By Douglas Anele

In their little but insightful book, A Theory of Corruption, Osvaldo Schenone and Samuel Gregg claimed that “There is perhaps no greater problem that handicaps the flourishing of developing nations than that of corruption.”

Following the same train of thought established by Shenone and Gregg, Sunny Akpotor in a paper entitled “Corruption: The Civil Society and Government,” cited the Centre for Advanced Social Sciences to the effect that “The problem is that government which is needed to defeat corruption is the core of the problem in Nigeria.

It is government that has contributed most to lowering the moral tone of society in Nigeria. It is in government that corruption thrives most, wasting resources we need, defeating all prospects of patriotism and turning all of us into hardened cynics with no concern for the public good, no faith in public morality or even in its possibility.”

There is no iota of doubt that honest Nigerians will agree completely with these two claims, because again and again the media, both electronic and print, report mind-bending cases of gargantuan corruption perpetrated by our morally warped political leaders, especially those holding public offices.

In the last forty years, rapid increase in the frequency, spread, and quantum of official corruption is the major reason why majority of Nigerians living in Nigeria are still battling day and night with epileptic electricity and scarcity of portable water, dilapidated roads and railway lines, collapsing educational and healthcare systems, destitution and hunger, rising cases of physical and mental disorders, unemployment and insecurity, profound existential alienation and premature death.

But why has the audacity for corruption continued to expand and deepen among the ruling class and the elite generally in Nigeria? Why are the masses who continuously suffer the terrible consequences of corruption incapable of taking concrete and organised action against their tormentors? Before we answer these questions, we must affirm categorically that our leaders are largely responsible for turning Nigeria into a land flowing with milk and honey for themselves while simultaneously making it a land flowing with the bitterness of destitution and disillusionment for ordinary Nigerians.

Of course, Nigeria is not the only country infested with the deadly virus of corruption. In fact, all countries of the world, including the Vatican, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, the centres of gravity for Christianity and Islam by virtue of being the homes for the holiest sites of the two world religions, have corruption issues to deal with.

The fundamental problem with the mutant and virulent specie of corruption in sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria is that the leadership in those countries appears genetically incapable of reforming itself through disciplined and impartial implementation of tough measures to tackle corruption headlong. Take for instance how the ruling cabal in Britain handled the corruption issues thrown up by the saga of parliamentary over-expenditure.

Highly-placed individuals indicted after investigations were concluded on the matter refunded even as little as 100 pounds to avoid prosecution and jail time. In the United States whose model of democracy so-called eminent Nigerians sheepishly cloned for the country when they wrote the 1979 constitution which eventually mutated under the military into the 1999 version, those convicted for corruption are usually dealt with severely by the relevant authorities, irrespective of their socio-economic and political standing.

The cases of former governor of Chicago, Mr. Blagoyavich, who was indicted for selling the vacant senatorial seat of President Barak Obama, and of Mr. Madoff, the billionaire who despoiled thousands of unsuspecting investors through a Ponzi scheme that lasted several years, among other high-profile judgments against prominent Americans, attest to the degree of seriousness the government and people of America attach to the fight against corruption.

In Nigeria, the situation is markedly different. For example, Akpotor mentioned in his essay the case of one Mr. Dankoru from the old Rivers state who was dismissed from his position as Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on account of corruption. During the trial of Dankoru, members of his ethnic group trooped to the court in a show of inverted solidarity.

That incident happened many years ago. But since then nothing has really changed, as the trials of James Ibori, Olabode George, Bola Tinubu and other political bigwigs that had faced, or are currently facing, corruption charges since 1999 amply demonstrate.

In the case of Ibori, for instance, Nigerian courts, aided by the duplicitous role of top officials in late Umaru Yar’Adua’s government, discharged and acquitted the former Delta State governor of all wrongdoings even after, during one of his trials, a magistrate had testified that he indeed convicted one James Onanefe Ibori in 1995 for stealing.

To the unforgettable shame of our country’s shambolic judiciary, Ibori was duly convicted by a court in Britain where his wealth and influence could not subvert the course of justice. Olabode George, former chairman of the South-West zone of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for corrupt practices when he was chairman of Nigerian Ports Authority.

As some observers correctly noted, the infamous “garrison commander” of the PDP in Yorubaland was given a “soft landing” because he is a sacred cow. Certainly, if an ordinary Nigerian committed a crime equivalent to that for which George was convicted he or she would have received a much harsher sentence from the presiding judge than George got.

Anyway, supporters of Bode George glamourized his trial by going to court in special uniforms: more disgustingly, they celebrated his release from Kirikiri prison with fanfare as if they were welcoming a hero who had gone through a painful ordeal for the good of his people.

The thanksgiving service that followed, in my opinion, is a typical example of the beatification of corruption which is gradually but steadily replacing time-tested moral indignation and sense of shame that were appropriately associated with such unethical behaviour in the past.

In a related development, few months after the unnecessary hoopla surrounding the arrest and subsequent arraignment of Dimeji Bankole, former Speaker House of Representatives, it appears that the EFCC has intensified its fight against corruption with regard to former state governors.

According to latest media reports, the anti-graft commission has taken to court former governors of Ogun, Oyo, and Nasarawa states. Allegations against Gbenga Daniel, Adebayo Alao-Akala and Aliyu Akwe-Doma centre on misuse of security votes during their tenures. Over 60 charges of misappropriation of about N100 billion have been prepared against them by the EFCC.

Meanwhile, Danjuma Goje, former governor of Gombe state, was reportedly declared wanted by the EFCC for failing to honour its invitation after several attempts to arrest him failed.

Keep in mind that a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria and former governor of Lagos state, Bola Tinubu, is already in court facing corruption charges brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau. Specifically, Tinubu was accused of maintaining multiple undeclared foreign accounts when he was in office between 1999 and 2007 contrary to the code of conduct for elected public officers as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution. To be continued.