The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, lends its voice to the nationwide calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Sowore Omoyele, Founder and Publisher of the Online News medium, Sahara Reporters, and a Presidential candidate of All African Congress (AAC) Party in the last Presidential elections.
In a release issued by CACOL’s Coordinator for Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga, on behalf of Mr. Debo Adeniran, the Centre’s Coordinator, he stated, “CACOL as a civil anti-corruption organization does not support violent take-over of government, especially under a democratic or people-oriented arrangement where elections are periodically organized to choose who leads the mass under a free and transparent atmosphere, devoid of any travesty of sanctity of people’s collective will. We, however, appreciate the historical reality of a burgeoning society not being able to always change its fortune or fate in a dramatic and desirable manner through electoral arrangements alone. This is why we agree with all renown philosophers and thinkers alike who posit that ‘Civil Actions’ are a necessary and inevitable tonic for repositioning and rejigging the lots of the people within the labyrinth of unresolved social conflicts or contradictions.
“Against this background, we strongly believe that for Nigeria to actually make progress and reclaim its primal position in the comity of modern nations, the current Government should heed the call for a resort to the various outcomes of deliberations and resolutions on the contentious national issues like: resource control, state or regional Police, foreign policy, and even the making of a truly people-oriented constitution for the over 250 (Two Hundred and Fifty) ethnic nationality groupings in Nigeria. We believe that no short-cut exists towards achieving this than the Convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) which decisions must be binding and sovereign by the very agreement of all age-long issues of altercation and relevance within the Nigerian state. It is our belief that the refusal of successive governments in Nigeria to admit that the coming into existence of Nigeria, though desirable, was not altogether properly negotiated; and this has in no small measure, been responsible for deep-rooted suspicion, economic degradation and subversion/corruption and general state of insecurity and social upheavals. We believe that it is never too late to retrace the footpath of the nation if and when everything shows clearly that we have since lost our path as a nation. This could only be achieved through recourse to the reports of various, previous conferences and dialogues while representatives are drawn from respective counties/wards to local and state governments, directly chosen by their communities, to review all relevant issues of coexistence and amicably arrive at a suitable Federal Constitution and acceptable modus of running our country.”
The CACOL boss added, “Having weighted the recent calls for a ‘Revolution’ by the erudite Social Activist turned politician, we aver that calls for a Revolution alone, whether ethical, agrarian, industrial or even social, does not and cannot, constitute treasonable felony acts on their own, except there are other unimpeachable evidence of arms insurrection, concrete proofs of inciting or consultations on arms struggle, etc., we may be unaware of but in possession of the state security agencies. That in itself may now also be debatable as social movements and prevailing conditions may remain veritable instruments of juxtaposition in resolving how mutiny and treason should be treated in a civil entity. However, nothing even points to these possibilities in this circumstance. We, therefore, advise that Sowore Omoyele be granted an unconditional and immediate release to defray an unnecessary tension and heating up of the polity which his continued detention is only capable of fostering.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption
and Open Leadership, CACOL, has
commended the ruling of the Kwara State High court sitting in Ilorin, headed by
Justice Sikiru Oyinloye that ordered the final forfeiture to the Federal
Government of a plaza valued at about N150mn
belonging to a civil servant in the state.
In a release issued by CACOL’s
Coordinator of Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga on behalf of its
Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he noted, “It was reported that a High
court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state, gave an order of forfeiture of a plaza,
valued at N150mn (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) in a case filed by
agents of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against a Civil
Servant in the state named, Razaq Momonu. The said Momonu is an Assistant
Director and an Accountant with the Kwara State Government. He was said to have
used his influence and position to inflate contracts awarded for the
construction of two (2) classrooms in certain communities in Kwara State. In
the affidavit deposed to by the EFCC in court, it was clearly stated that this
government worker was at a level in the civil service where he earned less than
N100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) monthly but was able to build this Asmau
Plaza worth N150mn with two (2) YEARS, 2010 and 2012, a period of two years
within which he could not have saved more than N2.4mn (Two Million, Four
Hundred Thousand Naira were he not to spend a dime from his monthly take-home.
“Also, one begins to wonder
why our educational system continues to wobble and fumble with all the allocations
to it from respective federal and state governments, year in year out. This is
a confirmation of how such scarce resources simply vanish into thin air through
inflated contracts, syphoning of the larger proportion of sums budgeted and
diversion of such finances. It is therefore incumbent on the two anti-graft
agencies, the EFCC and ICPC (Independent Corrupt and Other Related Practices
Commission) to sustain and further intensify their commendable efforts in
nipping much of this illegal expropriation of our resources in the bud and
recover the ill-acquired wealth as much as possible, with a view to plugging
them back to their original purposes.”
The CACOL Coordinator added,
“We insist that, it is not only criminal and condemnable to betray the public
trust that has placed such civil servant in a position of authority and control
after much training, to simply betray such confidence reposed in him by
enriching his own pockets without considerations of the remote and immediate
consequences on innocent compatriots and the larger society such illicit
actions may ultimately rob of desired effects. This is why culprits of official
corruption need to be deprived of their evil accumulations, wherever and
whenever they are found out, and made to face the consequence of their acts as
a just supper”.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership CACOL has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its probe and arrest of Mr Segun Soewu, the Director-General, Kwara State Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SME) and six (6) other microfinance bank Managing Directors, over alleged #2bn (Two Billion Naira) misappropriated funds.
