Home Columnists No President Buhari, the problem is not corruption, and It’s absurd to...
COLUMNISTSHEADLINESOPINION ARTICLE
No President Buhari, the problem is not corruption, and It’s absurd to think it is
By Obinna Ezugwu - March 17, 2019 0


President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari’s penchant for elevating corruption as the sole, or at least, the main source of Nigeria’s problems is trite. But more importantly, it is a false narrative, apparently so. And the fact that otherwise educated people seem to buy into that narrative is an indictment of scholarship in the country.

Buhari had made slamming past PDP governments for failing to develop the country, because they were corrupt, his pastime since coming to power. And upon his reelection few days ago, he took another shot at the opposition party. Indicating perhaps that we are in for another round of blame games in his second term.

The president had said in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina that: “PDP has not successfully explained to the country what they did with the money. There were no roads, no rail, no power. They said they spent $16 billion on power, but where is the power?”

Nigeria is a theatre of the absurd. It is perhaps the only country where people happily live a lie, convinced in themselves that perhaps, someday, such lie will turn out to be truth. But a lie is a lie. And no matter how long one believes a lie, it cannot change to become truth.

Certainly, one of the greatest lies of Nigeria is the assertion that corruption – as often defined here – is the country’s main problem. Widely held is this falsehood that President Buhari’s government has since elevated “fighting” corruption to the status of official government policy. So, they say, we must end corruption for Nigeria to make progress.

But the irony stares everyone in the face. Four years of fighting corruption – let’s assume the farce going on is corruption fight – Nigeria has become worse off. All developmental indices have headed south. Standard of living has fallen. Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world with about 90 million of its 180 million people living in extreme poverty. Job losses under Buhari have been massive. So, really, what could possibly be the basis for any one to keep holding unto such logic?

But of course, since “fighting corruption” which was supposed to solve the problems have only created more poverty, we are increasingly being made to accept that poverty is a virtue and being wealthy is some sort of vice. To be clear, the job of government, at the very basic, is to create prosperity, not to spread poverty.

However, before the champions of anti corruption cry blue murder. Let me make this clear. Yes, I agree that corruption constitutes a hindrance to Nigeria’s progress. Corruption is bad, that’s not debatable. And as much as possible, we must, as a country, make conscious efforts to put it in check.

Nonetheless, my problem with corruption in Nigeria has had to do with what people see as corruption. Of course, if you mention corruption, the mind of the average person quickly runs to political office holders stealing money. That’s corruption, no doubt. But stealing is just an aspect of corruption and I dare say, it is about the least worrisome. The worst form of corruption is not stealing, it is nepotism. It is using sentiment – be that ethnic or religious – to put square pegs in round holes. That’s one corruption that destroys the fabrics of the society because doesn’t reward excellence. It is one that has helped to destroy Nigeria. And interestingly, it seems to be prevalent in the Buhari government.

I have always said that if I had a mechanic shop, I would be more inclined to hire a skilled mechanic who has a penchant for stealing money than a saint who cannot tighten or loosen a screw. The reason is simple: the thief will guarantee steady inflow of customers. And there are easy ways to to put his stealing in check. The saint on the other hand, will ensure that the shop is out of business altogether within the shortest possible time. Nobody will take his automobile to a man who cannot fix it just because he is a good man.

This brings me to another farce that has dominated the Buhari presidency: integrity. These days, I’m inclined to think that there is a certain physical possession of Buhari that is called integrity. Such that when people say that Buhari has integrity, it could be the same as saying he has a shoe or a car. Because ownership of such physical objects is definite and not dependent on character. If for instance, you have a car, you can rig elections and it doesn’t change the fact that you have a car.

But that’s not the point here. The point is, the idea that Buhari has integrity, and that such integrity – let’s not dwell on whether or not there is such integrity – is what makes him the ideal president is hilarious. No, what one needs to lead or to get anything done is skill and competence. I’m yet to see a football club or team going for a competition and instead of gathering the best football players available, brings together people of integrity. A team of players with integrity but cannot play football will lose massively to a team of skilled footballers who are all notorious armed robbers.

Really, life is quite simple and straightforward. Do the right things and you achieve the right results. But somehow, the Nigerian state seems to think it can circumvent this basic rule of nature by inventing and imposing its own rules on nature. Running a country is pretty much like running a business. You put the best hands and they will deliver results for the benefit of all. No country can progress when the first consideration for appointment into position of responsibility is not competence, but religion and ethnicity. Nigeria’s failure doesn’t therefore, come as a surprise. And the ugly truth is that the country will keep failing spectacularly and the rest of Africa will leave us behind. It is already happening.

The subject of my article is corruption and I shall return to it presently. I don’t think that there is any country on the planet where corruption does not exist, even in Europe and America. But the existence of corruption has not stopped countries in those continents from making progress. Even though we might say it has slowed some down – with examples in Eastern Europe – but even in their slow progress, they are still paradise compared to Nigeria with its massive human and mineral resources.

It is instructive, too, that people talk about fighting corruption in Nigeria when, in truth, the country itself is built on falsehood and corruption. The fact that we have constitutionally sanctioned certain practices that are inherently corrupt, cannot make them become norms.

I have joked elsewhere that Nigeria basically functions as a criminal enterprise. It is a country sustained largely by oil revenues from the Niger Delta. The discovery of oil had prompted the enactment of the obnoxious law that cedes all resources beneath the soil to the federal government. Such that whoever constitutes government at any point in time reserves the right to control such oil resources. Take away all the nuances and grammar, Nigeria is a country built around looting oil resources of the Niger Delta and sharing the proceeds. I call it looting because there is no kind of democracy that allows you to take what is in someone’s land and share amongst yourselves; none that I know of. The business of government is regulation and taxation.

https://hallmarknews.com/no-president-buhari-the-problem-is-not-corruption-and-its-absurd-to-think-it-is-by-obinna-ezugwu

Okay

We don't know our problem in this country and if you think you know our problem name it and bigger one will show up before daybreak.