THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION AND WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA

Source: thewillnigeria.com

INTRODUCTION
Over the years, several scholars, development workers, activists, politicians, international organizations, public affairs commentators and the general public have given attention to the problem of corruption and its attendant effects on society. The problem is not new to humankind even though it has reached unprecedented proportions in recent years. It is as old as society itself and cuts across nations, cultures, races and classes of people. It has been argued that one of the major obstacles to the development of poor countries is corruption. Corruption is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our time, a challenge that is not only leading to impoverishment and loss of lives but also threatening the stability of society.  In an opinion poll conducted by the Guardian Newspapers in the year 2000, Nigerians picked corruption, unemployment and bad leadership as the worst problems hindering the country's development. 761 respondents or 70 percent of the respondents out of the total sample of 1,080 people picked corruption as one of the worst problems hindering the nation's advancement.

Corruption has a lot of negative consequences on every sphere of societal development whether social, economic or political. Over the years, past governments have made efforts to fight corruption but corruption has remained widespread. The challenge of fighting corruption was therefore a major issue during the 2015 elections in Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari made  the fight against corruption one of his cardinal programmes along with security and the economy.

As the Buhari administration finalizes his plans and strategies for the administration including fighting corruption with the confirmation of Ministers by the Senate, it is necessary to reflect on failure of previous efforts at the fight against corruption with a view to properly focusing the war on corruption by the Buhari administration.  But first, let us briefly review the state of corruption in Nigeria.

CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA
It is well known that corruption is an obstacle to the provision of services and it has been documented that many public organisations in Nigeria cannot deliver services expected of the service compact with all Nigerians (SERVICOM) as a result of several reasons including lack of capacity, poor orientation and attitude, weak incentives, weak monitoring and evaluation system and corruption. [ii] It has been documented that corruption is widespread, deep and endemic in Nigeria. [iii] Nigeria has been consistently rated among the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index. In 2011, Nigeria was ranked 143rd out of 183 countries. In 2012, Nigeria was rated 139th out of 176 countries and in 2013, Nigeria was placed at the 144th position out of 177 countries.  In the last report, Nigeria was rated 136th out of 174 countries.

FAAILURE OF PREVIOUS EFFORTS
The war against corruption in Nigeria dates to a very long time. Every community in Nigeria has mechanisms for dealing with corruption with appropriate sanctions for corruption. The fight in the public sector came to the limelight in 1966 when the military identified corruption of the politicians as one of the reasons for taking over.  Experience later showed that the military is probably more corrupt than civilian politicians. The military ruled Nigeria from 1966-1979 and handed over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration in 1979. But barely four years later, the Shagari administration was overthrown by the Buhari/Idiabgon regime. The Buhari/Idiagbon regime launched a war against corruption, tried and jailed many politicians and dismissed many civil servants. But when the Ibrahim Babangida regime overthrew the Buhari regime, it released many of the politicians that were jailed by the Buhari regime and reduced the sentences of others. In fact, it has been argued that “Babangida's government was unique in its unconcern about corruption within its ranks and among public servants generally; it was as if the Government existed so that corruption might thrive.” [iv] There is no doubt that Scholars are in agreement that corruption reached unprecedented levels in incidence and magnitude during General Ibrahim Babangida regime. It is ironic that the regime also had its own reorientation and anti-corruption programme christened MAMSER.  By the time President Olusegun Obasanjo came back to power as a civilian President in 1999, corruption has reached unprecedented proportion that it formed a major portion of his inaugural speech.

