The cycle called corruption

There must be something binding Nigeria with the ubiquitous word in its annals called corruption. In his days of mounting the soap box to seek the mandate to mount the saddle as President, former President Muhammadu Buhari was wont to say that if Nigeria does not kill corruption, then corruption will kill Nigeria. We cannot categorically say which is killing the other. One is certainly killing the other even if it appears difficult to be certain about the winner. There seem to be a corruption link chaining all the regimes. No regime has escaped that Banana pill. Every coming government has always found that the predecessor stepped on that pill. Buhari made a habit of blaming his predecessor for virtually everything that went wrong. He was emphatic that his predecessors earned more money from oil but achieved

little. It was a subtle way of saying that the corruption peel made them slide and fall. They fell short of expectations in spite of having loads of money through oil earning. It can only be the result of receiving a sliding tackle from the wicked peel set by corruption. In his days as a Military man Buhari rooted out President Shehu Shagari for the same ten letter word. He virtually bundled politicians of that era into jail, some of them getting ridiculous terms which, however, ran concurrently. This was nearly 40 years ago. Many of those in that era have gone the inevitable way of all mortals. But many have also been vindicated by the happenstances following their time. They can as well be saints given the mid-blowing sums of money that have found their way into private pockets in the dispensations that succeeded them.

. The irony is that civilians who tended to protest military rule, and literally drove soldiers back to the barracks, have upped the ante in perpetrating the misdemeanors of their predecessors. President Obasanjo retired all military personnel who had held political offices prior to his mounting the saddle as President. The apparent sack of the military from the commanding heights of political power and the return of civilians has not reversed the trend of the cycle called corruption. The nation has had repeated cases of embezzlement, far beyond what obtained in the past, for which former President Muhammadu Buhari and his collaborators drove the civilians out of power forty years ago.

Every successive government shows an anti-corruption face, which is why Obasanjo created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Yar”Adua Sacked one minister who did not return unspent funds from appropriation at the end of the year. Obasanjo got some Governors jailed, and even got some impeached  on account of financial misdemeanor.  His successors did their best to fight the ailment called corruption. But it has refused to respond to treatment.

There is the tendency that things have headed south progressively,  given the reports showing that the nation has  continued to bleed as a  result of financial wound inflicted on it by people who have been kept in custody of its funds. Now we cannot say whether Nigeria is killing corruption or matters have gone the other way round. The recent matter of Dr. Beta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty alleviation is a pointer to the fact that the Tinubu regime also wants to lay claim to  fighting corruption. The story which has become replete now is that the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Maiden, has said Beta had requested that she paid the sum of N585 million into the account of Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola said to be the project accountant for Renewed Hope Grant for vulnerable groups. In a statement, Bawa Mokwa, Director of press in the office of the Accountant-General quoted Maiden as saying that her office does not make payments for projects implementation for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

‘Allocations are released to self-accounting MDAs in line with the budget and such MDAs are responsible for implementation of projects and payment for the projects’ part of the release.

The AGF explained that although her office received the said request from the ministry, it did not carry out the payment. It said the minister was advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure. Maiden said beneficiaries of such projects should be paid through their verified bank accounts. The money in question was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos States.

The forgone is indicative that Beta is suspended for intent not for action. But that is not to vindicate her given that   the investigation may   unearth things beyond what we have seen. Beta is a poster boy, girl in this case, for youths in the cabinet, which is why it is hoped that nothing is found against her. But if anything is found against her I would simply remember the proverb that when mother goat eats the baby watches to know how she does it so as to know how to do it.  If anything is found against her, it may well be that she has ardently learnt from her elders in the game. This so-called fight against corruption   can only be effective when those at the helm lead from the front on the matter. The perception of current people at the helm at the executive and legislative arms in the past hardly gives the impression that they can fight the menace in good conscience.  Perhaps they need to show that, in spite of being in power they have the good conscience to embark on such a fight. As lawyers say, you cannot give what you do not have.

There is a sense of hope that something positive may give, when the Presidency announced   a directive concerning trave entourage. He has given instructions that   it be cut down drastically, an indication that the government listened to the outrage which greeted the President’s recent travel abroad where over one thousand people were in the entourage. The indication is that the circle of corruption can indeed be broken. I   choose to be positive on the matter.