“If it were not for injustice, men would not know justice.”-Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC)
I have been watching the rash of arrests and arraignment of some kleptomaniacs in recent weeks by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The rash of arrests, it seems, is to convince Nigerians that the new EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, is doing his job and he is very serious about fighting corruption in Nigeria. But I have to confess that I am not in any way impressed. I am not impressed because I am of the view that the EFCC is just grandstanding. It is not sincere. It is trying to fool Nigerians. The EFCC is trying to lure angry and agitated Nigerians to slumber.
“If it were not for injustice, men would not know justice.”-Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC)
I have been watching the rash of arrests and arraignment of some kleptomaniacs in recent weeks by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The rash of arrests, it seems, is to convince Nigerians that the new EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, is doing his job and he is very serious about fighting corruption in Nigeria. But I have to confess that I am not in any way impressed. I am not impressed because I am of the view that the EFCC is just grandstanding. It is not sincere. It is trying to fool Nigerians. The EFCC is trying to lure angry and agitated Nigerians to slumber.
I know some will argue that “they are doing something.” Some will say “at least, they have to start somewhere.” Well, we have been deceived for too long that no one will blame me for being cynical. And if anyone wishes to blame me, so be it. I do not believe the EFCC. I am just not sold on this grandstanding. Nothing really is happening in the war against corruption in my own opinion. It is all an illusion. It is not real. It is a fake.
A while ago, Mr. Lamorde disclosed that the Commission has convicted more than 288 persons over sundry Internet crimes. He also reported that four fugitives were extradited to the United States and another 234 cases are still being prosecuted in courts across the country. This disclosure is emblematic of the charade that the EFCC is trying to sell to Nigerians at home and abroad. The small fries are the ones that are being chased around, prosecuted and jailed while the big fries are flagrantly gallivanting around the nation and the world with conspicuous and ostentatious consumption. They don’t give a damn about EFCC, because they believe they are “untouchables.”
Look at the list of those who have been convicted. They are not just few in number; they consist of those who have no protection of and by the system. They are the ones I refer to as “dispensables.” They are the sacrificial lambs to get Nigerian off the back of the administration and convince the world that “something is being done about corruption.” But it is all a façade. It is grandstanding. There is no real substance as far as I am concerned.
Until some of the Governors are indicted, arraigned, prosecuted and jailed, I would not buy the EFCC product. Until we have an incumbent Minister indicted, arraigned, prosecuted and jailed, the EFCC is not going to get any credit from me. Until some sitting Senators and or members of Federal House of Representatives caught in their act are indicted, arraigned, prosecuted and convicted, the EFCC will remain a discredited body. The CBN governor is not answering questions about donating our money to his preferred victims. Where did he get the money he was donating? Is that part of his statutory functions? Another Senator is already out-maneuvering the EFCC? What is the EFCC doing about vote thieves? And those former governors, who have stolen our money, are they still enjoying immunity?
I am not expecting a witch-hunt, victimization or blackmailing. But we all read the newspapers. We listen to Radio and Television. We all surf the internet media. We read about mind boggling corrupt practices on daily basis from the Presidency to local government level. But as far as the EFCC is concerned, nothing is happening. In this war against corruption, Nigeria has become George Orwell’s Animal Farm where “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
The EFCC must be the only body in Nigeria that does not seem to understand that the reason corruption is so rife is because the “leaders” are pathologically corrupt and are incorrigibly crooked. They have debased our public morality. Thus, an average citizen who has the intention of being honest and incorruptible has no incentive to do so, in the face of a macerating economy.
Until the EFCC beheads the snake of corruption, it is laboring in vain. Corruption is like a tree. When you cut the branches, you have not achieved anything, because other branches would grow and become formidable. What we need is the uprooting of the tree of corruption and the only way to do this is to begin from the top. Touch the untouchables. Make a sample of them and see what happens.
The lame king of Sparta, Agesilaus II (444 – 360 BC) once said, “Courage is of no value unless accompanied by justice; yet if all men became just, there would be no need for courage.” Essentially, Lamorde would not even need courage, if all he wants to dispense is justice, and not selective justice. He does not need courage if his goal is fairness and equality before the law. He seemed to have settled on the dispensable ones, the weak ones that would not rock the boat of his future ambition. He is trying to sidestep the so-called “landmines” when he could embark on deliberate, systematic but effective clearance of them. He appeared determined to sell dummy to the rest of us that he is fighting corruption when this is not the case in real sense.
Yet, there is nothing wrong in being ambitious. Lamorde could still cleanse the corruption and still be able to realize his ambition, if he has any. In fact, the best way to guarantee his ambition would be to free Nigerians from the bondage of corruption by clearing the Aegean stable and render those who are contaminating the system with stolen money powerless and irrelevant. All you need is visit the full weight of the law on them, fairly. If Nuhu Ribadu had dispensed non-selective justice, those who frustrated his presidential ambition would not have been around to do so. They would either be in jail or in exile. But he was not able to see ahead. Now he is working for Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke! What a descent into absurd.
Lamorde needs to wake up from his pretensions. He is not cultivating goodwill yet. Most of us are still suspicious of him. The horde of incompetent prosecutions is too instructive to give him benefit of the doubt. Certified criminals are getting bailed. They are getting off the hook. Immunity should not be excuses. Lamorde needs to be more creative within the confines of the law. Those stealing our wealth are not doing it alone. Arrest their accomplices. Send them to jail pending the time the immunity would be off the real culprits.
Investigate, indict, prosecute and jail corrupt judges. EFCC should investigate and arrest Police Commissioners who abuse their positions by folding their arms while some political thugs visit violence on the innocent. Corruption is not about stealing money alone. Unethical and unprofessional behaviors are acts of corruption which, more often than not, lead to financial corruption. They ought not to be overlooked. It is either Lamorde is up to the task or not. Nigerians need to know which is which. Enough of this grandstanding!
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