Nigeria: The Change we Need

Nigeria: The Change We Need

Ezekiel Ette

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If you live in Nigeria or spend a few minutes a week reading blogs and news from the country like I do,  chances are that you have heard President Buhari of Nigeria talk about rooting out corruption. Many people have come to see the President as a no-nonsense individual with no tolerance for corruption. Yet this persona is neither the face of change nor that of a somber reality. As president Obama mentioned in his speech to the Ghanaian parliament in 2008, Africa spends much of her time producing strong men and less time fashioning out strong institutions. In the end, institutions are child of ideas and ideas do not die. Unfortunately, men die and no matter how strong they were, their charisma and toughness die with them. So President Buhari  is nothing new in a continent that loves strong men and minimal institutions.

Mr. Integrity, as many Nigerians have dubbed the president, has spent the last six months since he was sworn in telling Nigerians how he is ready to clean house and punish corrupt officials. I personally do not doubt that the president is sincere, but this enthusiasm and sincerity are derived from a flawed assumption of human nature and an outlook on life. The president, as an avowed Muslim, believes that humans are corrupt as a result of their distance from the divine. As a military officer trained in the British tradition, Mr. President was taught that human nature is evil and that the only language to correct that flaw is brute force and punishment. This twin assumption may be behind the President’s resolute anger and response to the issue of corruption in Nigeria. He has a point. But is it possible that our president may be giving a wrong diagnosis to a dying patient? In this essay, I attempt to move us away from the usual messiah mentality to what is actually ailing us. We are so used to having the idea that if we can just find just one good individual who is not corrupt to lead the country all will be well. And so, we tolerated decades of military rule with the assumption that the military can use force and set things right. The problem was that those men in khaki had no interest in institutional reforms but rather were themselves corrupt and brought down whatever institutions they met.

President Buhari in his zeal to punish corrupt officials of past administrations has promised to prosecute those who were looters of the treasury. The problem with this is that while we are engaged in this revisionist stand, the world is changing, the economy is getting into a free fall and the instruments and institutions of government necessary to execute this punishment are also corrupted. With a unitary police system where the police system belongs in the exclusive list, one individual, the Inspector General of police appointed by the President, becomes the chief law enforcement officer, and serves at the pleasure of a cabal that negotiated his appointment. Given the current condition, an arrest can be seen as a political action and the southerners are currently calling any effort in this regard as being selective. The courts can also frustrate prosecution through corruption and the states are powerless in prosecuting anyone found to be culpable. Though multiculturalism would be a strength elsewhere, in Nigeria, the diverse ethnic mix of the country has been turned into a weakness and enshrined in the constitution with the euphemism “Federal Character”.  In Nigeria, citizens want to see the looters from other ethnic groups go to jail, but want to keep their own looters. The Nigerian philosophy is : "He may be a thief, but he is our own thief".  And so the Nigerian is willing to protect own kin and live in misery. Geography triumphs common sense and loyalty is prized above truth. Those of us who study the continent for a living agree that the politicians are very aware of this and so they play the ethnic card at the slightest chance. Political parties “zone” positions of power and of governance to different groups. Most Nigerians see this as an issue of justice in a country that practices the politics of plunder.  It does not matter that most people who belong to the relevant zone reap very little reward personally.  The politicians and their godfathers find the explanation simple to sell to those at home when playing the ethnic card. The ordinary Nigerian feels a sense of being robbed should some politician in his or her linguistic region is not given a coveted position. As noted earlier, it makes very little difference whether the politician in question is personally known to the individual or if the benefits of the position are not communally shared. The average Nigerian has been taught to see communal injury and to forget about sound public policy and the strengthening of institutions of governance. Protected by the dictates of geography from accountability, those whose “turn” it is, have little to fear as the nation watches the crumbling of institutions of governance.  Because the sense of belonging is very powerful as a secular religion, Election Day becomes a free for all violence as individuals see the ballot result as a preservation of their honor, to vote against someone from one’s ethnic group means that one is a sellout.  Ideas take a back seat and the accident of birth and place of birth become the only reason individuals vote. Groups’ sense of entitlement becomes a powerful force that drives violence during elections and beyond.

