That the tasks before the incoming administration arrow headed by the overwhelming winner of the 2015 Presidential Polls, (Rtd) General Muhammadu Buhari, are gargantuan, is a fact that cannot be overstated as he, together with other members of his team, will be inheriting the avoidable mistakes, careless blunders and other consequences of directionless governance festooned on the country by the intransigencies of previous administrations. As is always the case whenever there is a change of government, Nigerians will, without exaggeration, expect Buhari to bring them the moon, if possible.
However, General Buhari, in his humble demeanour, has sounded it out loud and clear that he is not a magician, hence, the need for Nigerians to be reasonable in their high expectations of an overnight turnaround in the sordid state of the nation. Of a truth, no sane person would expect the plethora of formidable challenges facing the Nigerian state since its creation to vanish overnight. It will take patience and hard work – and not magic – to totally overhaul the system as currently constituted and operated. But knowing the antecedents of the retired General, Nigerians should expect him to get cracking immediately he steps into Aso Rock. For a man whose track records in the several public offices he has held speaks for – a man whose zero tolerance for ineptitude, corruption, indiscipline etc is legendary – Buhari would be expected to commence the winnowing processes of obviating the systemic incongruities and rank rot that have turned Nigeria into a perpetual basket case.
Of all the daunting challenges the incoming administration will have to grapple with, the fight against almighty “CORRUPTION” ( corruption within the context of this discourse refers to use of public office for personal enrichment) will prove to be the most formidable; a battle that will test THE president’s leadership credentials and stated commitment to revamping the system as currently operated; a war that will pitch him against formidable foes who have withstood all the salvos previous administrations fired at them; a campaign against entrenched power blocks that are ready to fight dirty – to the death, if necessary. He should be ready to confront this hydra-headed monster head-on, as victory in this campaign will go miles in ultimately defining his stewardship in office; a success rating that will lay down the marker for successive administrations to emulate.
Official corruption is a hideous Medusa that can be largely blamed for the shameful state of the country’s economy and the pitiable conditions its people have been forced to subsist in, despite the several billions of dollars that have been derived from petroleum, its chief source of revenue, over the years; a developed that has cast dark shadows on the credibility of past administrations whose actions – and inactions – inadvertently paved way for this ravaging phantom to have a field day unchecked. For instance, from the “Oil Boom” of the 1970s, “Windfalls” of the 1990s to “Bulls” of the 2000s, the Nigerian State and its citizens have benefitted next to nothing by way of development or better standards of living. This is, perhaps, the greatest war the incoming administrations should be ready to confront.
The harsh consequences of this regime of graft on the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians cannot be overemphasized. No wonder, at one point, Nigeria consistently maintained the unenviable position of the “most corrupt country on planet earth” – according to Nuhu Ribadu (See Emedolibe, I. 2011. Nuhu Ribadu: “Face of a New Nigeria”; Nnemedos Enterprises. 60), the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria was ranked 18th Most Corrupt Country in the World, as at 2010.
Even outside official circles, graft has become a national past time in Nigeria; an asseverating culture of sorts. From the ordinary man on the streets to the privileged few in the mansions of power, the story is the same – a people committed to surviving by hook or crook. Most people simply prefer the shortest cuts to success rather than waste their time and energy going through the usual rounds of hard work, honesty and dedication to service – salient principles that once guided Nigerians in their day to day dealings prior to the onset of the gilded age of dishonesty, indecency and avarice; an era that brought with it a debilitating cancer that requires major surgery to check its continued spread.
To defeat this hydra-headed fiend, the incoming government must be ready to wield the big stick as and when necessary. Anybody found guilty of any corrupt act, regardless of political, ethnic, religious or any other affiliations whatsoever – primordial or otherwise – must be brought to justice. Unlike, the practices in recent years where iron-cast cases of corrupt practices were swept under the carpet due to political exigencies, the incoming administration must allow the Sword of Damocles the freedom to carry out its cleansing exercise, regardless of whose ox is gored. To this end, all anti-corruption agencies such as the moribund and lethargic Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Bureau, National Human Rights Commission, the Auditor General, the independent courts and other governmental and non-governmental organizations and agencies must be reinvigorated and given the leeway and executive backing to carry out their censorship functions as prescribed in the legal documents setting them up. No propaganda, please!
Talking of propaganda, previous administrations have often overblown the war on corruption – a war that has been fought mostly on television screens and newspaper pages; a war that previous administrations capitalized on to sell the world a white lie that corruption was being eradicated in Nigeria in order to win goodwill from Western donors; a shameful sham of a scam in every imaginable ramification – one which has brought the country out in bad light. The incoming administration must do a complete detour from the hypocritical paths previous administrations trod by engineering a serious process that is as transparent as it is accountable; a result-oriented campaign targeted at instituting justice against all the modern-day Alibabas who have stolen the future of future generations of Nigerians, together with all their thieving cohorts who aided and abetted their infamies – the Robin Hoods who have ceaselessly robbed the hood.
The existence of some sacred cows in the country, which has made it practically impossible to fight corruption to a standstill in Nigeria, is a critical issue that must be looked into. Some people – especially members of the politburo – have practically lived above the law in this country. These people act with impunity in and out of office without recourse to the possibility of being sanctioned by any known law. Seeing themselves as owners of Nigeria, they develop cathedral like egos that supposedly separates them from ordinary citizens. These untouchables make a show of being bigger than the Nigerian state by making bold public statements – even while they have cases of corrupt
President Muhammadu Buhari