In Nigeria, there are a number of legislations in addition to specific programmes such as ethical revolution of Shehu Shagari administration, War against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAIC) of Buhari/Idiagbon regime and MAMSER of the Babangida regime. The legislations include:

  • The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
  • The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act
  • The Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act No 25 of 1991
  • Failed Bank Act No 16 of 1996
  • The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act
  • Money Laundering Act No 3 of 1995
  • The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of 2000
  • The Economic and Financial Crimes Act 2004
  • The Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence unit
  • The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative  (NEITI) Act
  • Foreign Exchange Miscellaneous Provisions Act No. 17 of 1995

When President Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in May 1999, he made it clear in his inaugural speech that fight against corruption will be one of his major programmes. In his speeches and carriage, he continued to sing the anti-corruption song. One of the first bills initiated by the Obasanjo administration was the one on anti-corruption. The bill was passed into law as the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000. In 2002, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established. The former President's anti-corruption campaign has received a lot of criticism. Some argue that it was a one-man campaign, which was bound to fail. Others contend that the President Obasanjo was not sincere with the anti-corruption crusade. According to the former Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Alh. Idris Abubakar, “the president knows quite a number of corrupt officials in the three arms of government. But rather than prosecute them, he is using the dossier collected on them to blackmail them to support his government.” [v] Some critics also argued that the former president's campaign lacks seriousness. According to Scrutiny, there are six questions that should test the seriousness of any anti-corruption crusade. These are: Is it systematic? Is it comprehensive? Is it consistent? Does it have focus? Is it well publicised? Does it carry people along? The Obasanjo`s crusade was said to have failed the entire test except the one on publicity. Scrutiny concludes that the president was merely using the anti-corruption crusade “as a platform for public posturing, some sort of grandstanding.” Consequently, it was documented that Nigerians did not feel the impact of the anti-corruption crusade of President Olusegun Administration. [vi] The Yaradua/ Goodluck administration claimed to be fighting corruption using technology. But the public posture of the leadership gave the impression that corruption was not a serious problem. The President even criticized previous governments for sending to jail someone who stole a mere generator. Many high level corruption cases like the Siemens scandal, Haliburton case etc were left unattended.

 
Despite the plethora of legislations and agencies fighting corruption in the country, corruption has remained widespread and pervasive because of failure to utilize universally accepted and tested strategies. Over the years, scholars, activists and international organizations have identified elements which when present can assist in winning the war against corruption. These elements include:

    1. Legislative Framework for transparent and accountable government and for fighting corruption including Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act), Budget law, Fiscal responsibility law, Whistle blowers Act e.t.c.
    2. Political will and commitment to fight corruption
    3. Comprehensive strategy that is systematic, comprehensive, consistent, focused, publicized, non-selective and non-partisan
    4. Protection of Whistle blowers
    5. Political Reform to curb political corruption
    6. Reform of substantive programmes and administrative procedures
    7. Mobilisation for social re-orientation with participation of civil society and faith based organisations
    8. Effective parliamentary oversight through the Public Accounts Committee
    9. Independent media
    10. Adequate remuneration for workers to reflect the responsibilities of their post and a living wage
    11. Code of ethics for Political office holders, business people and CSOs
    12. Independent institutions
    13. Movement for Anti-corruption

    The war against corruption is being lost in Nigeria for several reasons. First, Nigeria has not utilized universally accepted and time tested strategies elucidated above. In most cases, the policies and strategies utilized in fighting corruption are not holistic and comprehensive containing the elements mentioned above. For instance, although Nigeria has passed the Freedom of Information Act, its agencies have refused to comply with the provisions of the Act.

    Secondly, there is a disconnect between the utterances of the warriors of the fight and their conduct. For instance, the former Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force Mr. Tafa Balogun, posing as an anti-corruption crusader once emphasized that:

    The evil that corruption has brought to the Nigerian society is very much. Corruption has become a culture in our society today. That is why we have to fight against it so that we would be able to improve our image. We intend to commence an in-house cleaning in the Nigeria Police Force. [vii]

    Barely two years later, Mr. Tafa Balogun was accused of corruptly enriching himself to the tune of over N13 billion, and was removed from office and convicted. For any crusade to succeed, the leaders of the crusade must match their actions with their words.