In a release issued by its media and publication officer, Odofin Toyin, on behalf of the Executive Chairman Debo Adeniran stated, “The arrests were triggered through an intelligence report that the accused fraudulently misappropriated about N2 billion given by the Kwara State Government to assist market men and women across the 16 local government areas of the state. It was gathered that Mr. Soewu and the Microfinance chiefs already arrested or under investigation include: Ogudu Samuel of Brightway Micro-finance; A.K. Imam of Magajingari of mfb; Adeleke M.S. of Sincere mfb; Yusuf Muideen of Balogun Fulani mfb; Issa Abdulrasheed of KCMB mfb, and Oyebode Asimiyu of Apels Microfinance bank. Others are Lawal Ayo of Omu-Aran mfb; Tope Eniola of Iludun mfb, Lawal Folashade of Stockcarp mfb, Yusuf Tajudeen of First Heritage mfb and Olawoye E.O. of Offa Microfinance bank.
“Also, investigations further revealed that at the point of granting the loans, Soewu and the 11 arrested Microfinance chiefs failed to follow due process and treated the funds as public largesse meant for personal aggrandizement. Instead of observing due diligence in dispensing with this money to achieve desired result of enhancing investment capacity of the people and boosting poverty alleviation, the N2bn loan facility meant for the general public to support their businesses and augment their working capital was distributed to highly placed politicians, traditional rulers and prominent people in the 16 LGAs. An example was the confession of Mr. Soewu and one of the managing directors of the banks who were grilled by EFCC operatives that a prominent and First Class traditional ruler in the state received over N78million cash from the loans, but never returned a dime.
“The traditional ruler through his company, Yafy International Ventures Ltd., secured the loans without following due process. They disclosed further that “selected and influential market men and women across the 16 LGAs of the state received N5m each as loans, but did not payback. It was also gathered that about 50 percent of the controversial loans were shared by highly placed individuals and selected businessmen and women at the expense of designed beneficiaries that are supposed to assist in the chain of economic rejuvenation. It was further revealed that virtually all beneficiaries who got the loan between, 2012 and 2018, failed to pay back.”
The CACOL Boss added, “This is just one of many of such grand economic manipulations and grand corruption ravaging the Nigerian nation to the effect that people have come to take it that what belongs to Government belongs to nobody and could be shared and looted at will rather than using it for the original purpose of national rebirth or economic revamping. This is why we urge the EFCC to ensure that all the misappropriated funds looted by these greedy individuals should be repatriated by the EFCC, so that the fund can be used for its primary purpose of boosting the small and medium enterprises to boost the state economy and promote its growth, while culprits must be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent.”
I would like to start my presentation by making
an attempt to define certain keywords inherent in the topic for proper grasp
and comprehension of not just the etymology of those words but their
contemporary import for today’s discussion. The Oxford Dictionary of Current
English defined Economy as the relationship between production, trade and
supply of money in a particular country or region. The same dictionary defines
degrade to show or treat somebody in a way that makes them seem not worth any
respect or not worth taking seriously.
Security is defined as the activities
involved in protecting a country, building or person against attack, danger
etc. A breach is defined as a failure to do something that must be done by law.
Socio-political crisis could be defined as a
series of negative activities engendered by the lacklustre implementation of
social, political and economic policies, guidelines and laws that could have
ordinarily guide the interplay between government and citizens with a view to
engendering a peaceful and secure society where no man or his property is
endangered.
Crisis means a time of great danger,
difficulty or confusion when problems must be solved or important decisions
must be made.
With the above breakdown of keywords in the
topic, we would like to readjust the topic to reflect something like this: “How To Rescue Nigeria From Socio-Economic
Crisis and Insecurity”. The result of the appraisal of the keywords is that
it becomes clearer that the Topic is indeed vast because it spans across three
fields- Economics, Politics and Sociology. Having broken down all the congruent
points or key words under this topic and rephrased what the topic must look
like, one vital point to know in dealing with this subject that oscillates
between the Economy Relations within the larger spectrum of the Society and the
Politics of Who gets What, When and How, is the overriding role of the
Government.
The government itself is the group of
people that determine how the Economy or available resources are going to be
developed or converted to benefits for the majority of citizens through an
Economic policy or Ideology subsisting within that particular social milieu. By
this, is meant whether it is Socialist means of Production and Distribution
whereby workers or citizens are organized in their education, economic
strivings, etc., to be in direct control of economic activities where the state
or government substitutes the Entrepreneur or Capitalist as in charge of Land
and other factors of Production with Labour/workers taking direct charge of
what the Capitalist stands for to the ultimate benefits of individual workers
and society at
large…or whether the Economic Activity or
Production is the kind that protects the Capitalist by ensuring that policies, programmes
and even laws regulating interrelationship between all factors of production or
economic activity favours the Capitalist and alienate the mass of workers in
the wholesale Economy of the Society leading to social tiff. This is what
usually breeds Economic degradation and breeds other social disruptions as we
have been experiencing in Nigeria till this moment. Since those who feel
alienated and shortchanged simply prefer to sabotage and encourage the breakdown
of order.
This is because what they are being
subjected to is quite different and a far cry from the lives of the Capitalist
or his representative in the chain of economic activity. More so, those in
governments are seen to collaborate, both with their laws, enforcements policy
and Distribution of National Wealth, with the Capitalists or what Karl Max
referred to as the Bourgeois class.
The reason for this is not farfetched,
under this economic system or ideology, members of the ruling class are usually
Capitalists too or those aspiring to also join the privileged class, owning
labour and land having commoditized Labour too as just another factor of
production with the sole aim of profit-driving all economic activities…What
they get in return has been referred to as, Rent, which Max defined as
‘unearned’ profit or dues for their economic or social engagements in
production, whether as legislators, Managing Directors of companies, Having
broken down all the congruent points or key words under this topic and
rephrased what the topic must look like, one vital point to know in dealing with
this subject that oscillates between the Economy Relations within the larger
spectrum of the Society and the Politics of Eho gets What, When and How, is the
overriding role of the Government.
