Thursday Night Jazz At The Majestic

Thursday Night Jazz At The Majestic

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Corruption Has Won The Battle Against Corruption.

“The United Nations (UN) says Nigerian kleptocrats have milked the nation to the tune of about $100 billion dollars thorough various acts of grand corruption, the cost of which it lamented by far exceeded the damage caused by any other single crime”(Daily Sun, Wednesday, December 3, 2008 page 9).

“The greatest incitement to crime is the hope of escaping punishment”(Marcus Cicero).

As far as Nigeria is concerned, we should think not what we can do to corruption but think of what corruption can do to Nigeria and Nigerians. I have made the above statement because of the level of corruption and the sequential reports of corrupt practises in Nigeria. On the average there are new cases of corruption reported weekly on the Nigerian dailies. The rates are very alarming. I am also 99% sure that many cases of corruption do not make headlines mainly because the go unnoticed by the press or the law enforcement agents. For the purposes of space and time, I will examine few cases of corruption in last 12 months to buttress my point. I will start with the power probe.

The National Assembly revelled that $16 billion dollars was invested in power sector without anything to show for it. This investment was made without any single megawatt being added to the national grid. To make matters worse was that some contractors didn’t even know the sites. Talk less of doing any job. Where is this money? Am sure $1 billion out of this amount can build about 3 new refineries. $1 billion should be enough to do a second Niger bridge across River Niger. $1 billion can build a low cost housing estate in Lagos or else where in the country. $1 billion can build a well equipped hospital in Nigeria thereby stopping our government officials from flying abroad all the time for medical attention. $1 billion can be used to create jobs for at lease 10,000 Nigerians. $1 billion can provide maximum security prisons where corrupt people can be sent to. The list of what the money can do is endless.

Towards the end of March 2009, the Nigerian dailies reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 2 comptrollers of Customs over an alleged complicity in a 3 billion naira customs duty scam, involving the controversial Vaswani brothers. The Vaswani brothers are the owners of Stallion Group. Their head office is in Victoria Island Lagos.

Then came the Halliburton $150 million dollars bribe money traced to Zurich. The total amount was $180 million dollars, which means that $30 million dollars is yet to be traced or found. This bribe was paid to facilitate the award of $6 billion dollars LNG contracts. My argument is that the $6 billion which was the quoted contract sum would be about 20 times the initial costs of the project. The federal government should conduct more enquiries and ascertain how much the original cost of the contracts should have been. This is with the view to knowing how much was actually stolen.

At the heat of the Halliburton bribe money discovery, President Yar’Adua promised the nation that once he has a response, he will make public the names of the culprits and take appropriate action. As part of taking his action, he inaugurated the Okiro Panel. The committee has eight weeks to submit its report. We are waiting and watching how it will go. To be fair and to achieve a balance, the president should name every person involved in corruption henceforth. A good starting point will be to name those behind $16 billion dollar unaccounted resources invested in the power sector. Until he does this, many Nigerians will tend to believe the accusations made by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the federal government is insincere in the fight against corruption.

Guardian newspapers of Wednesday, 22nd April 2009 online version reported about the African Petroleum (AP) Plc’s share price manipulation scam that made AP to suffer over N240 billion losses. The culprit in this case was named as Mr Eugene Anenih, the managing director of Nova Finance and Securities Limited.

As if there was a competition, the following day being Thursday, 23rd April 2009, Thisday newspapers online version reported that the suspended chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) with six other commissioners were being charged for fraud of N1.5 billion naira.

Thisday newspapers of 7th May 2009 online version reported that 3 house members including a serving senator of the country are on the run over a N6 billion naira rural electrification contract scam. The same paper reported about officials of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) arrested over N1.7 billion naira contract scam. Thisday newspaper of 8th May 2009 online version reported the story of N250 million bribe scandal given over the Ekiti re-run elections.

Guardian newspapers of Wednesday 13th May 2009 online version reported an allegation made by the special adviser on petroleum to President, (Dr Emmanuel Egbogah). He alleged that some members of the national assembly have taken bribes from some oil firms to truncate the federal government’s reforms in the petroleum sector. The amount was not mentioned.

