Life sentence for the corrupt

THE Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, recently suggested life imprisonment as the appropriate punishment for all persons convicted of corruption. He underscored the fact that corruption had robbed the people of the good life — good roads, quality education, good health care and other social services. He lamented that corruption had bred widespread poverty and misery among the majority of Nigerians because it had hampered progress and development. In the words of the ICPC chairman, any leader who denies his people the good things of life should be sent to jail without remission.

THE realisation that every facet of Nigeria’s national life is riddled with corruption brought about the establishment of two anti-graft agencies, ICPC and EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and their primary objective was to check corruption and bring sanity to the polity. The paradox is that, corruption has been getting more deep-rooted and is assuming more worrying dimensions. Its unfortunate effect is that, it has been rendering more and more people miserable and many others desperate.

WE strongly support the idea of meting out such a condign punishment, life sentence, to whoever has been found to be corrupt. Nigeria is a land that is flowing with milk and honey; yet its citizens have been migrating to other lands as economic refugees. The revelations made by serving ministers in the last few weeks represent a poignant illustration of what corruption has done to the people of Nigeria. That there is massive unemployment in the land is a well-known fact.

The minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi, however, startled Nigerians when he officially stated that 64 million energetic Nigerian youths were unemployed. This represents 80 per cent of the 80 million youth population in a country of 140 million people. That is to say, only 16 million youths are employed. Statistics from other reliable sources have shown that the economy has been absorbing only 10 per cent of the total number of graduates produced in the country annually.

THE revelations made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, were simply shocking. He gave a lengthy list of countries in which Nigerians — mostly youths — were serving jail terms. Most of these Nigerians were driven out of the country by frustration. They decided to seek fortune elsewhere because the situation at home did not lend itself to the realisation of their individual dreams. So many are living in countries that lack the resources that Nigeria has. Many others are on death row. Many have been executed for their involvement in drug.

IN spite of all this, the number of Nigerians that besiege the visa-issuing centres of the various embassies on a daily basis is alarming. It is all because they have lost hope or even faith in the land of their birth. This is a country that raked in N5.3 trillion in 2007, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reports. Oil alone accounted for N4.3 trillion or 82 per cent of the revenue. But for the violence in the Niger Delta which brought about a 25 per cent loss, more money would have flowed into the country’s coffers. This is the country whose citizens are jobless and hopeless and are relentlessly striving to get into Europe, even through the hostile Sahara Desert with or without valid travel documents. It is a clear evidence of desperation occasioned by the telling effects of corruption.

IN addition to the above, Nigeria’s rating by credible international organisations has been dismal. On the basis of a worldwide survey it conducted early this year, the Brookings Institution put Nigeria in the category of 28 countries which it classified as “critically weak.” According to the institution, weak states lack the capacity and/or will to fulfil certain critical government responsibilities which include the ability to meet the basic needs of the people and foster an environment that is conducive to a sustainable and equitable economic growth. The failure of leadership had made the above objectives unattainable in Nigeria. The country has not been able to muster the desired synergy out of its abundance of human and material resources. And the root of it all is corruption.

THIS year alone, the frequency of cases of corrupt practices has been alarming. As we wrote in one of our previous editorials, it has been a season of scandals. The unfortunate aspect is that the convoluted legal process has made it possible for the culprits to keep flaunting their ill-gotten wealth.

Justice Ayoola’s proposition of life sentence for these crooked and conscienceless characters should, therefore, not be confined to the realm of rhetoric. The idea should be packaged as a proposal to the National Assembly to be passed into law. The learned jurist should also pursue with vigour the removal or modification of all provisions of the ICPC Act that constitute encumbrances on the agency’s operations.

UNTIL Nigeria begins to deal decisively with the various categories of white-collar criminals, there can be no improvement in any facet of its national life. Justice Ayoola’s idea of a spiritual approach, either as a complement or as an alternative is a wide departure from the pragmatic method of appropriate punishment. If Nigerian public office holders were scrupulous and conscientious, Nigeria would not get to this sorry pass. For most, if not for all of them, it is religiousness without Godliness. Any form of appeal to their conscience will be a waste of time. Only a stiff penalty can serve the purpose.

THE life sentence should be with hard labour and the convicts should be made to serve their terms in their localities. They should be made by law to work in public places, so that their relations, acolytes and the public they have derided can see how they are paying for their crime. It is by so doing that a clear message can be sent to all and sundry that corruption is a serious offence and not a virtue.

THE government should, on its part, give a serious thought to the establishment of anti-corruption courts, if it is sincere about the slogan of zero tolerance for corruption. The long delays in the regular courts have been compromising the very essence of justice. Corruption has reached a critical point in Nigeria. Corruption cases should be tried expeditiously.

malu’s granite principles

LIEUTENANT General Victor Malu, former Chief of Army Staff, told a Sunday newspaper that he was a man of great, granite principles. “I don’t compromise my principles. Honesty is very important to me and this is what the military is all about,” General Malu said.

H.L. MENCKEN, the great American journalist, wrote that some politicians rise above principles. It seems some generals have no principles to rise above. Or it may be the case that General Malu has an idiosyncratic definition of principles.

IT must be wholesome principles to be paid one’s gratuity twice and keep quiet about it. In July 2005, the head of the Army Pensions Board revealed that General Malu had been paid his gratuity twice. General Malu had first been given a cheque for N12 million and later another cheque for N8 million.

THE board discovered its error and politely asked General Malu to return the N8 million, which the former Chief of Army Staff knew he was not entitled to. But General Malu displayed amoral mulishness. He had hidden the fact for months, that he had been paid twice in error and the pensions board, respectively, did not insist that he should return the N8 million immediately. It was when General Malu refused to return the money after several months that the board went public.

GENERAL Malu called a press conference to offer a defence. He said he was worth millions of naira, that he could return the N8 million he had been overpaid within two hours. But he did not say why he had ignored the pensions board’s long-standing demand to return the money.

IT is not known if General Malu has returned the N8 million. He is truly an honest, principled man.