Government itself is the group of people
that determine how the Economy or available resources are going to be developed
or converted to benefits for majority of citizens through an Economic policy or
Ideology subsisting within that particular social milieu, By this, is meant
whether it is a Socialist means of Production and Distribution whereby workers
or citizens are organized in their education, economic strivings, etc., to be
in direct control of economic activities where the state or government
substitutes the Entrepreneur or Capitalist as I charge of Land and other
factors of Production with Labour/workers taking direct charge of what the
Capitalist stands for to the ultimate benefits of individual workers and
society at large, or whether the Economic Activity or Production is the kind
that protects the Capitalist by ensuring that policies, programmes and even
laws regulating interrelationship between all factors of production or economic
activity favours the Capitalist and alienate the mass or workers in the
wholesale Economy of the Society leading to social tiff.
This is what usually breeds Economic
degradation and breeds other social disruptions as we have been experiencing in
Nigeria till this moment. Since those who feel alienated and shortchanged
simply prefer to sabotage and encourage the breakdown of order. This is because
what they are being subjected to is quite different and a far cry from the
lives of the Capitalist or his representative in the chain of economic
activity. More so, those in governments are seen to collaborate, both with
their laws, enforcements policy and Distribution of National Wealth, with the
Capitalists or what Karl Max referred to as the Bourgeois class.
The reason for this is not farfetched,
under this economic system or ideology, members of the ruling class are usually
Capitalists too or those aspiring to also join the privileged class, owning
labour and land having commoditized Labour too as just another factor of
production with the sole aim of profit-driving all economic activities. What
they get in return has been referred to as, Rent, which Max defined as
‘unearned profit’ for their economic or social engagements in production,
whether as legislators, Managing Directors of companies, etc.
This usually occurs between the interplay
of Capital and labour since no production or any economic activity can take
place without workers aggregating and sorted for that line of economic efforts
or production to occur…Incidentally, workers need to be mobilized for major
economic activity to take place and usually this occurs on land which most
workers do not possess.
This is where the Entrepreneur or
Employer/Capitalist comes in and in modern Economy, he has become very indispensable in the chain of production
or any meaningful economic activities including sales or disbursement of that
which is produced. This usually occurs between the interplay of Capital and
labour since no production or any economic activity can take place without
workers aggregating and sorted for that line of economic efforts or production to
occur. Incidentally, workers need to be mobilized for major economic activity
to take place and usually this occurs on land which most workers do not
possess. This is where the Entrepreneur or Employer/Capitalist comes in and in
modern Economy, he has become very indispensable in the chain of production or
any meaningful economic activities including sales or disbursement of that
which is produced
This usually occurs between the interplay
of Capital and labour since no production or any economic activity can take
place without workers aggregating and sorted for that line of economic efforts
or production to occur…Incidentally, workers need to be mobilized for major
economic activity to take place and usually this occurs on land which most
workers do not possess…this is where the Entrepreneur or Employer/Capitalist
comes in and in modern Economy, he has become
very indispensable in the chain of production or any meaningful economic
activities including sales or disbursement of that which is produced.
Consequently, it is germane that we relate
all this to subsisting economic relations in Nigeria. Hence, I would start by
analyzing the present economic situation in Nigeria. Nigeria’s, the current
economic crisis is characterized by revenue shortfall and foreign exchange
crisis. It is a product of many years of neo-liberal and anti-developmental
policies administered by prebendal local agents of Bretton Woods institutions
and massive looting of the nation’s wealth at all levels of governance. The
situation became very pathetic when Nigeria’s economy slipped into recession in
2016.
The nation has earned more than $700b from
crude oil sales in the last 20 years.
Based on the records of the Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the break down realized
from crude oil sales since 1999 is as follows: In 1999, Nigeria earned $8.07
billion; $15.81 billion in 2000: $15.91 billion in 2001 and $11.87 in 2002. It
was put at $11.87 billion in 2003; $17.08 billion in 2004; $26.63 billion in 2005;
$28.07 billion in 2006; $44.69 billion in 2007; $43.79 billion in 2008; $60.36
billion in 2009 and $30.13 billion in 2010. In 2011 it was $44.94 billion;
$68.44 in 2012; $62.94 billion in 2013; $58.08 billion in 2014; $54.56
billion in 2015 and $17.05 billion in 2016 .
However, the level of development of social
infrastructures and the general economy remained abysmal. Nigeria was plundered
by politicians of different political parties in power and big business people
in collusion with their international partners.
For instance, between 2005 and 2015 less
than 18, 000 political office holders (which constituted 0.01 percent of the
population) across all the parties at all levels cornered N1.3 trillion (One
Trillion, Three Hundred Million Naira) annually as emoluments which represents
more than a tenth of the annual national budgets of all tiers of government (
Kola Ibrahim, 2016). This means in ten years, at least N13 trillion or
$65 billion had been officially handed over to 18, 000 politicians.
This is just their official emoluments.
According to a World Bank estimate some years back, only about 20 kobos of
every N1 budgeted for any project in Nigeria is actually spent, while some
estimates claimed that over $140 billion had been looted since the emergence of
civil rule in 1999.
