By Son Gyoh
IT seems there is no let off in the determination by individuals entrusted with leadership to steal their communities' blind even in the face of the now suspect war against corruption. Nuhu Ribadu hit the bull's eye in his resent exposition of the nature of corruption and its tendency to find comfort zones in willing polities.
Watching an AIT international ‘focus Nigeria' discussion on Governor Peter Obi's 250 million Naira heist, it is clear that Nigeria is losing this so called war against corruption. But it was clear from the beginning this war was a lost battle, when there always seemed an escape route for convicted high profile thieves who are allowed to regain their freedom by trading-in a portion of their spoils.
Again, as Ribadu rightly noted, unless we begin to see misappropriation of public funds as an act of human right violation and the root cause of poverty and disease, social dislocation, armed conflict and brain drain, we may never even grasp the real depth of this heinous crime and the need to apply the full wrath of the law in addressing it.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) experience has shown that one institution built on the resolve of one personality will not win this war, particularly when other equally powerful institutions are manned by individuals with compromised agendas and a value system built on wilful opportunism.
How is it that even in the heat of such scandal, the serving state commissioner of information feels secure and at ease to defend the Governor in a press conference in which he brazenly evaded all these pertinent questions: 1) What is the identity of the contractor who it was claimed owned the N250 million, on the reason why the faceless contractor was paid such a sum in cash, (above the 500,000 limit) 2) Why the cash was in the Governor's official vehicle 3) What bank issued the weekend payment and for what contract was the payment paid?
Clearly, the commissioner felt this was just a hitch in the regular movement of such ‘consignments' and the dust will settle in a short while. Not even the fear of a possible EFCC call fazed him as this is a familiar motion in the Nigerian brand. In any case, why has the EFCC not moved in on this big catch? Has it gone into standby mode following Ribadu's exit?
I have always maintained that our biggest problem in mobilising the follower-ship is the pervading ‘national cake' mindset of our society where people play the waiting game for their turn to someday get access to a disproportionate slice. If we had a proper Inland Revenue tax system where citizens saw these cash feasts as pilfering tax contributions, the outrage would be more productive in demanding and institutionalising accountability.
Moreover, a tax base gives an economy elbow room in this era of global market hiccups and we are all for the better if we ensure that it is put into proper use and even our executives will have second thoughts driving through deprived communities with stolen tax contributions. Why is the followership stock in a dead end cull de sac of ‘what have they done with our allocation so far'? There has to be an incentive to demand accountability and the national cake certainly does not do it for us.
There are gaps in our tax revenue system, landlords (mostly civil servants) collect undeclared rent several years in advance, inheritance tax not effectively collected, government contractors build in VAT and evade profit tax, traders do not open their books to revenue, corporate bonuses and financial investments go undetected and many state governments fold their arms only to stretch out for federal allocations (national cake) which no one can establish a legitimate claim to generating. Where does the will to insist on accountability come from in this great binge?
The script of this war against corruption will be rehearsed again when Peter Obi would refuse to answer the questions posed by the public, survives an impeachment if there is an attempt at all, escape trial along with his accomplices and the 250 million complete its journey to an illicit account. Fellow Nigerians, this is the flavour of the Nigerian brand we may just end up re-tagging.
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