No one can be a better CHANGE AGENT in Nigeria today than Mr. President who has one thing most Nigerians lack: moral strength. Moral strength and moral suasion are his best weapons to engage and conquer corruption. Whoever urges him to ignore this path is neither his friend nor ours. Corruption is moral breach and moral bridge is the only way out.
HIGHLIGHTS
Make the fight against corruption comprehensive
Shift battles from the courts to moral grounds
Reduce devious legalities, & the outrageous fees
Recover loots fast, and avoid worthless diversions
Draw the line & lay the foundation for New Nigeria
Create basis for peace & unity after routing corruption.
INTRODUCTION
Muhammadu Buhari pledged since 2003 to fight corruption if elected president. But victory at the polls does not infer automatic victory over corruption nor would Nigeria’s future in the aftermath of the war be taken for granted.
The Biafran War ended in 1970 and the Yakubu Gowon Administration declared No Victor; No Vanquished to procure peace for the nation. Fighting corruption in Nigeria is a nasty business demanding addressing some vital questions:
·Can we trust our present legal system to fight corruption successfully?
·Can we afford the political, economic and other costs inherent in dirty war?
·Will the system and processes be seen to be just and fair to all parties?
·Can we trust our anti-graft agencies – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Police and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to vanquish corruption?
·What are the real essences of the war on corruption?
·Must the scammers be demonized and or be disgraced outright?
·How much were stolen; who are the looters and would they react?
·Can ethnic, religious and peer group intrigues be checked in the fight?
·What was the ratio of convictions to allegations and charges in the past?
·Should Nigerians join hands with Mr. President or he fights largely alone?
THE CHALLENGES
Our legal system is largely adversarial; requiring sufficient evidence to convict suspects. It is very unlikely that we will be able to get these evidences in the determination of most of the cases.
Most corruption charges will take years, perhaps decades to run through. But when a conflict/war drags indefinitely, it loses steam and public appeal. Thereafter the cause – in this case corruption, will rise to new heights. And if in any event due process is not seen to have been followed, it will be taken that trials were not free and fair and therefore justice was not done.
Nigeria must fight and bring corruption to its knees or corruption destroys her. But the magnitude of corruption is vast, pervasive. Given the spread, can government investigate and bring a quarter of the cases to trial and satisfactory closing? If not, will the exercise not be seen as unfair and vindictive to some parties?
Should government raise 10,000 investigators and lawyers and set up 100 courts, the number of cases that could be closed in four years will be like a drop in the ocean! Ultimately, the fighters will smile to the banks more than the government and corruption would not suffer serious dent.
PARADIGM SHIFT
Addressing the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 28, 2015 in New York, United States of America, the president said corruption is one of the major challenges of the 21st Century and urged world leaders to “redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.”
Two days after the President’s UN address, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki was docked in an Abuja High court where he pleaded not guilty to 13-count charges of corruption. On October 2nd 2015, newspapers carried the photograph of Mr. President and Saraki in heart-to-heart discussions; both smiling!
Rightly considered, the CHANGE clarion call of the APC should have brought shifts from past administrations’ methods and handlers as matter of course. Persons urging PMB to draw blood may mean well but the truth is that democracies work best with negotiations; not brutal forces and amoral laws. Besides, the global community will not accept or support highhandedness.
PMB must rise above the hysterical clamour for blood. It is not statesman-like. Nigeria needs the Mandela approach. The Independence Day photograph Mr. President had with Saraki suggests they are not enemies; and that the president would rather pluck the grey side of the senator and embraces his good side.
Nigeria’s enemy is corruption. About $400 billion public funds were stolen from 1960 to 2005; 2005 to 2009 was over $60 billion while $150 billion belongs to 2009 to 2015. The figures must be taken holistically, not parochially. Our goal should be maximum loots recovery, not draconian punishments; we should instill unsafe, unattractive bad tendencies and not pursue vindictiveness.
