history.
Since the Ekiti disaster, have you heard any positive word from Dora Akunyinli? No! I doubt even if herself, an accomplished media hugger, can talk her way (or her government’s way) out of this fiasco. This is a government that cannot conduct a credible and violence-free election in just a few wards of not more than 70,000 people, policed by 10,000 policemen.
The re-branding effort was further eroded by the fact that South Africa concluded a very successful national election recently, while Nigeria found it an onerous task to conduct elections in just a few wards in 10 local governments in just one state out of 36. This does not bode well for the 2011 election.
Again, the rebranding efforts immediately collapsed (bad-timing) with the Halliburton bribery scandal, which we must not allow to die down or be swept under the carpet. So instead of a positive image of Nigeria being generated, what we have is a heightening of Nigeria’s already negative image. Our leaders just can’t do anything right, can they? Re-branding of a nation’s image is a lot more than an exercise where billions are spent and government officials give great speeches, distribute fliers and badges and logos and rhetoric abound.
In all sincerity, we all know it will take a lot more than this to improve Nigeria’s negative image. This is something these so-called leaders failed to take into consideration whether deliberately or in pure ignorance of the facts at hand. What they should know is that the re-branding must start from them, from the top and then cascade downwards to the rest of us. They must clear the Siemens, the Halliburton, the Wilbros scandals and many others up. They must bring corrupt ex-Governors and Ministers to justice. They must invest in their people, us, and not in their pockets. They must provide us with good education, good medical health care, good roads, electricity, water, food. They must be open with us, considerate to our plights and alleviate poverty. They must let us freely and without encumbrance, fear, intimidation, fraud and coercion elect them into positions of power and responsibility. They must not deny us liberty, freedom and justice. Only when they are committed to, and are seen to be doing these simple things can we trust them, or cooperate with them to re-brand the entity called Nigeria. Only then will the world believe them.
But we should really not be surprised. This clique of charlatans, inconsiderate and corrupt politicians and technocrats will always mess up their own acts because it is an innate thing: you cannot change them overnight, and neither can they wake up one morning and tell us they have changed. Who will believe them? Their everyday actions do not say otherwise.
Thus my worst fears were realised when the Ekiti State debacle happened. I just knew it would be another fiasco. You do not need to be clairvoyant to know this, especially in the wake of all kinds of utterances and deeds that went before it: the President and his Vice-President going to the state to campaign, and assuring us that the PDP will win (How do they know? How can they be sure?); that most useless of Governors, Oyinlola of Osun State secretly recorded promising to send thugs disguised as soldiers and policemen and arms and ammunitions to Ekiti to ensure the PDP wins (nobody has sanctioned him yet); two Ekiti Senators running around the state carrying guns and having meetings and running all over the place with red-eyed, drug- and money-induced thugs in their Ekiti domains (nobody has sanctioned them yet).
Before I started writing this piece, and long before the Ekiti State re-election, I was preparing another article where I was positing that the only way we can get rid of these murderous and useless politicians is to use democratic means to throw them out and deny coming ones access to our seats of governance and hence the treasury. That does not seem to be a most appropriate solution now, does it? The Ekiti show of shame will most certainly be repeated across the nation in 2011, as it was done in 2007, wouldn’t it? It does not augur well for us.
After the results were announced, I read many comments, all of them saying it was a “sad day for Nigeria”. No, not really, since Nigeria was created, it had always been “sad days” for us, only we did not realise it or refused to acknowledge it. Tell me, when it was not? 1966? The Civil War? 1979? 1983? 1993? 1999? 2003? 2007? And now 2009?
Unfortunately, and ironically too, with the challenges flying in court and tribunal, the Nigerian people are still paying and suffering for it. You might ask me the reason why? This is because our politicians, whether in power or opposition, never use their own money to fight elections, whether it is ballot or election petition. It is with our money which they have somehow managed to misappropriate. This is the bottom line. It does not matter which side of the fence you are. It does not matter if you are PDP, AC, ANPP or whatever stupid acronym they ascribe to their ideology-lacking excuses for political parties.
And what do we have? Nothing really! As Prof. Niyi Akinnaso wrote (The Guardian, Friday 8th May 2009) “As an allegory of the human condition, the myth is particularly relevant to the Nigerian situation in which failure and futility are both endemic and enduring. Nothing works as they should. Schools don't work. Hospitals don't work. Roads don't work. Electricity doesn't work. Even ordinary water, a free-flowing natural resource, could not be captured, treated, and piped to people's homes. On top of it all, the people cannot freely elect their representatives because the government cannot manage the simple democratic acts of casting, counting, and collating votes. Yet, citizens go about their lives in a futile search for fulfilment, hoping against hope that one day salvation will come.”
