Femi Pedro
5 August 2008
opinion
Lagos — Many of us Nigerians do not realise that our nation harbours a virus deadlier than HIV. The similarities that this virus shares with HIV are really amazing. Just as HIV leads to AIDS which is terminal, the virus afflicting our nation can also lead to systemic collapse, if not tackled with the required seriousness. Even as we grapple with Nigeria's many problems daily, this virus, the root cause of most of these challenges, is having a free reign.
I am talking about the grandfather of all our nation's problems and the root cause of our various national challenges since independence CORRUPTION. Corruption is the main virus that has eaten deep into the fabric of our society. It now threatens the very existence of our nation. We all think we know a lot about this subject but, let us face the truth; its ramifications are simply mind-boggling.
For clarity, corruption is simply fraud, dishonesty, exploitation, bribery, embezzlement, stealing, sleaze, cronyism, nepotism, degeneracy etc. These things are almost a national pastime, particularly in our public life. They exist in politics, in government, in our judiciary, public institutions, in the private sector, among employees and employers, in places of worship, in our educational institutions, and in homes. These vices have lived with us for so long that we have an amazing level of tolerance for them.
Unlike other developed societies, our nation and our people accept some of these as a way of life. We simply ignore or pretend they are harmless. In some instances, we celebrate the "success" of the corrupt among us and defend corrupt leaders because they are generous with money stolen from public purse. Nigerians mechanically engage in corrupt acts in their daily lives. Many collect bribe to perform their legitimate duties as they see bribery as merely a means of survival, even though the nation, ironically, may not survive because of their action! Many politicians commit fraud to win elections and voters aid them. Public service has become 'pocket service' as nobody, from the top to the very bottom, seems immune to this virus.
Likewise, corruption is pervasive in the private sector, particularly the sensitive and strategic sectors of our economy. Yes, there are ingenious forms of corruption in the banking sector, oil and gas sector, telecommunications, construction, shipping, aviation, transportation, trading and so on. In some cases, the operators steal from their customers, from the government or cheat on taxes, manipulate their books, even fleece one another. It is common knowledge that audited accounts are routinely rigged by some private and public companies, while stock prices are sometimes manipulated for personal gains. Imported refined products are sometimes adulterated. There are instances of some banks cheating their customers on charges and interest, while companies fake products. Some companies sell to government at inflated prices. Low income earners and the poor steal from people like themselves who have so little; artisans and small businesses routinely cheat their clients and sometimes knowingly provide substandard services at inflated charges. In other cases, employees steal from their employers and customers and vice versa. In most cases, these corrupt elements get away with these practices and others join in to continue the vicious cycle. Only the occasional unlucky ones are caught by the corrupt system and they may still buy their freedom through corruption.
The prevalence of these activities in various aspects of our lives has a tremendous adverse impact on the quality of life in this country, our living standards and national psyche. Our development is constantly retarded by corruption. The situation has reached an alarming stage because corruption is the root cause of most of our problems. We don't have regular electricity because of corruption. Our children are unable to find decent jobs, even after graduation, because of corruption. If we live in constant fear of insecurity, blame corruption. Corruption is the reason for creeping poverty everywhere. Even, the Niger Delta region is now restive because of corruption.
Corruption is responsible for our long history of political instability, coups and counter coups. Corruption is also the reason we have various electoral failures and political succession crises as a nation. Our citizens are routinely humiliated, jailed and executed in foreign countries because of corruption. Corruption is the root cause of several fatal air and road crashes, collapse of buildings and fire disasters that we are experiencing across the country. You can also add the collapse of the railways, road transportation, education and health infrastructure, among so many others.
Corruption in our politics undermines our democracy and promotes indolence, mediocrity, and bad policies made by bad representatives. Corruption in our judiciary, legislature and the police compromises rule of law and good governance. Corruption facilitates criminal enterprise in our society. That is why sometimes it seems crime pays. We have a relatively high prevalence of drug trafficking, money laundering, advance fee fraud (419), fake passports, fake visa, and the counterfeiting of currencies, certificates, customs receipt, and other sensitive public documents is rife. We thrive in these things because we have allowed corruption to gain ground and the very corrupt among us to become truly wealthy and powerful. Corruption in the private sector creates distortion in the market place, weakens our economy, encourages capital flight and discourages foreign investment.
Why are we in this situation? Nobody can pontificate because it is a complex problem. There is however good news. As Nigerians, we do not have corruption in our genes. What's more, we can actually reduce corruption drastically if we really address the problem with all seriousness. The virus may have eaten deep into our society and the innocent and honest among us may seem helpless, but we can stop moaning and go to work. We can identify some points of departure in our effort to tackle corruption. Chief among this is to determine the kind of country and the system we want. We have not had a very frank debate on this in all of our history. This is very paramount because only a system that has little or no tolerance for corruption can save us. The second step is to ensure certainty of sanction once we put such a system in place. No criminal should go unpunished, no matter how highly placed. This is a characteristic of all developed countries. Three, we should always hold our leaders accountable. Of course, this leads to my last prescription: we cannot hold our leaders accountable if we ourselves are not good followers.
Since the birth of our nation, we have allowed some very corrupt elements to become our leaders. This is known as kleptocracy-the rule by thieves. They have stolen our national wealth and have turned around to use the power and wealth to protect themselves against prosecution and install their successors who are equally rogues. The corridors of power across the nation are teeming with these leaders. They have created new and future generations of corrupt leaders who will certainly continue the vicious cycle of corruption. The various statutory institutions created by our laws either to police or check corruption are themselves mostly tainted or their past or present leaders have been compromised at one time or the other. These institutions and many others are the bedrock of our democracy and the erosion of public trust in them affects their capacity to discharge their constitutional responsibility.
The impact of corruption on our life is devastating and it disproportionately affects the poor who carry the heaviest burden and are the ultimate victims. It poses a serious and fundamental developmental challenge to us as a nation. We seem unable to make real, measurable and visible progress and level of poverty is forever growing. Our genuine efforts at nation building and development are marred at every point by corrupt practices of those elected or appointed to lead us. This is why real progress and development may continue to elude us until we find a way out of this siege we have created for ourselves. It is really a sad situation!
I honestly don't have all the answers. This is why I am writing this piece to generate a national discourse and rouse some of us to begin to tackle this very challenging national tragedy. I call on all interested Nigerians to join me in starting a national crusade against corruption as a first step towards finding a lasting solution. Let us stop our helplessness today and take charge of our destiny and the destiny of our nation for the sake of our generation and those yet unborn. To borrow from Senator Barrak Obama's slogan for the US Presidential election, I say, 'Yes we can!'
-Pedro, banker and entrepreneur, was former deputy governor of Lagos State
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