In addition to this, public wealth was used
to ensure huge wealth and profits for big businesses. While waivers worth over
N1.3 trillion was granted by the Jonathan government, the Obasanjo government
before it also gave trillions of naira worth of waivers, tax breaks and
importation monopoly to several big companies. This is aside billions doled out
in form of government’s issuance of treasury bills and bonds, which guaranteed
unmerited wealth for both local and foreign financial institutions and big
businesses at the detriment of local and small businesses. In 2010, the government
used N2.5 trillion of public funds to bail out ten banks owned by a tiny clique
of multibillionaires, while social infrastructures were in a deplorable
condition.
While public funds were given to
politicians and big businesses, the same money, instead of being invested in
productive and manufacturing activities, was again invested in the purchase of
government businesses which ensured huge profits. All this happened during the
privatization of state properties at rock-bottom prices, sale of oil blocks, the
award of inflated contracts and government borrowing. In some situations where
productive activities were undertaken by big businesses like Dangote and
Honeywell, the government would have given them several billion-dollar worths
of waivers and dole-outs.
The state governments were not left out of
this profligacy as politicians at state levels embarked on projects that were
aimed at cornering public funds for private use, with little impact on economic
and social development. The result was a total depletion of public wealth. The
excess crude account that was around $23 billion in 2012 was depleted to less
than $2.5 billion by 2015, with little impact on the wellbeing of the majority
of the population.
To make matters worse, government at all
levels developed a large appetite for loans. The country’s debt profile
increased to over $66 billion (with foreign debt increased to over $11 billion
from less than $6 billion in 2011). Under Jonathan, the three tiers of
government shared over N29 trillion ($145 billion) (Guardian 21/06/2015). This
notwithstanding, social and public infrastructures were still in a dilapidated
state while poverty and unemployment remained very high.
Although the Jonathan administration
mismanaged more than 52% of the N29 trillion that accrued to the country, the
state governments run by all the major political parties also mismanaged over
40% of this revenue.
The implication of all this was that there
was little development of social and physical infrastructures to support
productive economic activities. As a result of this, Nigeria has permanently
remained an import-based economy, while exporting only raw materials like crude
oil, which constitute over 80% of export earnings. A good example is a fact
that Nigeria spent billions of dollars on importing fuel and food items like
rice when it earned huge earnings from crude oil sales. This did not pose any
danger at the time, but when the price of crude oil decreased to around $30 per
barrel, as against more than $80 in 2014, the value of the naira expectedly
crashed later. Even if the government had used the external reserve to save the
national currency, it would not have gone far enough, unless there was a shrink
in import consumption or the country developed productive capacity.
Another factor that led to economic
quagmire was that there was and there still is a huge gap between the very rich
and the poor in our country. This means public wealth is concentrated in fewer
hands, whose luxurious lifestyle, denominated mostly in hard currencies, puts
more pressure on the Naira and further devalues it. This drives up the cost of
living for the majority of the poor with income that hardly increases. At a
point, Nigeria became the destination for all kinds of luxury goods including
exotic wines, cars, jewellery, and aircraft. In fact, the number of private
jets was more than that of commercial aircraft.
All these coupled with the collapse of
public infrastructures and services and decline in the income of workers,
resulted in the working and poor people spending their meagre money on fewer
things due to inflation which reduced purchasing power. Businesses were also
affected as a result of low patronage, leading to mass retrenchment.
Even though not all consumer products are
imported, the fact that many of the country’s daily needs including foodstuffs,
drugs, raw materials, industrial additives are imported shows that other goods
produced internally will share in the burden, as inflation is contagious.
Another fall-out of the situation was that
there has been very little infrastructural development of the country as
investors are hesitant to invest while government spending shrinks, leading to a
serious cut on purchasing power.
The rising level of poverty which is a function
of the wide inequality is one of the fundamental causes of an increased crime
wave and heightened insecurity. There is well known saying that an idle mind is
the devil’s workshop. In order to effectively address these challenges, the
government needs to reverse the causes of the economic crisis by stopping
further devaluation of the currency through ending the senseless currency
speculation by banks and Bureaux De Change (BDCs); Increasing production of
goods that can reduce imports and thus ease pressure on the Naira; increasing
production of exportable goods to boost foreign earnings; retrieve huge public
funds looted either directly or indirectly and stop further looting of the
public purse; Increase purchasing power of the majority of the population by
reducing wealth gap and redistributing social wealth to the majority.
It is quite possible that the present
administration’s school feeding programme, mass employment of 500, 000 teachers
and conditional grants to the most impoverished citizens, will be the most
impactful of these social programmes. They are expected to have some minimal
impact on improving the living standards of some Nigerians. Nevertheless, this
is too little to make the needed impact to reverse the economic quagmire. For
now, over three million young Nigerians are reportedly thrown to the labour
market yearly, while over 30 million people are jobless. Therefore, employing
less than 500,000 young people over a four-year tenure may not really address
the problem.
The way forward must include efforts at
reversing the production system whereby the majority of the working class and
their dependents must be made to have a stake in Societal Economic flair. This
would only be by merging certain Capitalist traits with Societal, individual
interests to promote and nurture mass participation and involvement in the
Economic Evolvement of the nation. This would necessarily lead to a Welfarist
or Mixed Economy for the entire nation. Even in Classical Capitalist Society
like USA in the early 1920s when America faced chronic youth unemployment
amongst its teeming younger population, realizing its probable effects on the
Economy, Society and its security, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered that a
section of the youths should be employed to dig holes all over the nation on
available lands and another section to fill the dug holes to collect minimum
wage.