Mainly two factors influence war: time and superior strategies. Thus, Israel applied timely response and innovative strikes to win the Yom Kippur War in six days. The United States said the Iraq war would not last 30 days and was over in ten days. PMB says Boko Haram insurgency will end December and looks on course. But that he has not said when the corruption war would end or even start in earnest is because he is not on top of the battle. To enter war without sound strategies that contain reasonable victory time is very bad risk. This piece seeks paradigm shifts in our tones and strategies geared to crushing corruption fast and bring about lasting positive changes. Nigerians will have to join hands with the president to restore the sense of shame and culture of Honour which anti-graft agencies cannot pursue or deliver.
BENEFITS
·With giving Nigerians opportunity to repent and make amends government gains the moral right to descend heavily where the offer is not taken serious.
·The existing system at best will cut some corruption tap roots; leaving feeder roots intact. But the best thing is to uproot the roots altogether.
·Only universal coverage can break the spirit of impunity for real, forever.
·The EFCC recovered N2 trillion from 2004 to 2015. Our concept will deliver far better in 100 days but more vital is the ultimate victory over corruption in one year.
·The cost of recovery is far lower and the efficient utilization much higher
·Nigeria draws the line for a new beginning, teaches the world vital lesson – peaceful resolution is always best; hence gives new world value.
·Just as the late President Nelson Mandela ended apartheid in South Africa peacefully, PMB can end Nigeria’s greatest scourge: corruption in peace and the world will celebrate!
RATIONALE
Old ways of fighting Corruption failed woefully. The Military ruled for 30 years primarily fighting corruption. But did the tribunals and draconian forces succeed? No! The guardians of society – the courts, the police, media and clerics are largely compromised. The Nation needs paradigm shift to conquer corruption and start the journey to her destiny.
VITAL ADVANTAGES
·Cost of investigations and courts’ sessions versus cost of peaceful resolution of Nigeria’s corruption logjam are incomparable. The one will cost a hundred times above the other in naira terms.
·Winning the war on corruption in good time will CHANGE our politics, economics, education, religion and governance for good. But there is no other route to it than CHANGING PUBLIC/LEADERSHIP MINDSETS and RESTRATEGISING.
Winning peace after war is the most difficult part of fierce engagements and that is what our new option proposes and will deliver.
We shall draw the project details/schedule if we come to that. Two things that will reshape Nigeria in one year of PMB’s presidency are; one, quick victory over corruption, and two; instituting culture of honour by creating the Nigerian Hall of Shame.
CONCLUSION
Nigerians have yet to join the war against corruption. The head hunters and the rest of us have yet to buy into it through the internalization. Labour marched in support and called for capital punishment for looters but did Labour leaders look inwards? If policemen, pressmen, priests, Customs and businessmen do not look at selves and everyone point at politicians and senior public servants, then we are missing the point. PMB needs to engage Nigerians and start the corruption war creatively. The world is waiting to see how we start and one false step, it is lost!
Since 1966 when soldiers invaded the political space in bids to instill probity, the language has been rude and crude, blood and tears culminating in loathsome aberrations. Let us for once apply decency and appeal to our human sense of dignity. If PMB’s tone changes positively, Nigerians will respond positively; for whenever the music changes, the dance steps change also.
No one can be a better CHANGE AGENT in Nigeria today than Mr. President who has one thing most Nigerians lack: moral strength. Moral strength and moral suasion are his best weapons to engage and conquer corruption. Whoever urges him to ignore this path is neither his friend nor ours. Corruption is moral breach and moral bridge is the only way out.
PMB won in 2015 because the thinking was that he would never work with dubious persons. Now, looters are clamouring for the courts knowing that the onus is on the state. They are waiting to fight dirty, not soft landing. Let us surprise them; change their game and break their ranks. That is paradigm shift and will impact positively and maximally in the campaign.
President Buhari must seek and apply innovative options to make history for himself, for Nation and for our unborn children. Time is of essence, and the ball is in his court.
·Anyamele and Ogbamosa wrote from Lagos. Send comments to:
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