NIGERIA’S TRANSPARENCY RANKING

Just this past week, Transparency International (TI) issued its annual ranking based on what is globally accepted as Transparency Perception Index (TPI), which is a barometer of corruption. Nigeria was ranked as the 35th most corrupt nation in the world for 2012.

Earlier this year, I wrote an article “Adultery and Corruption – which is worse?” in that piece, I asked people to vote. Most Nigerians agreed that corruption was worse, although many women, understandably, said adultery. To quote part of my article, according “to Transparency International (TI), in 2011, the most corrupt nation was Somalia with a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 1 (10 means clean while 1 means highly corrupt). Nigeria was ranked 143 out of 183 nations in 2011 with CPI index of 2.4 (30th in Sub-Sahara Africa), while we ranked 137 in 2009 with CPI of 2.5. TI only surveyed 183 out of 193 nations in 2011 and only 180 in 2009. If you read it in reverse it means in 2009 we were the 44th most corrupt nation, whereas in 2011 we were the 41st most corrupt nation. However, we are less transparent than we were two years ago, meaning probably more corrupt. CPI defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys.”

As expected, this 2012 ranking has aroused both positive and negative reactions amongst Nigerians and the international community. On the positive side, we are still not the most corrupt country in the world and we seem to be making progress – okay it depends on whom you ask.

On the negative side, it may appear as though we have continued to lend credence to those who believe that our situation may be hopeless and that this government's so called anti-corruption campaign is just mere words. In other words, our two anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), seem to have not been effective. Nigeria seems to be for sale to the highest bidder. In fact, the fuel subsidy corruption probe, the pension scam, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) scandals, the election fraud, the bloated civil service, ex-Governors looting, the National Assembly pay package, the corruption in the judiciary, absence of elected Local Government Councils in at least 10 States, the rotten educational sector, high unemployment, armed robbery, kidnapping and even Boko Haram all seem to point to a nation that may be at the brink of collapse, absent some major revolution. We are slipping and getting progressively worse – 44th in 2009, 41st in 2011 and 35th in 2012. Where will we be in 2013?

The crux of our national problems is corruption and it is even amazing that some persons have come out to question the validity of Nigeria's 2012 TI ranking, instead of looking for solutions to our obvious problems. Those denying the validity of TI's report include the SA to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe. He forgets that the more transparent a country is in its dealings, the less corrupt it is. This means that we should know the details of all politicians' asset declaration whether it be the President, the process for award of contracts, and the details of all government expenditures including the fluid “security votes.” In addition, whenever a politician makes a donation, we should be able to answer the question about the source of his money, not just hail him for his altruism and philanthropic gesture.

When the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi talked about reduction of the civil service by 50%, many people, especially politicians, came out against him. Of course, he also added that the National Assembly (NASS) should be trimmed. What we should be doing is applauding him for the courage, while telling him that we will start looking for a way for the private sector to absolve those that will be retrenched. In other words, he is right but we need to put certain things in place first, just as we should have done before the fuel subsidy removal. What does this have to do with our TPI or CPI, you may ask. Recruitment, promotion and retention of civil servants are fraught with corruption, at the local government, state and national level. Forget the fact that that many civil servants are redundant and not needed. If you doubt me, go to most offices and see if the staff are gainfully engaged, that is assuming they show up for work at all.

Many applicants are exploited and charged exorbitant “assistance” fees for prospective employment in the civil service, not to mention the fact that they government charges a fee for the application forms and receives more than ten times applications compared to the number of vacant positions. I was happy to hear Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole add his weight to Sanusi's position, but amending it to say it should be a 50% reduction in overhead, even as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the sacking of Sanusi. Also, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, also acknowledged the need for about 12% reduction in his workforce even after he had reduced the State's recurrent expenditure to 37%, but was faced with the dilemma about where the retrenched workers will go. See p.25, Vanguard, Monday, December 3, 2012.

When Mallam Sanusi mentioned that the constitution creates mediocrity, we again discarded his statement because we are unable to separate the issue from the man. Our constitution, whether it be federal character (or PDP's zoning), creates a sense of entitlement that encourages non-performance and lack of accountability, which in a way could also lead to corruption.

The joint State and Local Government (LGA) account is an obvious issue. Only a fool will expect the Governors to be in support of an independent LGA. Since I am wise, I was not surprised that the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) came out against an independent LGA. In this case, I was clairvoyant, even though I would not ordain myself a prophet.

The situation is even sadder because those we are trusting to suggest needed amendments to the constitution, will be required to make changes that will not be to their benefit. Can a man remove food from his own table? Can the fox guard the hen house? Think about it.

Let us be transparent and kill corruption before it kills us.

Prof Alex Osondu Atawa Akpodiete is an author, Computer Scientist, Educator, Consultant, lawyer, Political Analyst, Public affair analyst & Social commentator. He has a Doctorate degree in Jurisprudence from the US. He has lectured Law, Ethics and Security & Intelligence Studies at the University level here in Nigeria and US. He also writes for a state daily newspaper & national monthly journal. He currently divides his time between Nigeria and USA where he runs a PR and an international capacity building firm ATAWA GROUP. Contact him on 08138391661 or [email protected]. He is also on Facebook and you can follow him on Twitter.