The Pandora reports and unrealistic attempt to stem tide of corruption in Nigeria

BY MOMOH EMMANUEL OMEIZA

Without mincing words, corruption, especially in Nigeria’s context, seems to be a lexicon which everyone (both the leader and the led) have become familiar with. This is largely due to the different circumstances that continue to trigger an indescribable curiosity in the human mind. 

As the clock ticks and turns into seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months and years, Nigeria’s socio-political space continues to be erupted with different cases, events, issues and news items bordering around corruption, cases of financial mismanagement and recklessness. All these continue to be a source of wonder and amazement to many, including the international audience.

Barely a week ago, the entire citizenry was greeted with the #Pandora Papers# which contained a detailed analysis of how several occupiers of public offices in Nigeria utilised state funds to amass a rather abysmal share of choicest resources outside the nation’s borders.

My heart couldn’t but ponder on different questions such as the irrationality of many a Nigerian public official who, in the guise of administering state resources, siphon avalanche of funds towards acquiring mansions and properties which eventually turn into dunghills with the speedy passage of time.

Furthermore, I couldn’t resist the urge to wonder about the level of societal degradation as well as the absence of a stable legal system which seeks to try some of the officials indicted. Nonetheless, a walk through the lanes of memory aptly corroborates the fact that Africa, and Nigeria specifically, is indeed plagued with different social epidemics of which corruption seems to hold the larger percentage.

This social degradation has undoubtedly been responsible for the albatross of many Ills which beset our collective existence. This over time has led to a clash between the elites who are the rulers and the followers who are on the lower echelon of the social strata.

Examples like Jacob Zuma of South Africa who is currently held behind bars for fiscal misappropriation and the late General Sani Abacha of Nigeria whose loot, even after two decades, is still being recovered are vivid proofs as to the fact that the virus of corruption in its entirety still runs in the veins of the black race.

In Nigeria, several attempts have been made to ensure this ugly phenomenon is nipped in the bud. Such include the establishment of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission. Others are the amendment of various financial acts and the various promises made by different administrations to champion the cause of equity, justice and fairness, especially among public officials.

An honest appraisal of all the attempts reveals the fact that not one good achievement has been recorded. It is as it were from bad to worse. The current administration headed by President Muhammadu Buhari has continually reiterated his administration’s zero-tolerance for corrupt and other despicable financial practices. Even six years after he was sworn in, one is forced to ask how viable and practicable those promises have been, especially when several members of his cabinet have been entangled severally.

What more can we say of the likes of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Uzor Kalu Orji, Danjuma Goje, Stella Oduah who despite the various allegations of corrupt practices levied against them continue to walk the aisles and roads gallantly as free men?

How sad is the fact that the nation that has been regarded by different transitional organisations as the headquarters for extreme poverty and whose currency is currently battling a rather astronomical exchange rate with other currencies at the international market could have leaders who are hell-bent on looting the nation’s treasury dry even without a second’s thought on the damning consequences of their actions?

Almost on a daily basis, Nigerians plunge into the trench of the poverty cycle. Not minding all these, the national day-to-day expenditure is funded on loans and debts which are eventually used to acquire the choicest properties that have no significance to the national treasury.

As it stands currently, the Nigerian political office holder will regard himself as a saint who has no single record of even hurting a fly, let alone engaging in corrupt practices. However, no sooner than he or she gains access into enviable public offices does he begin to show his or her colour, especially on issues relating to public financing. Little wonder an ace saying holds the maxim that “character is best tested on three pedestals: money, position and morality”. Many Nigerian leaders will undoubtedly fail if they are placed on the balances inherent in the maxim above.

It is therefore not a shocker that the names of many Nigerian were captured in the Pandora Papers which was a joint venture of different journalists from different countries around the globe. The paper contained reports of how Nigerian leaders used different avenues such as evading tax payments, stealing without restraint from the national coffers, and using the proceeds to purchase purchases in questionable locations across the globe.

A prominent mystery which the Pandora Papers unraveled was the fact that leaders from all the six geopolitical zones of the country were accused. This proves the fact that corruption in Nigeria is all-pervasive and it is not a respecter of age, tribe or gender.

Well, it is no use trying to dig into the archives to substantiate the evils the corruption pandemic has brought. However, the earlier we contain the spread of this virus, the better for us all; lest the last error be worse than the first.

Momoh Emmanuel Omeiza can be reached via [email protected]