Just recently, Nigerian dailies reported about the arrest of one Mr. Ejike Onwosugbolu who was carrying N250 million naira cash on three suit cases. On interrogation, he confessed that the money belonged to the present Anambra State governor (Peter Obi). Nigerians are waiting for what the EFCC will do about this case.

“The greatest incitement to crime is the hope of escaping punishment”(Marcus Cicero). Corruption has prospered in Nigeria mainly because corrupt government/private officials have a way of escaping punishment. It also shows the mindset of these evil people. Quoting former Justice Oputa, “Nothing will happen in our nation, in our society which did not first happen in our minds. If wrong is rampant, if indiscipline is rife, if corruption is the order of the day, we have to search our individual minds for that is where it all starts”.

Prevention is better than cure. My simple advice to the authorities in Nigeria should be to fashion out a preventive strategy against corruption. Secondly the authorities should consider making corruption a capital offence. We can borrow a leaf from China on the best way to fight corruption. The political parties were the indicted national assembly members are from, should take disciplinary actions against them. But before then let them refund their loot to the people of Nigeria.

Corruption is every where in the world, but the difference is how various countries approach it. When the expenses scandal involving British MP’s became open in the United Kingdom, the Tory leader (David Cameron) ordered senior conservatives to pay back thousands of pounds to the tax payers. The Tory leader humiliated several members of the shadow cabinet by naming them one by one on the national television. He ordered all the people involved to return the total amount claimed. He apologised to the nation for the actions of his party members. In same way, the Nigerian parties were the corrupt national assembly members are from should apologize to Nigerians.

America is also another to place to look out for how to deal with corrupt people. A good example should be Madoff who master minded one of the biggest fraud in history. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Nigerian authorities can do same at home if the federal government is true to its fight against corruption. If no tough measures are taken, corruption will continue to win the battle against corruption. 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/

We Really Must Be Really Scared Now!

I am really scared now. My state of mind has gone from “concerned” to “really scared and despondent” now, when it comes to Nigeria. Over the past two weeks, indeed over the past one month, things have really gone from bad to worse for me.

I am scared for myself, my family, my people (all Nigerians), Nigeria itself. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not going to let Nigeria kill me. I am just sad and scared because idiots are getting away with murder, literarily. I am scared because I might die outside Nigeria, with my family scattered all over the world, not wanting to have anything to do with their fatherland. Lord, am I scared?

There is the issue of the Niger Delta to contend with and I bear the pain of my brothers and sisters in that region. Then there is the ever constant issue of corruption, which does not seem to be abating, but is now at an alarming level, despite all the noises made by this administration, and everybody else. Then the issue of federal character in public appointments comes. And we also comment on our pseudo-democracy, electoral reforms and the Ekiti State election debacle.

I will have to take this one by one, in my own simple way. Unfortunately, I have a lot to pour from heart, but that will have to be in a book, not an article.

Niger Delta Crisis.

Everybody has written about this in one form or the other. I have too in one or two articles recently, highlighting the need to spread the blame, and hey presto!, comes the news or discovery that several politicians, both in and out of the government have been identified as being the cause of the militancy in that area. Highly placed figures including ministers (if indeed they minister unto us and not their families), ex-governors, serving governors (if indeed they serve us and not their damn pockets), lawmakers (if indeed they make laws) commissioners and even local government chairs and councillors, traditional chiefs, business people and oil concerns are variously and severally involved up to their dirty, cowardly and murderous necks.

Really, this is not a new discovery. Nigerians love re-inventing the wheel. We have known this to be a fact a long time ago. What is amazing is that it took this long to be made known to us, and even then, up till now, those involved, whose names are in security reports lying on the President’s desk, have not, and may never be released to the general public. Nor do I expect those implicated to be brought to justice now or ever. Am I being pessimistic here? The Abuja politicians will not allow the grass to grow under their heavy feet.

With the reports of thousands dead, mostly innocent Nigerian, and thousands more displaced, this is really genocide. And what about the militants? Every side is claiming victory. Who is the victor, who is the vanquished? Are the militants totally decimated now? Will peace and oil business as usual, return to the Niger Delta? All Nigerians are the losers, but we don’t know it yet. We have always been the losers.