In the past, I had written that I do not consider Nigeria a failed state in the real interpretation of the phrase. I still stand by my opinion, but the problem is we are not really trying, are we? Those entrusted with trying are far from trying and those of us expecting them to try their best on our behalf just sit passively by and let them run things the way they seem fit, which is not conducive to our interests as a progressive people. In short, we bury our heads in the sands like ostriches, praying that God will liberate us, or waiting for others to do it.
I am definitely not the only Nigerian very much concerned. Even the incumbent President is concerned (And that is what I call “hearing it from the horse’s mouth”) and recently Nigeria’s former military head of state, Dr. Yakubu Gowon, obviously very much concerned too, predicted that high profile corruption and long neglect of the masses’ welfare since 1960, may soon make the preferred civilian administration lose its valued place to options, saying that “the continued presence of corruption, its attendant unemployment and poverty; social insecurity and uncoordinated governments’ policies and programmes, over the decades, would make government by the people lose its appeal. Nigerians have continued to be traumatized by poverty that they are left with little or no time to defend democratic ideas and ethos. While democracy remains the expression of the people’s choice through the ballot, the struggle for survival has continued to take away the little strength left in our people to stand and defend that choice”.
For many years, we have been warning our leaders about their behaviour, specifically massive corruption (of all types), neglect, mismanagement, negligence, arrogance, lack of focus and depth in governance, etc which are anti-people in practice, and they do not seem to be heeding the warnings. Or maybe they are deliberately ignoring us (as did Pharaoh in the Old Testament, when God hardened his heart so as to postpone his punishment).
They should not ignore the people much further. Enough is enough
We have been beset by unpopular social, economic and political policies of successive administrations, which at best, continued to identify national problems without any noticeable impact, as witnessed by the gradual but steady decline in Nigerian’s standard of living, infrastructure, general welfare (education, healthcare, water, food, electricity, roads, and other basic human services), characterised by high unemployment, low wages, poor education, poor shelter or housing, inclement business environment, widening income inequality, rising cost of goods and services and above all, the selfishness and greediness of those put in charge to take care of us.
It is amazing that despite many social programmes championed by organs of governments and substantial funding by international organisations over the years, there had been no substantial positive effect of poverty reduction in the country. The reason is not far-fetched, the money from the government international organisations are always being diverted into private pockets.
Governors all over the place throwing billion naira parties for the weddings of their children (Oyo and Gombe States); spending our money on useless propaganda about what they have not done (Oyo, Ogun and Osun States), while the masses suffer and look on hopelessly.
As Sylvester Odion-Akhaine wrote in Nigeria Today Online (11 May 2009) “the incumbent governing clique missed a historical opportunity as always to re-brand itself, and to boost the country's energy. For as Huntington once said, the truly hopeless society is the one that lacks the capacity for change. Nigeria has been made hopeless by its ruling clique; and its hopelessness calls for a dose of subjectivism at this point in time. Historically, its foundations were suicidal and perhaps the country is doomed to suicide”
It may seem hilarious to watch the Theater of the Absurd, but when it affects and threatens our very existence and jeopardises our lives, then, my brothers and sisters, it cannot be rightly regarded as a comedy of errors.
Please, let us take our country back.
Most people in the Arts, or more specifically, theater and acting world will know what the Theater of the Absurd is: A designation for particular plays written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theater which has evolved from their work. Plays within this group are absurd in that they focus not on logical acts, realistic occurrences, or traditional character development; they, instead, focus on human beings trapped in an incomprehensible world subject to any occurrence, no matter how illogical.
According to Martin Esslin, Absurdism is "the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose" The characters in Absurdist drama are lost and floating in an incomprehensible universe and they abandon rational devices and discursive thought because these approaches are inadequate. Many characters appear as automatons stuck in routines speaking only in cliché. The more complex characters are in crisis because the world around them is incomprehensible.
This theater of the absurd is apt to the Nigerian socio-political situation, economic evolution, national and human development, all rolled into one play. For the past 49 years, it has been a vicious cycle of absurdities for the country’s inhabitants, held ransom by greedy, inconsiderate and corrupt leaders and their acolytes and sycophants, so much so that any glimmer of hope that sometimes flicker at us is soon extinguished, seemingly never to be lighted again, like a dying comet.