As time goes on, companies owned locally
and foreign-owned were also required to employ a minimum percentage of these
youths with l8v8ng wage paid. This was in addition to other arrangements like
old-age benefits, subsidized farming, etc. The very essence is to prevent
social breakdown or Insecurity as we have today in Nigeria by steering our
teeming youths away from criminal indulgences like Armed Robbery, Internet
frauds, Terrorism, Kidnappings for ransom, etc., and thereby leave little or
nothing for public office holders to loot. It also rebounds on overall Economy
as mass engagement and incorporation leads to National Wealth and Economic
Revival from Degradation. Little or no Economic sabotage ultimately births a
new social and economic stability leading to economic growth and development.
TYPOLOGY
OF CORRUPTION
Corruption
is…
• Any
act of dishonesty or criminal activity is undertaken by a person or
organization entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire illicit
benefit; dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving
bribery- Dictionary.com
• Corruption
is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as
grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the
sector where it occurs – Transparency International (TI)
• Corruption
is the process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state
to one regarded as erroneous or debased- IT definition
The
Hierarchy of Corruption
1 Kleptomaniac or Sadistic Corruption
Those who engage in this type of corruption
ordinarily have no reason to be corrupt. .This type of corruption is borne out
of sheer thoughtlessness rather than for need or want of comfort This type of
corruption is usually perpetrated by chief executives in government parastatals
or public companies.
2 Gluttonic or Social Corruption
Unlike the kleptomaniacs, those who engage
in this type of corruption do so out of greed. Those who fall under this
category of corruption are Directors and high officeholders who are usually
entrusted with supervisory, control, or auditing responsibilities within the
system and engage in bribery, and records altering in a bid to live above their
means. Others also in this category of corruption are smugglers, drug and drug
traffickers, money launderers, armed robbers and buglers etc
3. Attitudinal or Reactive Corruption
The kleptomaniac and Gluttonic types of corruption gave rise to attitudinal corruption. Those who engage in this type of corruption do so out of admiration or envy of the success of their superiors in the act of corruption. The attitudinal corruption comes as a reaction to the success of corrupt criminals walking freely or being celebrated by the society, without being prosecuted or punished as they are aware that exposing the act could also implicate their mentors.
4 Economic or Incidental Corruption
Sometimes, it is the change in the economic
situation that compels some people to engage in corruption. It is either their
earnings have fallen below what could cater to their needs or they fall victim
of challenges that increase their spending. Those captured under this type of
corruption eventually engage in any form of corruption within their reach to
augment their low earnings. They are usually lower-ranked officers in both the
public and private sectors with crimes ranging from bribery, deceit, extortion,
Etc.
Legal practitioners sometimes refer to this
type of corruption as petty larceny.
5 Moral Corruption
This is the most common type of corruption. It is characterized by all activities, gestures, postures, attitudes, and behaviours tantamount to corrupt practices. They include lying, nepotism, pretence, piracy, cheating, sexual infidelity, etc. It is termed moral corruption because most of the times, the substance of the crime is not immediately manifest, or is even taken for granted as normal socio-cultural practices. Usually, the perpetrator is not conscious that what he is engaging in amounts to the corruption of a sort.
Still under Moral Corruption, We also have
a) Pseudo
Corruption
b) True Corruption
A Pseudo Corruption: This is a form of
moral corruption where the perpetrator weighs the consequences of not engaging
in the act, which could lead to irreversible loses including fatality. Pseudo
Corruption is usually perpetrated without expecting any gains from it; that is
why it called false Corruption. In most cases, pseudo corruption may eventually
lead to or be misconstrued as true corruption if the perpetrator does not take
adequate precautionary measures.
B True Corruption: Just like pseudo
corruption, true corruption is also a form of moral corruption but unlike the
false/ pseudo corruption where the act is perpetrated without expecting any
gains or without necessarily deriving any personal favours from it, True
corruption is perpetrated with a view to making some form of gain no matter how
minute it might seem.
CAUSES
OF CORRUPTION
• The
prevalence of weak government Institutions
• Discriminatory
Application of Rules and the Criminal Justice System
• The
Effect of Public perception
• The
nature of the economy
• Undue
secrecy in governmental affairs
EFFECTS
OF CORRUPTION
• Corruption reduces any chance of increasing
human capital investment with the increasing number of barriers from public
provisions that decrease the ability to do business.
• It leads to a low standard of living for
the populace
• Corruption creates the condition for
political instability
• Corruption leads to elimination of the
middle class as a buffer zone within any given society
• Corruption stagnates development and growth
as public funds are seen as an extension of the private ‘bank accounts’ of
public officials
CORRUPTION
COULD BE COMBATED THROUGH…
effective
and widespread public enlightenment of the grassroots on the nature and effects
of corruption and how to prevent it.
Strengthening
and strict implementation of existing anti-corruption laws by regular law
enforcement agencies like the Police; specialized agencies like ICPC and EFCC
as well as regulatory agencies like SON, NAFDAC, NDLEA, as well as other
agencies that are charged with the task of stamping corruption out of our
society with a view to making corruption crimes very difficult to commit and
ensuring that those who commit it are promptly apprehended and dealt with.
useful
and deliberate engagement of the media as genuine partners in fighting
corruption.
partnership
with stakeholders and other key actors in the society like the civil society
organisations, professional bodies, religious institutions, the bureaucracy,
private sector and academia, etc.
cooperative
endeavours between the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, geared
towards prompt prosecution and adjudication into corruption cases and
imposition of deterrent punishment.
CALL
TO ACTION
LITTLE
THINGS MATTER
Corruption does not seem harmful until it
is too late
It is often easy to ignore the impacts of
petty corruption when they appear to be little more than inconveniences. But
collective permissiveness of minor graft creates an enabling environment for
corruption to fester, resulting in a problem far more difficult to solve.