Corruption (political, governmental, financial, etc).

Can we ever say enough about this? It is becoming kind of repetitive and boring, you might say. But we still have to hammer it into their thick skulls, until the skulls break; otherwise it is our skulls that they will break. No, dear compatriots, we can never say enough about Nigerian corruption. To abate the fight or rather the discussions against corruption on all fronts is to concede defeat to an enemy that is just waiting for you to do so. We will play into their hands.

I attended Kayode Ogundamisi’s Nigerian Liberty Forum held in London on Friday, 29th May 2009, where the issues of the State of Nigeria was raised by several high-calibre and respected speakers. Professor Wole Soyinka, our very own Nobel Laureate and promoter of African culture, human rights, freedom of expression and political activist of over 50 years, many times a prisoner of conscience of many Nigerian military administrations; Professor Sola Adeyeye, an ex-legislator and academic; Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,ex-EFCC Chairman, now hounded out of the country; Omoyele Sowore, that intrepid fighter from Sahara Reporters and a thorn in the flesh of corrupt Nigerian officials, no matter how highly placed; Professor Okey Ndibe, award-winning poet, novelist and political activist; Sister Affiong Affiong, a committed Pan Africanist who does not believe that Nigeria should break up; Mr Femi Falana, lawyer, human rights and political activist, and Jean Lambert, Member of the European Parliament who shared with us how Europe views and value Nigeria as partners.

Some of the speakers moved me close to tears about the situation in our country. They made me see clearly how desperate our situation, and existence, have become. And all because we have “Vagabonds In Power, VIPs”, paraphrasing the late great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The corruption in Nigeria is very alarming. A friend in Abuja told me recently that this is the time that ministers, senators, Reps, etc steal most because, as he put it, 80% of them, not satisfied with their positions, now want to go for governorships in their respective states, and they need massive amount of money to realise their inordinate and misplaced ambitions.

You see the problem with us? A man or woman brought from relative and deserved obscurity and thrust into power because of political connections to become a Minister, now having tasted power for only two short years, now wants to move to the next level of corruption, to become a governor and hence, loot the treasury at his disposal. Really, if you look at it this way, a man who stole whilst a minister or legislator, will never be a good governor, because he will still steal more. It is a matter of insatiability and kleptomania.

A good example is our Attorney General and Minister for Justice who is now tussling with his state governor to become Governor of Benue State in 2011. And the AGF is embroiled in many bribery and other corruption scandals right now, but everybody is turning a blind eye to his misdemeanours.

Federalism and living together.

I am not even sure anymore what to write. However, two things Nuhu Ribadu and Sister Affiong said gave me some hope. Nuhu Ribadu said we should look at Somalia, and that is when we will know that a state has failed, and that Nigeria is not a failed state, something I have always contended in my articles and discussions. I was assured by this. Sister Affiong, said that she is an Efik, and told us to forget about breaking up Nigeria; we are all in it together now, and we all, irrespective of ethnic origins or religiousl affiliations, have to find solutions to our problems and make Nigeria work. This is very poignant, indeed.

However, the replacement of Professor Charles Soludo, who we mush recognise and acknowledge as having done a lot to shore up not only the banking and financial sector, but the whole economy of Nigeria, as the Central bank Governor with Lamido Sanusi is hardly an example of Federal character, judging from all other political appointments that Yar ‘Adua had been carrying out since he came to power. This is not to say that Sanusi is not qualified or capable, but clearly, his appointment hardly reflects the so-called federal character in public appointments. The Northern hawks surrounding the president are bent on having their way, which, as they often like to say, is to protect Northern interests. But are they really protecting Northern interests, or their own personal selfish interests? If Northern interests had been really and sincerely protected all these almost 50 years since independence, would we still need to be protecting their interests? Sincerity is apparently a word alien to these hawks.

At that Nigerian Liberty Forum, when you hear Nuhu Ribadu, a scion of the North speaks so passionately about Nigeria being one, about all of us having our destiny tied together that is when you will know the hypocrisy of these Northern elites.

