Since we are in a season of xmas, we might quote reference to the Bible and wish Nigerias seasons greetings.
In the Bible, Zacchaeus was not wicked because he carried money out of town in bags.
He was wicked because he used power, position, and law to extort, and hid behind authority to do it.
Today, many nations no longer suffer corruption only through looting.
They suffer it through law-making.
When a law is duly debated and passed, but later quietly altered before it is gazetted, that is not governance — that is theft in a suit.
It is corruption with a pen instead of a gun.
In any decent society, when such a thing happens:
• The Speaker steps aside
• The tax authority leadership answers questions
• Oversight committees resign
• Courts move swiftly
But in a country where:
• The masses are tired, distracted, or divided
• Elites protect elites
• Power shields wrongdoing
…nothing happens.
And so the modern Zacchaeus prospers — not because he is righteous, but because silence has become policy.
When people cannot stand for their rights,
and institutions refuse to discipline themselves,
then justice does not disappear — it is only postponed.
History keeps records.
God keeps accounts.
Judgement does not need press releases.
Corruption is not only in stealing money.
It is also in stealing the law itself.
M. Musa