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 I sincerely believe that the messiah and group mentality will change when the average Nigerian is fully educated. For now, I think rather than getting vindictive and heating up the polity with selective prosecution, the president should put his energies into changing institutions that foster corruption and impunity. But I doubt those people he has surrounded himself with know what is wrong in the country let alone know what solutions to pursue. In light of the foregoing understanding, I sincerely believe that it will be a waste of his term and the time of the country for President Buhari to expend his energies into the prosecution of past politicians. He will be better off using that energy to strengthen the crumbling institutions in the country.

Education is the first place to start. Rather than worry about the university professors as critics, perhaps seeing them as allies can help. All university students should be required to take a course on multiculturalism and the effect of corruption before graduation. A multicultural and diverse country like Nigeria cannot afford to ignore this tool of postmodern thought. As I have written elsewhere, students take what they learn in school to the world outside and so corruption in the schools should be looked upon as a serious issue.

How election is funded and conducted requires a strict attention. Election laws need to be revamped and modernize. One-person-one vote should be more than a slogan and efforts should be made to match an individual with his or her vote. In an information age such as we are now, who votes for whom, where and how should be an easy thing to track. There is technology available to eliminate ghost voters and ballot stuffing. The revelation that a few thousand people produced a million vote is more than embarrassing in this day and age. Strict laws against election tampering should be enacted and given teeth through funding. No one, for example, who has cast his or her vote should be allowed to hang around a polling place after voting unless certified ahead of time as a poll watcher by the relevant political party and no political party should have more than two individuals as an accredited poll watcher at a polling station.  Individuals hanging around polling stations as was observed in the last elections are capable of intimidating voters and causing trouble.

The archaic accounting system brought by the colonialist in the 19th century is long overdue for change. The world has changed since then and the Nigerian system must also change. You cannot enforce any law if you cannot follow the money. The practice of handing out money in boxes to directors, commissioners and heads of parastatals is antiquated and methods of tracing money using modern technology should be instituted and backed by law.  

We cannot reap the dividend of democracy without the rule of law. And the rule of law requires that no one should be discriminated against. The country requires the enactment of protected categories and legislation is required to ensure that neither gender nor geography should convey privilege to any individual, therefore the “Federal Character” provision in the constitution should be abrogated. It rewards the accident of birth rather than achievements and genius. Instead, the country needs nondiscrimination law making it illegal for any individual to violate the rights of others. It is also hard to institute the rule of law when states as federating units are not allowed their own law enforcement agencies and prisons. 

Security and Law enforcement must be taken seriously.  Most ministries in the country have no law enforcement and investigative units and so the police become overwhelmed. There should be an investigative unit for each ministry with the responsibility of investigating violations of relevant ministry  rules. Such unit should be able to monitor police and judicial handling of such cases and report same to relevant authority. How such cases are disposed of and an evaluation of such handlings should be mandated by law at least every three years and such reports should be publicly made available. Each state should be made to establish such units in their respective states. Those found to violate the law should be jailed and their ill-gotten wealth confiscated for the benefit of the local law enforcement authority. When convicted, what was illegally acquired should be sold and the proceeds used to buy equipment for the local police. The current practice of allowing looters to enjoy their loot in relative comfort is wrong. We cannot modernize, create jobs and invest in our young people without electricity. It is very difficult to maintain electronic records and track expenditure in the 21st century without technology that runs on power, therefore constant power should be seen as a matter of national security. Presidents around the world have made priorities and make certain issues a matter of national security. In the United States, President Eisenhower saw the national highway system as a national security issue and pressed his countrymen to see the issue through such prism. Today the highway system has brought economic benefits to the country. President Buhari must study this and think accordingly.

Mr President can talk about banning corruption in the country till the cows come home but without proper institutions to enforce the law, all we will hear about is talk but very little action.

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