Stop tolerating petty corruption. Pay
attention to the smallest signs of retail corruption in public service delivery
and be prepared to demand accountability from government service providers.
LITTLE
ONE’s MATTER
Education can help prevent corruption by
fostering a culture of integrity.
An effective way to tackle corruption is to
teach children to recognize it, reject it and condemn those who tolerate it.
School curriculums must incorporate ethics
and civic education in the curriculum. Parents, teachers and school
administrators must recognize their responsibility to shape the values of the
next generation by exhibiting high standards of integrity, honesty and
transparency in their actions.
FATALISM
IS PARALYSING
Anti-corruption strategies are less likely
to be successful when entrenched practices are considered impossible to
overcome
Decades of unchecked corruption in
Nigeria’s public institutions and a history of inept leadership have destroyed
public faith in governance and created a sense of fatalism. Citizens are
unlikely to be motivated to combat corruption because experience suggests that
nothing will change.
The fight against corruption can be won.
New approaches must be adopted to create social incentives for collection
action against corruption. Leaders must inspire faith in anti-corruption
efforts by implementing tangible reforms in public institutions. Civil society
and community leaders must develop and promote a national social contract that
rewards accountability and enforces social sanctions for unacceptable
behaviour.
CHANGING
OUR APPROACH TO ANTI-CORRUPTION MESSAGING
Sensational messaging desensitizes the
public corruption
Traditional approaches to anti-corruption
messaging in Nigeria have been characterized by sensational reporting of
corruption cases involving huge amounts of money or the use of extreme language
to eliminate undesirable behaviour. These kinds of messages risk including
apathy in citizens by reinforcing their sense of powerlessness in the face of
rampant corruption.
Anti-corruption messages must be carefully
framed to effectively communicate the negative impacts of corrupt behaviour
while empowering targeted audiences to take practical and effective action.
Pro-accountability actors must avoid the one-size-fits-all approach to anti-corruption
messaging and ensure that messages are assessed for effectiveness before
dissemination.
REDESIGNING
GOVERNANCE PROCESSES TO MAKE CORRUPTION AVOIDANCE PRACTICAL
Doing the wrong thing becomes a rational
choice if doing the right thing is too difficult.
In Nigeria, avoiding corruption may not be
the most practical option. Governance processes are not designed to be
citizen-friendly. It is easy to fall afoul of regulations because procedures
are needlessly complicated and poorly documented. Complying with penalties for relatively minor
violations is unnecessarily difficult and creates incentives for extortion by
law enforcement agencies.
The government must rethink and redesign
routine procedures for providing public services to ensure they are citizen and
business-friendly. Options for complying with penalties for minor violations
should include online platforms where citizens can lodge complaints, disputes
imposed penalties and report instances of solicitation or extortion.
POLITICISING
CORRUPTION CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD
Political bias in the fight against
corruption undermines public faith in anti-corruption efforts
In Nigeria, fighting corruption can be an
excuse to persecute political opponents. Government and its anti-graft agencies
are often accused of abusing their power and being biased in choosing which
allegations of corruption to investigate or prosecute. In several cases, court rulings are
disregarded.
Fighting corruption is already a difficult
mission. The abuse of state power compounds Nigeria’s accountability challenge.
The government must be seen to be fair in applying sanctions and
anti-corruption agencies must operate independently and within the scope of the
law2.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has chided various states’ government in the country that continue to corner federal allocations to the different 774 (Seven Hundred and Seventy-Four local governments’ authorities in the country under the puny excuse of their definition of what should constitute Nigerian Federalism.
In a release issued by Adegboyega Otunuga, CACOL’s Coordinator for Media and Publications on behalf of Mr. Debo Adeniran, the Centre’s Executive Chairman, he noted, “It is noteworthy that the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU had instructed the Nigerian Banks not to remit or allow any portion of their federal allocations to be deducted or received by the respective states governments again with effect from June 1, 2019. This is not only in line with the 1999 Nigerian Federal Constitution (as amended) that recognizes and takes cognizance of our 3-tier system of administration; it also tallies with various rules and amendments that emanated from the National Assembly, especially the 8th National Assembly. Though, the leadership of our (two) leading political parties had at one time or the other, insisted that local governments can only exist at the behest of their relevant states, this argument is self-serving with no substance or relevance in the Nigerian Constitution that recognizes 3-tiers of authorities as obtained in many other modern democracies. The truth is that, though states’ assemblies are constitutionally empowered to initiate the creation and coming into being of local governments the final nod for such to become lawful and official must have the imprimatur of the National Assembly. It is same for states’ creation, so as not to encourage willful and unwieldy balkanization of the polity.”
The CACOL boss added, “In retrospect, the recalcitrant attitude to local governments’ independence is inimical to ease off providing beneficial leadership to the people through the grassroots and convenience. It is germane to note that democracy itself as we know it worldwide today, started from the Greek commune called Polis a suburb not bigger than a ward inside a local government. In the United Kingdom today, affordable Council flats and other social welfare programmes, including primary Health care, Primary Education, etc., are usually within the purview of local authorities with the higher levels of Government exercising oversight and judicial control to guarantee fiscal and administrative discipline. This is why many have opined that such emasculation of this 3rd-tier of government is largely responsible for widespread poverty occasioned by unemployment, insecurity and deep-rooted economic frustration ravaging the land. Accordingly, many have opined that instead of just making our local government administration a rubber stamp of their respective state governments, it would be more apposite to scrap the state as a tier of government and replace it with local governments’ authorities to bring governance closer to the people.”
The Centre
for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL,
has lauded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for its recent action
at retrieving some high-end properties traced to the immediate past governor of
Imo State, Chief RochasOkorocha and members of his family.