I had not wanted to write anything about the fiasco called Ekiti State re-run elections, because all had been said, and merely repeating what others have seen, done, written about, will just amount to just that: repetition. However, my frustration, conscience and that urge to say or write something got the better of me. I am really very despondent now.
It is unfortunate for Nigeria’s Government (and definitely, people too) that this Ekiti State debacle came right on the heels of their so-called “re-Branding” exercise, which was given maximum publicity by the Minister for Information, Prof. Dora Akunyinli. On the positive side, it confirms again, to us and the whole world, the futility of the exercise and the insincerity and ineptness of our leaders. Nothing has, or will change. They have been exposed for what they really are again. That is why I was nonplussed by the result of the Ekiti election. So, I don’t know why people were surprised, given all the happenings. However, despondency and desperation has set in.
There was even a dash of the ludicrous and the absurd when a 74-year old woman resigned, disappeared, was pronounced sick, then declared wanted by the Inspector General of Police himself, resurfaced in the capital and then rescinded her resignation to say she was still the conductor of the election. What more could be absurd than this? In the end, nobody is thanking or praising her. And we still remain uncertain about her role in the entire farce. And where is her “Christian conscience” now? She will soon be consigned to the bins of history.
Since the Ekiti disaster, have you heard any positive word from Dora Akunyinli? No! I doubt even if herself, an accomplished media hugger, can talk her way (or her government’s way) out of this fiasco. This is a government that cannot conduct a credible and violence-free election in just a few wards of not more than 70,000 people, policed by 10,000 policemen.
The re-branding effort was further eroded by the fact that South Africa concluded a very successful national election recently, while Nigeria found it an onerous task to conduct elections in just a few wards in 10 local governments in just one state out of 36. This does not bode well for the 2011 election.
Again, the rebranding efforts immediately collapsed (bad-timing) with the Halliburton bribery scandal, which we must not allow to die down or be swept under the carpet. So instead of a positive image of Nigeria being generated, what we have is a heightening of Nigeria’s already negative image. Our leaders just can’t do anything right, can they? Re-branding of a nation’s image is a lot more than an exercise where billions are spent and government officials give great speeches, distribute fliers and badges and logos and rhetoric abound.
In all sincerity, we all know it will take a lot more than this to improve Nigeria’s negative image. This is something these so-called leaders failed to take into consideration whether deliberately or in pure ignorance of the facts at hand. What they should know is that the re-branding must start from them, from the top and then cascade downwards to the rest of us. They must clear the Siemens, the Halliburton, the Wilbros scandals and many others up. They must bring corrupt ex-Governors and Ministers to justice. They must invest in their people, us, and not in their pockets. They must provide us with good education, good medical health care, good roads, electricity, water, food. They must be open with us, considerate to our plights and alleviate poverty. They must let us freely and without encumbrance, fear, intimidation, fraud and coercion elect them into positions of power and responsibility. They must not deny us liberty, freedom and justice. Only when they are committed to, and are seen to be doing these simple things can we trust them, or cooperate with them to re-brand the entity called Nigeria. Only then will the world believe them.
But we should really not be surprised. This clique of charlatans, inconsiderate and corrupt politicians and technocrats will always mess up their own acts because it is an innate thing: you cannot change them overnight, and neither can they wake up one morning and tell us they have changed. Who will believe them? Their everyday actions do not say otherwise.
Thus my worst fears were realised when the Ekiti State debacle happened. I just knew it would be another fiasco. You do not need to be clairvoyant to know this, especially in the wake of all kinds of utterances and deeds that went before it: the President and his Vice-President going to the state to campaign, and assuring us that the PDP will win (How do they know? How can they be sure?); that most useless of Governors, Oyinlola of Osun State secretly recorded promising to send thugs disguised as soldiers and policemen and arms and ammunitions to Ekiti to ensure the PDP wins (nobody has sanctioned him yet); two Ekiti Senators running around the state carrying guns and having meetings and running all over the place with red-eyed, drug- and money-induced thugs in their Ekiti domains (nobody has sanctioned them yet).
Before I started writing this piece, and long before the Ekiti State re-election, I was preparing another article where I was positing that the only way we can get rid of these murderous and useless politicians is to use democratic means to throw them out and deny coming ones access to our seats of governance and hence the treasury. That does not seem to be a most appropriate solution now, does it? The Ekiti show of shame will most certainly be repeated across the nation in 2011, as it was done in 2007, wouldn’t it? It does not augur well for us.