    Thirdly, for any war to be won, soldiers are required. In Nigeria, those who should be playing the role of soldiers for the war (Politicians, the judiciary, legal enforcement institutions, police and other such official legal bodies) are the biggest part of the problem of corruption rather than the solution. [viii] Therefore, winning the war against corruption will require struggle for societal transformation. We have argued elsewhere that for change to occur in any society requires the presence of objective and subjective conditions. Objective conditions exist when situations are evidently abnormal with huge contradictions which can only be resolved by change. The subjective conditions are the organizational preparations required to bring about change. In our view, the objective condition for a full scale war on corruption is ripe in Nigeria. The level of corruption in the country is unacceptable. Nigeria has been  consistently rated by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index to be among the most corrupt countries in the world. The country cannot continue in the way it is presently being corruptly run without fatal economic, social and political consequences.  The emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari is a policy and advocacy moment for Nigeria to upscale the war against corruption.

    Moreover, the fight must address the international dimensions including the complicity of developed countries. It has been documented that one of America's oldest banks, Riggs, was brought down because it held the bank accounts of Augusto Pinochet, and the oil revenues of Equatorial Guinea which was controlled exclusively by President Obiang. Despite this, the United States turns a blind eye to the corruption of and human rights abuses that typify Obiang's rule. [ix] Similarly, the British Government regards itself as a world leader in the fight against corruption, as evidenced by establishing the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). However, it has seriously undermined its own credibility in this regard, and in turn the international case, by its calling off of a police investigation into allegedly corrupt arms deal between BAE systems and Saudi Arabia, which sends a clear signal that Britain will tolerate corruption for political reasons. [x] All efforts must be made to recover the loot stashed away in foreign countries.

    Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the fight against corruption in Nigeria is not located within the broader paradigm of fighting for the transformation of society in a way that will deal with the multi-factorial causes of corruption.

    Therefore, policy options and strategies for winning the war against corruption must address these issues. The strategy must be comprehensive and holistic. Government should not be fighting corruption and at the same time engaging in political corruption (through election rigging) or implementing policies that would exacerbate corruption. For instance, when the salaries of workers cannot sustain them, there is the tendency to engage in petty corruption. If government is fighting corruption and at the same time implements unbridled neo-liberal policies that further impoverish the people, then the fight against corruption cannot be won. Government cannot pay police officers wages that can hardly pay for increased transportation cost to their places of work  and expect them to be honest in the discharge of their duties. In the same vein, if government is engaging in political corruption through rigging of elections, imposition of party officials, brazen distribution of political patronage [xi] and selective prosecution of corrupt officials, then the war cannot be won. Furthermore, when government officials spend money recklessly in the midst of poverty, it is difficult to deal with corruption.

    Finally, the fight against corruption should be a part of the fight to transform society. It should be a fight for humanity. It should be a fight that will challenge power relations, institutions, mechanisms and systems that promote corruption. It should be a fight against political corruption and a fight for empowerment of citizens to enlist them in the war against corruption. It should be a fight against a system of mediocrity that produces emergency millionaires from being commissioned agents, currency speculators and contractors. It should be a fight for value re-orientation where Nigerian citizens will begin to see government as their own and not alien and when they will begin to protect government property as they currently protect community property. Fighting corruption should neither be an isolated event nor should it be an end in itself. It must be part and parcel of transforming society and enthroning a just, equitable, efficient and fair system in the world.

     
    ATTEMPTS BY THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION
    Since his election and inauguration, President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that the fight against corruption will be a top priority of his government. He has done this effectively by setting the tone at the top, what commentators has dubbed body language. Setting the tone at the top is very important in fighting corruption. It is the way that the top leadership will show from posture, statements and action that corruption will not be tolerated. Setting the tone at the top is necessary but insufficient to fight corruption in a society where corruption is endemic because some deviants will continue with corruptible transactions no matter the tone set at the top. This is why the anti-corruption war in Nigeria must be comprehensive and well-focused.

     
    Secondly, the Buhari administration has set up a Presidential committee on anti-corruption headed by renowned legal icon, Prof. Itse Sagay. The mandate of the committee include among other things to formulate a strategy and co-ordinate the ant—corruption war of the administration ensuring that all sectors of the Nigerian society are involved in the fight.  The committee should be working out its strategic approach and plans.

