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By Ola Paul
It was easy for Nigerians to believe Candidate Muhammadu Buhari when he made the fight against corruption one of his cardinal programmes in his quest to be elected president. Here was a man who in both his private and official life shunned corruption and maintained Spartan discipline. Here was a man who had been a military governor, General Officer Commanding, petroleum minister, Head of State and PTF Chairman, but had not abused his powers to acquire wealth and property like many of his contemporaries, even with less privileges did. His life was an open book. In fact, it was a pleasant surprise to many citizens when in the run-in the 2015 elections it became known that he had only one account with the Union Bank of Nigeria and no foreign account.
His credentials on the anti-corruption fight are intimidating and in these climes, unprecedented. No wonder, when he first declared to run for an elective office, many scoffed at him, wondering how he would ever find the resources for a credible showing given the endemic corruption in the system. But Candidate Buhari was deter- mined and finally made it at the fourth time of asking. Sadly, however, the 16 years of the PDP rule, and successive military regimes before that, had left a big liability for him on the anti-corruption front. Those were the days when the rallying cry was: PDP! Share the money! The peculiarities of a democratic system did not help much either. Gone were the days when a protagonist could act on his own will without the necessary buy-in and support of critical stakeholders and hope to succeed or avoid recriminations.
So the odds were heavily stacked against President Buhari from the get go, but he was determined to give the fight his best shot any-way. In a democracy, the rule of law is sacrosanct and that meant he needed a judiciary and a parliament that was completely in tune with his vision of how the anti- corruption war should proceed. But very early in the day, these vital arms of government showed their unwillingness or at best, reluctance to buy-in in the fight by the way the leadership of the 7th National Assembly emerged and the public hoopla that followed the attempt to audit the apex court shortly after. Corruption had got so fragrant and so glaring in the Nigerian society that some commentators in utter exasperation had described it as native to Nigeria and in the DNA of the people across board.
The push-back from the beneficiaries of the old order was strong and resolute. Everything, and anything, was pressed into service. The game plan was an old one: tell a lie again and again and it somehow beings to acquire the toga of truth. Sadly, even the media bought in. The CHANGE mantra of the administration was not spared either, equating it with suffering and more suffering for the generality of the people.
Seven years on, we can con- firm that the anti-corruption fight is not an easy win. President Buhari soldiers on however. He has remained very firm and focused on the goal, knowing fully well that the war cannot be won conclusively without the collaborative effort of all citizens. So far, the EFCC, as the prime anti-corruption agency of government has been repositioned with a graduate from its academy as its new head. It has secured more convictions and more assets recovered now than at any previous time in its history. Reforms in the laws and justice delivery system to tame the monster of corruption are going on at pace. The Chief Justice of the Federation acknowledged this respect for the independence of the separate arms of government and the complete non-interference of the executive in their affairs at the recent Iftar of the President
with judicial officers. This how it should be, if we are to make the much needed progress on the anti-corruption front. In case, anyone missed it, President Buhari’s imprimatur on the anti- corruption fight has been his declaration in a most recent interview with a local TV channel that the records of his administration have been made ready for his successors and was therefore not expecting anyone to invite him for answers. That was a very bold statement to make by a sit- ting president especially in an endemically corrupt sub-region like ours. But Buhari knows his onions and the firm ground he stands on the anti-corruption fight.
For his doggedness in the anti- corruption fight, the president has earned accolades both at home, and even more abroad. His peers in the African Union has named him the Champion of Anti-corruption in Africa. Our partners and friends abroad have continued to give us the support and wherewithal we require to win the fight against the insurgency that has bedeviled the country to no end.
The anti-corruption fight is work in progress. This is why the recent suggestion by human rights activist and leading maritime lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba that the EFCC should be unbundled with the investigation, prosecution and the management of re- covered assets functions put in separate agencies of government as has been done successfully in other jurisdictions should be taken on board. This is the kind of constructive criticism that the anti-corruption fight and indeed all aspects of national life need. Like it or not, corruption has done incalculable damage to the national resource, the national psyche and image, and the country as a whole, including those who promote and benefit from corruption are the losers in the long run. The earlier we realized this, the better.
In fact, there is a correlation between the corruption perception index and our tottering economy. And contrary to what the enemies of government would have us believe, that did not start just today. The fundamentals of our economy have been flawed for a very long time, and progressively getting worse be- cause of the many missed opportunities in the past. One need not be an expert in economics to know that you needed to build your infrastructure as a fundamental of economic activity. Governments did relatively well in the colonial times and right up to the Gowon era when copious national planning was embraced through the National Development Plans. But that was abandoned along the line and mindless importation and ostentatious living based on the volatile crude oil became the order of the day.
So how was a pragmatic Buhari ever going to promise making the Naira equal to the US dollar, as his traducers claim, without putting our fundamentals in contest? The exchange rate is never artificially determined. Rather it is a function of the differential in the value of the goods and services of one country compared to another. Plus, the quantum of the demand of one country’s goods and services by another. So on these two counts, we lack seriously behind our potentials.
This is why the Buhari government cannot be wrong in building our basic and legacy infrastructures, even if with borrowed money. It is a classic case of using money to chase more money. Now, there is none of these projects which is not capable of paying its way back, given the way these loans are structured and with proper management. We need as a country to grow the food we eat, and our comparative advantage is huge in this respect. The emerging rice and maize pyramids in the country as well as the efforts to significantly increasing production of other cereals, tubers and roots hold a lot of promise for national food security in the immediate future.
Paul writes from Lagos