After the results were announced, I read many comments, all of them saying it was a “sad day for Nigeria”. No, not really, since Nigeria was created, it had always been “sad days” for us, only we did not realise it or refused to acknowledge it. Tell me, when it was not? 1966? The Civil War? 1979? 1983? 1993? 1999? 2003? 2007? And now 2009?
Unfortunately, and ironically too, with the challenges flying in court and tribunal, the Nigerian people are still paying and suffering for it. You might ask me the reason why? This is because our politicians, whether in power or opposition, never use their own money to fight elections, whether it is ballot or election petition. It is with our money which they have somehow managed to misappropriate. This is the bottom line. It does not matter which side of the fence you are. It does not matter if you are PDP, AC, ANPP or whatever stupid acronym they ascribe to their ideology-lacking excuses for political parties.
And what do we have? Nothing really! As Prof. Niyi Akinnaso wrote (The Guardian, Friday 8th May 2009) “As an allegory of the human condition, the myth is particularly relevant to the Nigerian situation in which failure and futility are both endemic and enduring. Nothing works as they should. Schools don't work. Hospitals don't work. Roads don't work. Electricity doesn't work. Even ordinary water, a free-flowing natural resource, could not be captured, treated, and piped to people's homes. On top of it all, the people cannot freely elect their representatives because the government cannot manage the simple democratic acts of casting, counting, and collating votes. Yet, citizens go about their lives in a futile search for fulfilment, hoping against hope that one day salvation will come.”
In the past, I had written that I do not consider Nigeria a failed state in the real interpretation of the phrase. I still stand by my opinion, but the problem is we are not really trying, are we? Those entrusted with trying are far from trying and those of us expecting them to try their best on our behalf just sit passively by and let them run things the way they seem fit, which is not conducive to our interests as a progressive people. In short, we bury our heads in the sands like ostriches, praying that God will liberate us, or waiting for others to do it.
I am definitely not the only Nigerian very much concerned. Even the incumbent President is concerned (And that is what I call “hearing it from the horse’s mouth”) and recently Nigeria’s former military head of state, Dr. Yakubu Gowon, obviously very much concerned too, predicted that high profile corruption and long neglect of the masses’ welfare since 1960, may soon make the preferred civilian administration lose its valued place to options, saying that “the continued presence of corruption, its attendant unemployment and poverty; social insecurity and uncoordinated governments’ policies and programmes, over the decades, would make government by the people lose its appeal. Nigerians have continued to be traumatized by poverty that they are left with little or no time to defend democratic ideas and ethos. While democracy remains the expression of the people’s choice through the ballot, the struggle for survival has continued to take away the little strength left in our people to stand and defend that choice”.
For many years, we have been warning our leaders about their behaviour, specifically massive corruption (of all types), neglect, mismanagement, negligence, arrogance, lack of focus and depth in governance, etc which are anti-people in practice, and they do not seem to be heeding the warnings. Or maybe they are deliberately ignoring us (as did Pharaoh in the Old Testament, when God hardened his heart so as to postpone his punishment).
They should not ignore the people much further. Enough is enough
We have been beset by unpopular social, economic and political policies of successive administrations, which at best, continued to identify national problems without any noticeable impact, as witnessed by the gradual but steady decline in Nigerian’s standard of living, infrastructure, general welfare (education, healthcare, water, food, electricity, roads, and other basic human services), characterised by high unemployment, low wages, poor education, poor shelter or housing, inclement business environment, widening income inequality, rising cost of goods and services and above all, the selfishness and greediness of those put in charge to take care of us.
It is amazing that despite many social programmes championed by organs of governments and substantial funding by international organisations over the years, there had been no substantial positive effect of poverty reduction in the country. The reason is not far-fetched, the money from the government international organisations are always being diverted into private pockets.
Governors all over the place throwing billion naira parties for the weddings of their children (Oyo and Gombe States); spending our money on useless propaganda about what they have not done (Oyo, Ogun and Osun States), while the masses suffer and look on hopelessly.
As Sylvester Odion-Akhaine wrote in Nigeria Today Online (11 May 2009) “the incumbent governing clique missed a historical opportunity as always to re-brand itself, and to boost the country's energy. For as Huntington once said, the truly hopeless society is the one that lacks the capacity for change. Nigeria has been made hopeless by its ruling clique; and its hopelessness calls for a dose of subjectivism at this point in time. Historically, its foundations were suicidal and perhaps the country is doomed to suicide”
It may seem hilarious to watch the Theater of the Absurd, but when it affects and threatens our very existence and jeopardises our lives, then, my brothers and sisters, it cannot be rightly regarded as a comedy of errors.
Please, let us take our country back.
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