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By Sonnie Ekwowusi
Following endemic corruption recently unearthed at NNPC, EFCC, NDDC and lately at NSITF the people, as usual, have been bemoaning the increasing political corruption- kleptocracy, cronyism, bribery, financial impropriety, fraud and so forth-in the Buhari government. For two weeks or so the people have been constantly entertained with bizarre corruption narratives which testify to the triumph of kakistocracy (government by the worst citizens) in Nigeria. In his famous essay: Common Sense, Tom Paine maintains that the English government is evil. “Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness…” he asserts. Given the suffocating corruption odour oozing out from the NNPC, EFCC, NDDC, NSITF and the different corridors of power in the Buhari government in recent times, one could be tempted to maintain that the Nigerian government is not only evil but an engine of fraud.
After listening to the corruption accusations and counter-accusations in EFCC V Magu, Akpabio V Nunieh, NDDC Probe Committee V Pondei, Akpabio V NDDC Probe Committee, Ngige V Fakaye, Fayose v Akpabio and, after watching the feigned fainting of Pondei, one cannot but conclude that public shame has disappeared from public life in Nigeria. Or, to put it differently, the estrangement from pristine values in Nigeria finds its dramatic expression in the loss of the sense of public shame. Our country has always had some scoundrels in public office, but never have we had such great number of scoundrels in public office than now. In fact the lowest common denominator of acceptable character in political life has grown much lower in Nigeria today. This is also why after alleging that members of the National Assembly are the greatest beneficiaries of NDDC contracts, the same Akpabio, upon given 48 hours to substantiate his allegation, could turn round to deny the entire allegation. It appears the gods and goddesses have entrapped these characters in the house of corruption in order to drown them in their shameless macabre putrid dance of death being staged in the full glare of the public for that matter.
Why are government thieves in Nigeria making a show of their theft with the aforesaid unabashed impunity? .Because they know that they can steal government money and completely get away with it. They know that the governed hardly demand for accountability from their representatives in government. You see, failed leadership in Nigeria is inversely related to failed followership. Failed followership begets failed leadership and vice-versa. Whenever a government thief steals public money the people would come out en masse to condemn the thief and the thievery. While some would condemn it in writing, others are wont to go the television studious to condemn it. And with easy access to the social media today, many social media warriors or social media idlers would not mind spending the whole day on social media especially on WhatsApp gossiping and cracking jokes about the thief and the thievery. Thereafter nothing happens. The thief and theft are forgotten. No lessons learnt. The thief returns to the streets and continues walking the streets freely. No consequences. No rule of law is invoked. I wager that in, say, four weeks, EFCC V Magu, Agbabio V Nunieh, NDDC Probe Committee V Pondei, Akpabio V NDDC Probe Committee, Ngige V Fakaye, Fayose v Akpabio and the latest festering corruption in the NNPC, EFCC, NDDC and NSITF would have been forgotten. The truth of the matter is that the Nigerian people are just helpless before the ugly corruption situation otherwise how you can explain that the government thieves are freely making a show of their thievery with impunity and the Nigerian people are helplessly mopping at them or at best lamenting the thievery. Remember the seemingly endless corruption that marred the Obasanjo government? Did any Jupiter fall? No. Remember the thievery in the Jonathan government? Were the thieves visited with any justice? Only a few of them were visited with justice. Remember the uncountable financial impropriety and scams being unearthed in this Buhari government including the N233 million grass-cutting scam; the $25 billion NNPC contract scam; N3.2 billion Aso Rock Clinic medical equipment scam?. Any consequences following the impropriety and scam so far? No.
In all democracies especially in a presidential democracy like ours, sovereignty resides with the people. Besides, the average voter ought to be politically enlightened enough to first evaluate the political issues at stake and the character of the candidates before casting his vote on the Election Day. Simply put, the voter ought to vote with his heads and hearts. Not so in Nigeria. Most Nigerian voters vote without their heads and hearts. For example, at the last Presidential election in Nigeria some voters sheepishly queued up to vote for clueless. Today we are reaping the tragic repercussions of that singular foolish decision. So the Nigerian people, if I may use the common parlance expression, are the architects of their own destruction. When a Pat Utomi piped the people refused to dance to his music on the un-fancied rationalization that he lacked “political platform”. By the way, what is “political platform?”. Bags of rice or money loaded in Ghana-must-go bags?. Similarly, when a Wole Soyinka bellowed out his philosophical-jurisprudential soliloquy the people shook their heads in derision saying, “He is speaking too much grammar. Na grammar we go chop?”. But when a sickly old man who did not break a slate in primary school appears to advertise his ignorance he is applauded and enthroned as King. Can you now appreciate why Nigerians are the real architects of their own destruction?
And guess what? After periodic elections the Nigerians people go home beating their chest in the euphoria of having enthroned democracy. Rather hold their leaders accountability they allow their leaders to determine how the people should be governed. The annoying aspect is that the same people turn round to applaud the leaders for their luxurious cars, big mansions and even stolen monies. The leaders “spray” money in churches and at social events to the delight of the people. As far as the people are concerned, winning an election in Nigeria is synonymous with winning a big lottery with plenty of free money to throw about. Any ethical politician who does not “spray” the people with money in public is regarded as a failure in politics. A few years ago, one politician (name withheld) strongly argued that more money should be paid to him as security vote. Why? Because according to him he was not the only one “chopping” the security vote money; his friends and town’s men and women also partook in “chopping” the money. You see, following the politician’s warped reasoning, monies budgeted for security vote should be misappropriated anyhow: the monies can either end up in the private pockets of politicians or in the private pockets of their friends and town folks.
So while the country sickens for failure of political leadership, the political followership is not faring better either. The people who complain that many Nigerian politicians are thieves are complicit in the thievery of the thieves. Somehow the ordinary people have lost their sense of decency. They have lost grip with the basic values that make for a decent human society. This is why many traditional rulers are now selling chieftaincy titles to corrupt politicians, drug barons, kidnappers, “419” kingpins and others. In the past there was an in-built mechanism for ejecting scoundrels in our midst. If, for example, you had a neigbour who was thief, he was naturally ejected from the community. No no longer the case today. Our new Nigeria, with its complexities and sophistications, now shelters evildoers. This is why many people hitherto looked up to as merchants of light are now despised as merchants of darkness.