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Buhari’s Nigerian Clean-up - Saudi Gazette by Nobody: 9:33am On Dec 24, 2015 |
Startling allegations of corruption have been
made in Nigeria which, if proved true, will
constitute a shocking indictment of the former
president Goodluck Jonathan. Five top officials
are accused of stealing immense sums that had
been earmarked to provide Nigeria’s poorly-
equipped army grappling with Boko Haram
fanatics in the north of the country.
No less than $2.1 billion is supposed to have
been spirited away in a theft which is typical of
the long-standing plunder that as taken place in
Africa’s most populous and – with its substantial
hydrocarbon resources – potentially its richest
nation.
The accused include Sambo Dasuki, Jonathan’s
national security adviser. All deny the
allegations, saying that the money was in fact
spent on weaponry, helicopters and
mercenaries, who briefly stopped the Boko
Haram terrorists. Yet the Nigerian investigators
say they can find no auditable paper trail that
proves this defense.
Dasuki and his former colleagues are the first
officials to face trial under the anti-corruption
drive promised by the new president, former
general Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan made
similar promises to clean up widespread
venality among politicians, the bureaucracy and
top officials in state companies. Yet all the
indications are that the looting of state coffers
actually increased under a man who arguably
proved to be Nigeria’s least successful
president.
Buhari is in his second term of office. He
seized power in a coup in 1983 which
overthrew the democratically-elected
government of President Shehu Shagari. That
coup was prompted by massive state
corruption. And during his two years in power,
the no-nonsense general did begin to initiate a
clean-up, which, however, included widespread
and unpopular job losses. This time Buhari has
come to office with a popular mandate to set
about the sink of corruption that his country
has become.
He has made it clear that wrongdoers will be
punished. He wants to restore economic
stability and ensure that government revenues
are spent properly, not spirited off to Swiss
bank accounts. His principle text is that the rot
at the top has corroded society as a whole. It is
clear that many ordinary Nigerians have
become cynical. They have seen officials
helping themselves to state funds and refusing
to act without bribes. They have heard
politicians promise so many times to clean up
payola that they no longer believe them. Many
take the view that if everyone else is on the
take, then for the sake of their families, it
would be stupid of them not to join in as well.
Buhari, therefore, very probably represents a
rare opportunity, possibly even the last chance,
for Nigeria to set its deeply tainted house in
order. The trials are a key opportunity to prove
that he means business. Cracking down of
fraudulent accounts, tracking down billions of
stolen funds and restoring order to the
country’s public sector are vast challenges.
Buhari is attacking a disease that has infected
every area of public life and indeed the wider
business community.
And he has a further task, which is to overcome
the incompetence and inertia that characterize
the state sector which has seen such
spectacular waste in massive projects, such as
brand new power stations that break down
within months because they have not been
maintained and managed properly. And all the
while, he must also confront the savage Boko
Haram rebellion in the north with a currently
demoralized, badly-trained and poorly-
equipped army. No small task.
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