Sincere 9gerian: It is only sensible not to add the battle of former head of states (OBJ, IBB,etc) to the plate now. The current president already has his plate FULL, more than any president before him. The president is battling Boko haram, kidnapping, crude oil theft, militancy in Niger Delta, bad roads, unstable power, poor rail network, unemployment, poor health facilities, poor education, almajiris in the north, poverty, politics of re-election in 2015, influence of social media, etc. The plate is FULL already.

Any person or group of people that loves the president and mean well for this country would not advice him to take on the former head of states, atleast for now.

After 2015 elections, by which time some of the problems on the plate now may either have been solved or minimized, the president can confidentally confront NEW battles, including if necessary, the probe of OBJ and co. But for now, it will be a bad decision.

Former presidents or head of states are powerful, with foot solders in and out of govt. And coupled with so much ethnic sentiments in this country make it seem as if they'r untouchable. Any govt that decides to take them on must be ready for all the backlash that'll follow

tomakint:
Probing Obasanjo who puts him there in Nigerian political setting is definitely going to divide the PDP house and will eventually divert attention Obj never for once probed IBB corrupt practises despite setting up Oputa Panel! If u are Jonathan what will you do to Obj?

The U.S. report on corruption in Nigeria

MONDAY, 29 APRIL 2013 00:00 EDITOR OPINION - EDITORIAL



DOES Nigeria need to be told of how corruption thrives in high places? Or can anything new be said about what a pandemic graft has become in Nigeria? That the answer is an emphatic no illustrates how bad the situation is. But a greater tragedy is that when the matter is raised either by Nigerians or outsiders, the official response is one of denial or combative defence instead of a dignified silence or, better still, a solemn resolve to do something about the cankerworm.

When the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, an arm of the State Department made public its annual country report recently, the endemic corruption in Nigeria was again at the centre of the routine report. It painted a picture of the deep-rooted nature of corruption among public officials in the country. Titled, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012,” the report noted specifically that despite legal provisions against corrupt practices in the country, public officials engaged in them with an unprecedented impunity at all levels of government, including the security forces. It went further to take a swipe at the Nigerian judiciary where it claimed that justice too is for sale. All assertions undisputable.

Typically, the reaction of the government of Nigeria is one of denial of the patently obvious. The presidency warned Nigerians to be wary of the assessment and described the State Department report as “parachute researches” limited by absence of any knowledge of the country and its affairs. The ruling People’s Democratic Party even viewed the report as an insult on the country, but, in contradictory terms, agreed that corruption was everywhere and that the party had been ‘fighting’ the scourge, obviously with little success. Of course, only PDP knows the tools with which it has done the fighting.

However, it is to be noted that this is not the first indictment of Nigeria over corruption. Not long ago, wife of the former president of the United States, Mrs. Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State also threw barbs at the country over widespread corruption. And indeed, since the inception of the country’s fourth republic, the nation has come under scrutiny over corruption. The Transparency International perception index has not spared Nigeria, which is often rated low in its documentations. And the local agencies of corruption, namely, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have brought to limelight high profile cases of corruption against public officials, many of which have been inconclusive.

Once again, there is nothing to deny in the State Department report that corruption is widespread in Nigeria. It has not only undermined the country’s growth and development but has also aggravated the incapacity of the state to meet the growing needs of the populace. Many of the examples cited in the report, including the oil subsidy scam, the police pension fraud, the trial and conviction of James Ibori in the United Kingdom are common knowledge and irrefutable. Also, the recent glorification of corrupt public officials through indiscriminate state pardons does no good to the image of Nigeria as a very corrupt enclave.

The point must be stressed that the focus on corruption in Nigeria by foreign bodies need not be seen as merely self-serving but on the contrary as a challenge that must be taken up with a view to tackling the problem. Corruption is a serious socio-economic and political issue that should not be treated with kid gloves or trivialized through spinning by hirelings of a government. Pervasive corruption was used in the past as a justification for irresponsible and unacceptable military intervention and therefore has remained a veritable source of instability in the realm.

Government’s response to the U.S. searchlight on corruption in Nigeria is indeed unconscionable. The time has come for the government of the day to tackle this challenge headlong. There is need to articulate a national strategy to combat this scourge. That strategy must begin with exemplary conduct of the leadership of the country who must claim the moral high ground through self-purging. Corruption, apart from being systemic, is also partly a question of character failure, and the presidency is pre-eminently a place for moral leadership.

It is a shame that the sixth largest oil producing country has the wellbeing of its citizens ranked among the lowest in the world. The structures for fighting corruption or even preventing it are too weak. An exemplary leadership can breathe life into the sinews of government, cut short the deepening habituation to and tolerance of corruption.

A ‘Naming and Shaming’ process should form part of the strategy. Corrupt public officials must not only be identified and put on trial, with a view to stigmatising them both internally and externally and keeping them on an Eternal Roll of Dishonour. As the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahati Mohamad once remarked, corruption is driven in Nigeria by the absence of a sense of shame.

Restructuring the country in ways that are expressive of fiscal autonomy for the federating components will also help to curb corruption as the over-reliance on oil revenues by all strata of government has fuelled the Dutch disease that has afflicted the country since the discovery of oil.

