War without end!

WAR without end! That is probably the best way to describe the current war against corruption, raging in Nigeria today.  While it takes its toll, we know how it began and who are guilty.  How it ends or who else will be caught in the snare, can only be a matter for future discourse, if it ever ends.

Since he assumed office as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2007, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has left no one in doubt about his stance of zero tolerance of corruption.  Reason: it has severally been deemed as the major hindrance to the growth and development of the nation 47 years after it gained independence from its colonial masters.

Notwithstanding the crisis of authority between his attorney general and the body saddled with fishing out corrupt Nigerians, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the president has continually debunked claims that he may be protecting some persons from being hounded as corrupt.  He even debunked this assumption during his first visit, as president, to the United States of America where he had audience with Nigerians who live there, when he declared that the then embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh was on her own over allegations of bloated award of contract for furnishing her residence and that of her deputy.  He also formally dissociated himself from the trials of some of his former colleague governors.

Apparently in a bid to confirm this posture, on October 9, the president, to my mind, went overboard when he gave free reins to the Metropolitan Police of London to enter Nigeria for the purpose of a detailed investigation of former Delta State governor James Ibori’s financial affairs.  While we may not be in doubt about Ibori’s guilt, it is not in the interest of national security to authorize officials of another country to enter ours freely to help us wash our dirty under wears.

How can we confirm that they would limit their stay to what they came for and not dabble into spying on other aspects of our national life for whatever purposes?   Simply put, it is a security risk that runs contrary to accepted norms of world politics.  Even the International Crime Police organization, Interpol, is limited to promoting mutual cooperation between police authorities around the world and to develop means of effectively preventing crime and not entering other countries to obtain information.  It was even sufficient to direct EFCC to co-operate with them.

Besides, if the EFCC actually has the relevant documents to nail Ibori in London for crimes he committed here, why not try him here and ask the British government to freeze his assets there, if traced to that country and hand them over to the Nigerian government?  How do we even know that it is only in London that the former governor stashed his ill-gotten wealth?  Maybe we will do the same if the United States, Switzerland or any other country for that matter, come calling for the same purpose, maybe not for Ibori but for any other former governor or public official.  A precedence would have been set and it would be impossible to deny another country the right to enter our shores to investigate whatever they want.

In another vein, can we for a fact ascertain that it was only Ibori and the few mentioned governors who were corrupt?  It is common knowledge that many other governors accused of corruption were left of the hook because they supported the former president’s tenure elongation bid or other obnoxious policies.  Have we even given a thought to investigating the revelations of former Governor Diepriye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State, who claimed he was hounded by former President Obasanjo, and went to great lengths to ensure his incarceration in London, but managed to escape?  He was still tried in Nigeria and jailed.

While it is of absolute importance that the war against corruption must be won, there is need for extreme discretion so as not to get the nation embroiled in a situation from which it cannot extricate itself.  There are very simple and effective ways of doing this. All these alleged corrupt former politicians live among us and we know them.  Who they were or owned before they became what they were.  We can also know what they have after they left office.  If the nation is serious about fighting corruption, the war should be brought into the public domain.

When he assumed office, President Yar’Adua publicly declared his assets, even though it is not expressly entrenched in the constitution that he must do so – publicly.  So did his deputy Jonathan Goodluck.  So far, I have not heard of any minister or governor who has followed suit.  At least, I have not read any from the newspapers, like that of Yar’Adua and Goodluck. What stops us from amending the constitution making it compulsory for such declarations to be made public for all officials and political office holders, including legislators and the judiciary – before they assume and after they leave office?

In the case of those who have held previous positions like Yar’Adua and Goodluck, we should compare their previous declarations with the present to know if they merely did not raise the value of their old assets to allow room for manipulations.  For instance, a house that may have been declared by Yar’Adua in 1999 to be worth N10 million, could have been put at N300 million in 2007, giving the leeway to beef-up his fortune by N200 million.  Has any body investigated and ascertained these claims?

There are former governors who did not own even two-bedroom flats before they got into office but now own mansions in various parts of the country.  That is why it is necessary for declaration of assets before and after office. All such property, not listed at the time of assumption of office should be confiscated if found to be worth more than what such a governor was supposed to earn while in office. Today, we hear of Ibori, Orji Kalu, Joshua Dariye, Alamieyeseigha, Chimaroke Nnamani, and a few others.  If those are the only ones guilty of dipping their hands in the public till for their personal benefits, there should have been no need for an all-out war on corruption as they could not have wrecked the level of havoc that has virtually crippled the nation.  This means we need to look deeper to uproot the problem.

If I were to bow to better judgment against my opposition to a foreign team of investigators, I would say the Metropolitan Police or the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, be paid to assist in independently investigating all present and former governors, ministers, permanent secretaries as well as heads of major parastatals to root out these corrupt persons.  But no.  If the EFCC is determined to be free and fair, it can do the job. They can co-operate with the Code of Conduct, demanding all assets’ declarations from past and serving officials and take time to investigate each one instead of the present haphazard method that tends to portray it as a witch-hunt body.  If the war must be fought at all, it must be on all fronts, firing on all cylinders.  It serves no useful purpose to do otherwise.

As far back as 1656, an astute military figure, Köprülü Muhammad Pasha, became chief minister and in five years got rid of incompetent officials, ferreted out corruption, and revived the vigour and pride of the Ottoman Empire.  President Yar’Adua can similarly write his name in gold if he succeeds in this war, which seems to have no end in sight, and plugs future avenues for its resurrection.  A good and thorough constitution by we the people could form a good beginning.  A dedicated prosecution of the “war” is another.  Either way, “no one goes into any war without the intention to win.”  That is the bottom line.