    FOCUSING THE WAR PROPERLY
    For the Buhari administration to win the war against corruption, it must learn lessons from the failure of past attempts. In our view, for the war on corruption to succeed, the administration must focus on six key areas.

    First is to formulate a national strategy to fight corruption that is comprehensive and owned by the citizens of Nigeria. The importance of a strategy in the fight against corruption in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. The process of developing the strategy should be participatory and involve a lot of consultation of citizens across government, private sector and civil society. There is the need for Nigerians to have ownership of the fight against corruption otherwise it will be an exercise in futility.

    Secondly, the war should focus on education of the citizens on the negative consequences of corruption and enlist citizens as soldiers for the fight. In this regard, government must put in place mechanism to protect whistle blowers through legislation and concrete programmes. Situations in the past where whistle blowers are victimized and harassed should be avoided.  Indeed, the government should launch a programme of war against indiscipline and corruption and enlist more people as whistle blowers.

    Thirdly, the government should engage in corruption risk assessment of all government ministries, departments and agencies and put in place integrity systems. The aim of the corruption risk assessment is to identify key corruption and fraud related risks in the public sector. The assessment will also help to identify vulnerable areas that are prone to corruption and proffer recommendations that will lead to the development of integrity plans that would strengthen accountability and transparency towards enhanced public service delivery.

    Fourthly, the government should prioritise the prosecution of corrupt people especially in the short term to serve as deterrence to others. In this regard, there is the need to improve the capacity of prosecutorial agencies in investigation and prosecution. There is also the need for legislative reform including amendment of the evidence act, criminal and penal procedures act and enactment of Whistle blowers and witness protection laws to aid the fight against corruption.  In addition, government must revisit the high profile corruption cases that are well known to the public but appears to have been abandoned for political considerations such as the Halliburton and Siemens scandals.

    Fifthly, government should put in place system and mechanism to recover stolen loot at home and abroad. There is the need for a clear procedure and protocol for asset recovery following the rule of law and where necessary amendment of the law to ensure speedy recovery.

    Finally, and perhaps most importantly, government should launch a national programme on war against corruption and indiscipline.  The programme should focus on ethical re-orientation and sustenance of national values and ethos. The government by its actions should promote persons of value and integrity. List of national merit award should not be essentially be people who have been guests of anti-corruption agencies and coup plotters. A major criterion for recognizing people should be integrity and values

    CONCLUSION
    Corruption is bad for any society. It is partly responsible for the underdevelopment of Nigeria. The problem of corruption has been recognized by all in the country and efforts have been made in the past to address it. Unfortunately, previous efforts have failed to achieve the desired result. The Buhari administration has displayed the commitment to fight corruption by setting the tone at the top. But the administration must learn from the failure of previous attempts and focus the war properly so that corruption will be tamed in Nigeria. Failure to do so will be disastrous for future generations of Nigeria.

    Written by Otive Igbuzor, PhD. Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)

    ENDNOTES
    The Guardian Newspaper, Monday November 6, 2000 p. 19

    [ii] Igbuzor, O (2009), Challenges of Development in Nigeria. Lagos, Joe-Tolalu & Associates.

    [iii] Ibid
    [iv] Gboyega, A (1996) (Ed), Corruption and Democratisation in Nigeria. Ibadan, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Agbo Areo Publishers.

    [v] Tell Magazine, No 49, November 20, 2000. p. 24
    [vi] Ezeani, E. O. ( 2003), Public Accountability in Nigeria: Perspectives and Issues. Enugu, Academic Publishing Company.

    [vii] Balogun, T. (2002), vanguard Monday march 25, 2002

    [viii] TI Annual Report 1998
    [ix] Alley, P et al (2007), To Have and Have Not: Resource Governance in the 21st Century. Berlin, Heinrich Boll Foundation. P.18

    [x] Ibid p.19
    [xi] Recently, the President asked the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) to submit names for membership of Boards and parasatals and the names of the wife and son of the Chairman of the party surfaced. A few months ago, the President ordered the cancellation of the sale of houses because it contained the names of many top government officials and relatives of the wife of the President.

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