I however would like to commend Mr Sanusi who said the depreciation of the Naira in November was “absolutely necessary”, supporting and praising the performance of his predecessor Chukwuma Soludo, as opposed to the typical Nigerian trait of successors rubbishing the performance of their predecessors. “With oil prices falling, no responsible central banker will continue to subsidize imports,” he said. I wish him every success and he should try and prove his critics wrong that he got there purely because Northern interests want him there.

Our Pseudo-democracy.

It was interesting and alarming to learn that our Representatives earn N20m every four months ($413,000/year, even more than what the President of the United States or the British Prime Minister earns) for doing almost nothing, so said a former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Farouk Adamu Aliyu, who queried the rationale for expending over 80 per cent of Nigeria's income on the public service. Aliyu said if the expenditure is not curtailed, it would be difficult to address the problem of poor infrastructure in the country.

He disclosed that each serving member of the Lower House now collects over N20 million every quarterly as against the N9 million he earned within the same period during his tenure from 2003 to 2007. This, he said, is a tip of the iceberg of what both elected and top officials of the government receive at the three tiers of the government in the country.

With the above, it is no wonder that politicians consider it a matter of life and death to get into power. And what value for money are they giving Nigerians? There does not appear to be any at all. Most of our representatives do not even have constituency offices where they can meet, hear and address the problems of their constituents, their people. Once they are (s)elected, they disappear into the luxuries of Abuja, and hardly ever identify with their people. All expenses and constituency allowances allocated to them for doing their jobs merely disappear into their pockets. And they are still chasing contract all over Abuja.

During my last visit to Abuja in November 2008, I met a Representative, from the South-East who told me that he takes or sends 500,000 Naira to his village every week, and this is considered cheap. He said he distributes this money to his people for such things as paying somebody’s child school fees, hospital bills, etc. So I asked him, how does he come by all this money, and why doesn’t he put all this money together to build a hospital, or a community centre, or a school or set up scholarships or do some boreholes, instead of distributing raw cash each week? He looked at me and said things cannot be done that way. I asked “Why not?” He said the system does not allow it. I was flummoxed. What does he do with the money for his constituency projects? He said this is the money he distributes. I was again flabbergasted. But he has four properties in his hometown and one in Lagos.

Paraphrasing the late Malcolm X, Nigerians have been had. We did not land on Abuja, Abuja landed on us.

Is this waste sustainable? Should we continue to sustain wastefulness and mismanagement? Democracy, Nigerian-style is a most expensive one that is not yielding any dividend for the people, but into a few irresponsible and greedy pockets. It is not a true democracy in every sense. Yet I must admit democracy is the only way forward for us, however, we must take control of it. We must refine it.

The Ekiti State election debacle again highlights what is bad about our democracy, the way we practice it. Despite the watered-down Electoral Reforms exercise carried out prior to the election, there is no real hope for Nigerians to have duly and properly elected officials come 2011. With certain Ekiti Senators and other politicians running around the state with thugs carrying and shooting guns and a Governor promising to supply guns and fake army and police uniforms, we are at a dead end.

I am so scared. You might ask me what my concern is. Nigeria is my concern – its people, its resources, its leaders, its management, its air, its lands, its children, its economy, its politics, its culture, its religions, its everything, good and bad, positive and negative.

Incidentally, I am also scared for our leaders, past and present who have done this to us. I am scared for them because as our elders used to say “There are many days for the thief, but there is only one day for the owner”; the “thief” being our thieving leaders (very apt) and the “owner” being the real suffering, oppressed, deceived, railroaded Nigerians. When the goat is backed against the wall, it will fight back with ferocity. Trust me. When that day comes, and I have no doubt it will happen very soon, what happened when Jerry Rawlings cleaned out Ghana will be child’s play compared with what will happen to Nigerian leaders.

This is why I am even scared for those who have made the lives of Nigerians hell on earth.

The day will come when true Nigerians will no longer be scared. Amen.

An “Oputa Panel” for the Niger Delta Crisis.

“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