In a release issued by the Coordinator of Media and Publications for the anti-corruption organization, Adegboyega Otunuga, on behalf of its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “We would recollect that shortly after assumption of office, some state governors blew the whistle on how their predecessors had looted their respective states’ treasury, converted government properties into personal and family ownership and use while outrightly expropriating resources belonging to the public through last-minute contract awards and phoney transactions. Prominent amongst such indicted governors was Senator RochasOkorocha whose successor in office, EmekaIhedioha, accused of appropriating so many governor properties to self and family, especially shortly before handing over date.
After this note of alarm, CACOL had issued a statement asking the EFCC and the ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) to quickly swing into action and investigate those claims by the diverse states’ governments. This was with a view to not only retrieving those resources that run into billions of Naira, but to also serve a note of warning that this government actually meant business in combatting corruption, headlong, and bringing culprits to book, no matter how highly connected or positioned. It is, therefore, heartwarming and reassuring that the two (2) major anti-graft organizations in the country have heeded our clarion calls as much as the governors who were practical enough to actually blow the whistle on the can of worms left behind by their predecessors.
“According to the EFCC acting spokesperson, Tony Orilade, after appropriate investigation, some of the ill-acquired properties traced to the former governor of Imo state, OwelleRochasOkorocha and his family include, Dews of Hope Hospital traced to Dr Paschal Obi, former Principal Secretary to ex-Governor Okorocha, Market Square Super Market (all in one shop) and premises belonging to Imo state Broadcasting Corporation, now hosting Rochas Foundation College owned by Senator RochasOkorocha. Others are East High Academy and East High College, owned by Okorocha’s daughter, UlomaOkorocha- Nwosu, Royal Spring Palm Hotel and Apartment, a 16-block cum 96 flats and eight bungalows multi-million Naira estate traced to Okorocha’s wife, etc. All these are suspected resources that were looted from Imo State coffers by their former Governor”
The CACOL boss added, “Without mincing any words, this sting operation against the malfeasance and unscrupulous looting of public resources by RochasOkorocha is quite commendable. This becomes more appreciable when one considers the fact that the ex-Governor was one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s close-corridor friends. What this means is that the current government actually meant his word, when he said ‘he has no friend and he has no enemy”. Our major wish is that this land must be seriously healed of the evils of corruption and its cascading taproot terminated from our body-polity. The momentum has to be sustained as other indicted governors would now be busy, frantically covering their tracks and manipulating records and other evidence. This is where we expect the anticipatory acumen of our anti-corruption agencies to be more incisive and swift as they beam their keen satellite on that stolen wealth. This is the only way towards returning our country back to the era of social order and economic stability.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership CACOL has requested for an independent investigation into the allegation of willful defamation against the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele by the whistle-blower, George Uboh over the accused petition of #232bn fraud against the Governor of the CBN.
In a release issued by the Media and Publications Officer, Toyin Odofin on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Centre Debo Adeniran, he stated, “Following the report that was published in Punch Newspapers earlier today, it was gathered that a whistle-blower named, George Uboh, was arraigned for defamation and image tarnishing against the CBN governor. We would recollect how an Online Newspapers, SAHARA REPORTERS reported a scoop involving Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, his Deputy Edward Lametek Adamu and the Director for Finance, Dayo M. Arowosegbe, including one of the Special Advisers to the CBN Governor, Emmanuel Ukeje who were allegedly caught on tape discussing how to cover up the loss of over N500billion stolen from the apex bank in a private investment that went bust.’
Whistleblower, George Uboh
“Despite the call on the anti-graft agencies to investigate the matter thoroughly, there was no proof of whether or not the CBN governor was investigated over the alleged fraud, while the CBN Governor remained mute over such enormous allegation, the Online Newspapers that first broke the story, Sahara Reporters, has never refuted their claim till date. Our major concern over this, as an anti-corruption organization, is the consequences of such shoddy treatment of serious corruption allegations bordering on how the nation’s resources are handled. We remain adamant that people should not be afraid to report any factual corruptible act, hidden or apparent, as it will serve as a weapon to recovering missing funds.”
The CACOL boss added, “Howbeit, we would recollect that since this weapon of Whistleblower came as one of Muhammadu Buhari’s major plank of fighting corruption, over N200bn (Two Hundred billion Naira) looted funds have been recovered while many of the Whistleblowers were yet to be paid their entitlements of the recovered funds. In Nigeria, the range of settlement hovers between 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent while in many advanced economies, it is, most of the time, 10 per cent and the usual practice are to be paid as such efforts yield actual retrieval of looted public funds. This is because, aside from the prevention of grand frauds or corruption through technology, the other notable means of discouraging mindless looting of the commonwealth is through the instrumentality of Whistleblowing since corruption is usually perpetrated by 1 or more people. A good example of such procrastination in settling whistleblowers is the instance of the exposed secret $223m (Two Hundred and Twenty-Three Million Dollars) NNPC account where about $49m (Forty-Nine Million American Dollars) has been recovered while the Whistleblower remained unpaid his share of the same amount until now. This is why we enjoin the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to give more bite to the Whistleblower policy rather than allowing it to become disused while we urge Nigerians to always blow the whistle for the ogre of corruption to remain shamed and shunned in evolving a new Nigeria.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has requested for the intervention of the nation’s two (2) Anti-graft agencies, ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) and EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) to embark on an immediate perusal and scrutiny of different states of the federation by their respective preceding governors. This is coming on the heels of the incumbent governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde’s disclosure on Thursday confirming the recovery of 14 vehicles taken away by the officials of the last administration. The recovery followed the expiration of an ultimatum given to the officials of the last administration by Governor Seyi Makinde.