The grand strategy should also include capacity building for anti-corruption within the bureaucracy of government, especially horizontal accountability, which involves mutual checking, annulling and righting actions and inaction of state institutions.

Above all, the proposed strategy should include remodeling Nigeria’s politics, removing its current commercial value and making it attractive only to genuine servants. Now, this is the only business in town and the desperation in the scramble for it fuels corruption in ways unimaginable! Central to this is a drastic reduction in the cost of governance in the executive branch, the legislature and the civil service. The journey may have to begin, for example, with the whittling down of the legislature by making legislative business at all levels a part-time one. This should expunge from the national psyche a mentality in which politics is perceived and practiced today as the only business with the highest returns.

Of course, attitude must change. And the breakdown of values must be addressed through the family system and a nationwide school curriculum that emphasizes ethical re-orientation. This is necessary to keep the future of Nigeria away from the claws of corruption even as the battle goes on to wrest its present from its jaws.

fkaz:

"in every bad leader thier must be a bad follower". and you a good example of a bad follower

Jenams: Obj is not smarter than GEJ, he is smarter than all of u hatin on GEJ! Tink abt dis quote.

~Bluetooth:


Stop tripping. .if Jonathan doesn't want to probe obj's regime,why is he planning to probe his aides ?

eGuerrilla:

You've missed the boat on this one by a mile.
Success at the 2015 elections you mentioned will remain a mirage for as long as Jonathan continues to exist in a state of denial about the level of corruption associated with his administration.

If you think Obasanjo's riposte was only intended for local consumption, you are also seriously mistaken.
Tragic as it sounds, what you have here is a former president whose own administration did not exactly excel in the area of transparency announcing to the world that: "he might have been corrupt, but the current one is infinitely more corrupt".

The gauntlet has been thrown and now is the time for Jonathan to rise to the challenge.

tomakint: Obasanjo is definitely a clown on this one! His display of shameless boldness is laughable. If I may ask what happened to the $16 billion spent on power? Over 200 million units of shares he and his cronies owned in Transcorp? The over N6 billion fraud he called Presidential library? The many allegations levelled against him by El-Rufai (a serving minister in his cabinet)? The Ministry of Petroleum he illegally served as the de facto minister for 8 years and many more. Kai, this Baba Iyabo can lie

fkaz:

"in every bad leader thier must be a bad follower". and you a good example of a bad follower

tomakint: Obasanjo is definitely a clown on this one! His display of shameless boldness is laughable. If I may ask what happened to the $16 billion spent on power? Over 200 million units of shares he and his cronies owned in Transcorp? The over N6 billion fraud he called Presidential library? The many allegations levelled against him by El-Rufai (a serving minister in his cabinet)? The Ministry of Petroleum he illegally served as the de facto minister for 8 years and many more. Kai, this Baba Iyabo can lie

Sincere 9gerian:
Whatever the attraction maybe, my position on this matter is that it will be unwise for the current govt to begin probe of former head of states now. The govt does not need that distraction now.

Those who are clamouring for the govt to take on former presidents would before the end of today have mentioned atleast ten OTHER pressing problems they want the govt to tackle.

Interestingly, those clamouring for the govt to take on former presidents are the same IDs notorious for their PATHOLOGICAL HATRED for the president. These are the same IDs that abuse, insult, curse and call the president all sort of names. The fact that someones KNOWN ENEMIES are urging the person to go on battle should make the person jettison that battle atleast for that moment.

For me, the govt should remain FOCUSED on its ongoing reforms and programmes. This is my stand.

hillsate: In the coming days we expect the probe to start on the pages of newspapers with Okupe leading the GEJ team and Fani Kayode leading the OBJ team.

No plan to probe Obasanjo, says Okupe
Posted by: Yusuf Alli, Abuja on April 29, 2013 in Featured, News 9 Comments

THE Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has no plan to probe Obasanjo.

Okupe, who spoke on the phone last night, said: “I am not aware that there is a plan to probe the former President.”
Asked about the issues he joined with Mrs. Ezekwesili on the $67 billion in Foreign Reserves and the $22 billion in Excess Crude Account, Okupe said: “I did not join issues with Oby.

“I did not accuse Oby of embezzling any money. She didn’t get her facts right on the amount left in the Foreign Reserves and the Excess Crude Accounts and I set the records straight.”

On the pipeline protection plans by Jonathan administration, he added: “I am out of Abuja; I won’t be able to respond to that immediately now.”

Ngwakwe: People shouldn't forget that Nigeria is under occupation by former military men and their surrogates.

The corrupt cabals are former Military Officers and their front men. They have laid insurmountable forces to cause any administration to dance to their tune or get dethroned.

GEJ a civilian President has dared the powers that be and we have failed to see the handwriting on the wall.

Gamji007:

What can ur toothless clueless daft GEJ do about it? He is simply worse than OBJ.

BrutusOj: U see! Dats why he said GEJ shud probe him not his cabinet members,if GEJ has d liver n is clean,He shud probe him na....OBJ isn't sayin He was clean na,bt He knws GEJ doesn't av d mind to probe him