The issue of corruption in Nigeria has not stopped to amaze the world. That it has continued to generate big headlines as well as a major talking point by respected governments across the world shows how deep the wounds of corruption has become, a situation that has raised the inglorious profile of Nigeria in the top bracket of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The latest report from the United States is damning enough. According to a report said to have been submitted to the US Congress by Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry, has claimed a massive corruption at all levels of the Nigerian government.
Expectedly, several high-octane reactions, most of them condemnatory, dismissive, have trailed the US intelligence report which reportedly is the subject matter of a document entitled: “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012”.
The report is the handiwork of the US State Department based on information sourced from US embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials, Non-governmental and international organizations as well as published reports.
Every chapter of the voluminous report contains an unsavory, indeed stinking profile of corruption and astonishing lack of transparency at all levels of government and security forces in Nigeria.
Further, the report states that notwithstanding that our laws provide criminal penalties for official corruption, our government has been reluctant, or at best, tepid in implementing the law and “government officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity”.
The report did not spare our judiciary in this corruption spree. On that, it says,” there was a widespread perception (that) judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial judgments”, while citizens encounter long delays and alleged requests from judicial officials for bribes to expedite cases or obtain favorable rulings”.
The report gave a detailed account of key malfeasance in many arms of governments and officials involved in high-profile graft, among them the yet to be resolved bribery scam of Hon Farouk Lawan of the House of Representatives over the subsidy probe of last year. Estimated government money reportedly lost to “endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency” was N1.067 trn (about $6.8 bn).
The report also listed other sundry official misconduct, including the alleged refusal of President Jonathan to disclose his assets from 2007 to 2012, as required by the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability project.
Everything considered, the US report merely confirms what we in Nigeria knew already. Coming from a country like America may have made the issues raised in the report more serious, at least from the U.S standpoint perspective.
Therefore, to input improper motives in the report us to live in denial. Rather than view the U.S report as intrusive, jaundiced or malicious, Jonathan should be concerned. He should see it as a primer to do the necessary things that will keep hope alive in Nigeria.
It means he is fighting corruption with kid gloves, with no sincerity of purpose. For good measure, any one living in Nigeria today, knows as a fact that corruption among public office holders has under Jonathan Presidency has taken a turn for the worse. We have seen clear instances in the life of this administration of either deliberate inconclusiveness or inaction in certain obvious cases of corruption.
There are also clear instances where the relevant anti-graft agencies have abandoned corruption cases and the accusers only received a mere slap on the wrist. Noelle prosequi has often been applied where it is not necessary. Worse still, the judiciary has suddenly turned to be for the highest bidder.
The President knows this, prompting him to retire some judges recently after the Chef Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Muktar raised alarm that the temple of justice has become the temple of corruption.
Also in the life of this administration, and those before it, monumental fraud in the pension scheme and Ministries, Depts. and Agencies, have become commonplace.
It would appear to a visitor to our country that corruption has been legitimized. That will worry any responsible government. Only last week, the U.S. Justice Dept handed a fine of over $11 million against Parker Drilling services for admitting bribing some government officials for helping it to get juicy oil contracts in the Niger Delta few years, and its agent admitting lavishing millions of dollars “entertaining” officials who are known to government and security agents.
Yet government has done nothing against them. Same happened few years ago in the case of Halliburton U.S-based oil firm and its officials in Nigeria in a matter of illicit inducement to Nigerian government officials.
The government officials involved were never taken to court but the U.S government heavily fined Halliburton and sent the officials indicted to prison. In the wake of the sentencing of the officials, James Halloran, a top official of Halliburton who was managing one of its fat accounts in the U.S made this damning verdict about corruption in Nigeria.
He said: “Nigeria may be as clean as possible but we will be naive to think we can clean up corruption in Nigeria”. That is the challenge of the Nigerian government. And the U.S report is saying we are not doing enough.
It must be stated that this is not the first time America has made such painful remarks about governance and general state of affairs in Nigeria. Perhaps the most controversial was that of 2005 when it said, among other things, that there was a “likelihood of Nigeria’s collapse within 15 years”. Eight years have come full circle since it made that statement which government at that time described as “shallow or glib based on dubious benchmark”.
But are we not living dangerously and teetering on the path of another civil war, with Boko Haram insurgency giving government a bloody nose. A nation of great contradiction as ours will not take the U.S report serious.
That’s the way we are. But it is a foreboding sign that Nigeria is getting sicker than many of us had thought.
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