In a release issued by the Anti-graft organization’s Coordinator for Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga on behalf of the Centre’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “In almost all the about 29 (Twenty-Nine states) of the federation where elections were held on March 2019, the respective successors have cried out loud over the unmitigated and reckless looting perpetrated by their predecessors. While in some states, contracts were awarded without any regard for due diligence or attempts at fostering accountability, in others, even properties and other valuable assets belonging to the states were simply expropriated while humongous sums of money suddenly developed wings without any remorse by the state executive officers. In Oyo State, where Mr Seyi Makinde, a People’s Democratic Party Candidate defeated his counterpart from All-People’s Congress (APC) he cried to the high heavens on realization of the unprecedented looting and disappearance of the state’s official vehicles (running into billions of Naira) that suddenly disappeared shortly before his swearing-in ceremony. The story is not in any way different even in Ogun State, Edo State, Imo State, etc., and many others where candidates from the same party as the out-going governors won their elections.
“However laudable and commendable the cries of these governors have been about the illegal and highly reprehensible looting of the people’s wealth by their predecessors, as a concerned anti-corruption coalition in the country, many of the state governors have publicly declared their lack of resolve to openly probe and bring to book this odious stealing of the state’s wealth. Examples are Ogun state and Oyo state where governors (Messrs.) Dapo Abiodun and Seyi Makinde respectively have come out to insist that such probe routine would only serve as a‘ distraction and an encumbrance towards providing their people with dividends of democracy and fulfil their electoral promises to the people. As reasonable as this ‘forgive and forget’ approach to reckless treasury lootings by public office holders may sound, it portends danger to the idea of accountability and war against corruption of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. It is in this wise that CACOL now beckons on the two anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and ICPC to, without much ado, swing into action and perform their statutory duty by investigating this obnoxious looting and eventually bring the culprits to book in any affected states.”
The CACOL boss added, “It is only in this country one would witness such colossal heist by state actors and accusations by the incumbent governors would be criminally ignored by the alleged culprits. Any attempts by the anti-graft agencies to ignore such cries would not only be tantamount to a rewarding crime, but it would also send a wrong signal that public office holders could loot their respective states with impunity without any fear of repercussions. Aside from the dire consequences, this would have on the state’s ability to deliver quality leadership to the people, it gives an impression that politics or leadership in our clime is for personal aggrandizement and treating the mass, in whose domain sovereignty rests, with contempt is normal. May God never allow this country to finally become such a banana republic. This is why this patriotic call has become urgent and critical.
Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, tells FEMI MAKINDE that the Lagos State Traffic Management laws, reintroduced by the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, are too draconian and should be repealed
How do you view the resuscitation of Lagos State Traffic Management laws by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration?
The law is not just punitive but too draconian for any decent society. It is like this government is misplacing its priority. What we expect the new Lagos State Government to do is to ensure that the basic welfare of the people in terms of transportation is well taken care of. We expect that they will ensure that the people are satisfied with the road network. The governor ought to have consolidated on the gains of the past administration by ensuring road projects initiated by the past administration are completed in record time.
Apart from the major roads, ancillary roads should be created to ease gridlock on the major roads and this would have reduced the number of hours spent commuting by the people on a daily basis.
The traffic laws are too draconian for the kind of civilised society that Lagos is expected to be. If the roads are good and the people are violating the traffic laws, then that would be a different issue.
Are you saying the residents are not used to the traffic laws, which are not new?
We said it since the days of former Governor Babatunde Fashola when some of these laws were enacted that they conflict with the federal laws. And when this happens, the federal laws should hold sway. We believe that confiscating vehicles of those that violate traffic laws is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. We criticised Fashola when his administration was crushing seized motorcycles. We said crushing these bikes was unfriendly and exploitative. Some would have paid their fines and their motorcycles would not have been crushed. For some of them, those bikes were their only means of livelihood. There are some of the laws that can be violated inadvertently. Destroying the means of somebody’s livelihood because of such offence, to say the least is cruel. Traffic lights malfunction at times; and there are occasions when these traffic officials lure motorists to break these laws and by the time you get to the middle of the road, you are arrested. If they don’t like your face or you can’t grease their palms, they will confiscate your vehicles.
Lagos made the draconian laws to discourage people from driving in the state or driving to the state. But that is not the way to manage a megacity. They should find out those who are violating the laws. And while doing that, they should make life better for the people and not engage in exploiting them.
Do you also agree with those claiming that the government made the laws to generate revenue rather than to clear gridlock?
That is what I think too. If clearing the gridlock is their major aim, they will first fix the roads. When LASTMA was set up, it was not meant to generate revenue but to clear gridlock and make the movement of people and goods easy and fast in the state. If gridlock is the aim of this administration, I think the first thing they should have done is to repair the bad roads and fill the potholes, which are slowing down traffic. The major highways should be paved and the ancillary roads should be made okay; so that there will be alternative roads for motorists. If the roads are good, I don’t think anybody will want to create impediments on the roads. If that happens, violators should be made to face the law but not draconian laws.
The failed portions of the roads, which are even many on Lagos roads now, are the major reason for gridlock and some drive against the traffic in an attempt to avoid gridlock. Some drive against traffic because they are conveying somebody who is in labour pains to the hospital; some are sick and are being taken to hospital. Driving against traffic is at times engendered by traffic officials themselves.
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has urged the two anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC to wade into the allegations of financial impropriety being leveled against some of the states’ newly sworn-in governors against their predecessors.
