Written By  Yushau A. Shuaib

EFCC: CORRUPTION AND THE REST OF US

 Daily Trust January 4, New Nigerian January 4, NNN 0n Sunday January 8, Nigerian Tribune January 9,

The Punch January 9, Daily Independent January 11, Financial Standard February 27,

Vanguard August 21-22 and Daily Champion August 24 2006

Selective justice, political persecution and selfish agenda are the new buzzwords amongst those disturbed by the recent arrests and prosecution of those suspected of corrupt practices. The question a rationale person should ask is whether the “victims” of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are innocent of allegations of corrupt enrichments and fraudulent dealings. It is difficult to fault glaring evidences of billions of Naira linked to a convicted former Inspector General of Police and impeached governor of a Southern state of Nigeria. There was also admission of bribery between Ministers and the leadership of National Assembly for legislative passage apart from the display of a mountain of Naira notes in the legislative chamber. While some judicial officers are being probed for sleaze, young dubious businessmen are cooling their feet in cells for defrauding foreigners of hard currencies.

So far the war appears to have avoided the emotional parochialism of ethnicity, religion, tribalism, societal class and political leaning. The suspects cut across regional boundaries, tiers and arms of government. They were in the past, unfortunately too, celebrities in our society and almost worshipped for their stupendous riches. We may recall how our traditional rulers doled out chieftaincy titles to unbeaten 419kingspins, government decorated crooks in public office with prestigious honours, tertiary institutions conferred honorary doctorate degrees on fraudulent politicians, communities organized special receptions for professional prostitutes from foreign lands and even religious bodies gave prominent positions to those whose sources of wealth were shrouded in mystery.

Interestingly most of the suspects in the EFCC’s net or under investigation are not just big fishes but had at one time or the other held top leadership positions in government and business circles. One may wonder which advice the corrupt leaders had for their followers on corruption and other malpractices before nemesis caught up with them. They might have likely campaigned against corruption, while hiding under the same set of rules and regulations to perpetrate evils of nepotism and selfish-enrichment to the bewilderments of their followers who may be sanctioned for raising eyebrows.

Startlingly, some elderly and highly corrupt individuals who have enough to sustain them for life continue to accumulate wealth as if the aggrandizements would guarantee their life to eternity. Their ostentatious lifestyles encourage and promote corruption-of-necessity amongst poor workers who must struggle to supplement their meager remuneration by all means to provide the necessities of life for the family like food, medication, shelter and possibly education for their wards. We may recall the antics of lesser mortals to survive like junior policemen at checkpoint with beggarly disposition to commuters on highways; civil servants desire cuts from the inflated costs of supply from contractors; the non-remunerated reporters demand gratification for media assignments; the alfa/pastors who have no other means of livelihood than to use God’s name to extort believers; lecturers force and sell pirated work in the name of handouts to students as mandatory credit to pass exam; students forge tuition fees to get additional pocket money from their parents; girls engage in prostitution to make end meet, workers fake receipts to justify accomplished task and even beggars inflict injuries on their bodies and that of their children to win sympathy of patrons.  These poor groups were mostly caught and paraded as criminals for public condemnation until the emergence of EFCC, which has now beamed its searchlight on the big guns.

Corruption is not only rampant in the public service, it is perpetrated in the private sector too where financial institutions use seductive ladies, as marketing executives, to lure more customers to their products and service. There is also the production of substandard goods by manufacturers to heap up profits; exploitation of tariffs and duties by importers to weaken competitors; systematic manipulation of accounting procedures to boost the financial rating of companies; evasions of taxes which retard our economy; inducements of regulatory and public institutions to beat the law of the land and submissions of plagiarized reports for ridiculous consultations’ fees.

The systematic and professional fraud at high places make one to wonder who deserve the dubious title of Robinhood of Nigeria between treasury looters who invest their booties abroad and 419 fraudsters who defraud foreigners and invest their ill-gotten gains at home, when we know that the gullible 419 victims and foreign collaborators had the intent to defraud our nation. 

While it is possible to discover sincerely corrupt-free citizens in an unpredictable and turbulent society, we have no excuse to harbour any corrupt tendencies, especially with a new development where sins of the past can be unearthed, which makes 2006 the deciding year for the final onslaught on corruption before the real D-day. It is a lesson for those who are extremely clever today but whose shady deals, if there are, would ultimately be unraveled sooner or later.

The government should not only use EFCC for arrest and prosecution of suspected culprits but also provide a mechanism to prevent the malaise from spreading in our society. The system and the operators must provide the enabling environment where citizens can live within their means. It can introduce curricula in schools on the malaise of corruption and recognize and reward those who expose corrupt malpractices. Those who declare and return their loots, without official prompting deserve immunity from arrest and prosecution. While the policy of accounting for past misdeed is justifiable, it requires extreme caution and moral suasion. Because it is doubtful if the nation’s prisons and cells can accommodate influx of big and lesser evils of corruption.

Other areas that require effective reform and reengineering include promoting the right of every qualified citizen to be actively engaged through economic activities, provision of realistic wage and decongestion of urban cities by deployment of infrastructure to rural areas. There is also the need for the diversification of the economy to agricultural and productive sectors not only to generate full employment but also to improve our GDP.

It seems only Nuhu Ribadu and his team have staked their lives, daring the untouchables in this war. This most not be so. All hands must be on deck  - from the government, religious bodies, traditional institutions to the media, to intensify the campaign against corruption. As the arrowhead of the war, the EFCC must be strengthened to perform. It is only hope that its staff are well remunerated to undertake this millennium task of eliminating corruption from the top, because the job is risky and tempting. Their effort requires sustenance through our collective prayers and strong will.

The war has gathered momentum but we should not celebrate victory yet as everybody must now start to reappraise him or herself. Are we ourselves clean? But are we all corrupt?

Please read the rejoinders by clicking RE: EFCC, Corruption and the Rest of Us