What Nigeria truly needs right now is True Fiscal Federalism and not EFCC, APC, PDP, INEC or even a national budget. Restructure Nigeria and you might have used one stone to kill twenty birds! True Fiscal Federalism will eliminate corruption, promote regional integration, reduce ethnic tension and secession demands, unite Nigerians, promote development and put Nigeria on the path to greatness once again.

One of the most annoying responses we get from the handlers of President Buhari in recent times is that the president is taking his time to fight corruption, so therefore the economy could wait. Ridiculous as this may sound, it is the new line of defence in the government’s political discourse. Eight months in and the only thing our president has done is to fight corruption!

First, in his bid to recruit ‘incorruptible’ saints as technocrats, he spent three months without a cabinet, only for the technocrats to turn out as the same people we know, and not some angels from the other world; all in the bid to avoid corruption. As if that is not enough, President Buhari has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out certain embarrassing and ridiculous directives, all in the name of fighting corruption. [b]The president has vowed to disregard unfavorable court orders; all in the name of fighting corruption. Despite all the cacophony of the ‘anti-corruption’ propaganda, eight months after, not even a single case has been tried successfully and won against corruption. One would begin to wonder that, since when has it become the fiscal responsibility of Mr. President to fight corruption, when there are agencies specifically designed to do just that?[/b]

By the way, where in our constitution can we find ‘Fighting Corruption’ as a fiscal responsibility either on the exclusive, concurrent or residual list? Why should fighting corruption be an achievement by a government when it is in fact supposed to be a responsibility of a specific arm of government?

The duties of the Federal Government of Nigeria are clearly spelt out in our federal system: policy making, defence, foreign policy, banking, immigration, general economic planning, infrastructural development, etc. Today we have a government that has abysmally abandoned its true fiscal responsibility and is craftily using the slogan of ‘anti-corruption’ as a justification for its failure in carrying out its true economic functions. The Naira has broken a three decade record, the implementation of the 2016 budget is threatened by uncertain sources of funding, Boko Haram still attacks, the Chibok girls are yet to be found, federal contractors are abandoning sites, stocks in the exchange market keep dropping in value, foreign investors remain unsure of the economy, salaries are being owed, Nigeria’s name has disappeared from the list of the world’s emerging economies, etc. Yet, when you ask Mr. President about what he has done, what you hear is ‘we are fighting corruption’. This is becoming unbearable.


Today we have President Buhari and we are asking, what has he really done in genuinely fighting corruption other than creating political division, ruining the economy, raising ethnic tensions and launching media propaganda, all in a primitive and confrontational manner capable of heating up the fragile state of the country.

There are professional ways to fight corruption without making breaking news out of these, as was exemplified by the previous government. The Goodluck Jonathan government fought corruption using technology and professionalism in several cases. [b]First, Jonathan supported and funded the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) to check identity fraud, unlike the governments before him. Jonathan supported the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to checkmate ‘ghost workers’, launched the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to checkmate government bureaucratic corruption, launched the Bank Verification Number (BVN) to checkmate money laundering, supported card readers to checkmate electoral fraud and corruption, presided over the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) activities to checkmate procurement corruption, etc. Although, due to personal selfish political reasons, he later chose to deliberately slow down the implementation processes of these innovations as a way of maintaining political stability; an action which became one of his greatest political weaknesses. Despite the adjudgment of his government as being grossly corrupt, Jonathan provided anti-corruption solutions using technology and professionalism and without creating political enmity through the process. He also got Nigeria’s name on the list of the fastest growing economy in the world.[/b]



Today we have President Buhari and we are asking, what has he really done in genuinely fighting corruption other than creating political division, ruining the economy, raising ethnic tensions and launching media propaganda, all in a primitive and confrontational manner capable of heating up the fragile state of the country.

Again, I ask, what has President Buhari really done differently in tackling systematic corruption in Nigeria that previous governments before him did not do? The EFCC as it is presently constituted is a defective and reactive institution incapable of reducing corruption. What the EFCC and Mr. President can do is to go after those who have already stolen public funds. What Nigeria needs is a proactive administrative mechanism that actually stops people from stealing, and not an institution that goes after them when they have already stolen. Unfortunately, the present structure of Nigeria’s federalism is incapable of providing such proactive solutions because Nigeria itself is built on a corrupt, skewed and irreconcilable foundation that only thrives on corruption.

Today, we have a President Buhari and his team of ‘saintly’ technocrats who have not proffered any ingenious new idea but are simply leveraging on existing efforts. Yet, the rhetoric is deafening. Nigerians now celebrate mediocrity to the extent that they see the arrest, detention and unfair prosecution of suspects in corruption cases as an achievement worth accrediting to President Buhari. How did we get here?

in a country like Nigeria, you cannot fight corruption by relying on the self-restraint of the leaders. We cannot rely alone on the personal integrity of President Buhari to fight corruption. We must establish some sort of administrative constraints on Nigerian officials to the extent that even if we mistakenly elect a crafty thief to become our leader, he will be unable to manifest his ‘skill’ due to the administrative constraints built into institutions.

One thing all Nigerians must come to understand is that corruption as it has become in our country is an inevitable byproduct of our defective present system of federalism. Just the way it is natural for goats to eat yam, so it is normal and even legal for Nigerian politicians to steal money under our present skewed ‘feeding bottle’ structure of government. The present style of Nigeria’s federalism is corruption legalised. Nigeria itself is corruption and if you must fight corruption, you must first discard this skewed, flawed, corrupt, unitary ‘feeding bottle’ federalism that we currently practice and agree to restructure Nigeria into a competitive, efficient, productive, competitive, and locally driven True Fiscal Federalism. Only when President Buhari does this can we then know that he genuinely wishes to fight corruption and put Nigeria on the path to greatness. By the way, what can President Buhari do in the states and local governments where over 70 percent of the real corruption takes place? Obviously nothing. As long as we continue with the monthly ritual of sharing oil money at Abuja to lazy, redundant, inefficient and unproductive politicians and their states, we cannot fight corruption in Nigeria! We cannot even reduce it, we can only decide whose turn is it to benefit from corruption. This is simply how we roll in Nigeria under our present defective system.

In Nigeria, the manner in which politicians (including President Buhari) win elections is corrupt. How the federal government awards contracts, how they decide on who and which contract should be paid for, how to manipulate revenue allocations to shortchange certain states, how they use revenues generated in the beer (alcohol) industry to fund development in Sharia states, how they choose to be selective in probing those who are compromised, the lopsided nature of political appointments, how the money hardworking Lagosians and Lagos State generate is shared to people in other states, etc. All these issues are inevitable corruption arising from our skewed system of federalism and of which President Buhari is a major beneficiary, just like the leaders before him.

How do we really change things in Nigeria and put an end to systematic corruption?

First, in a country like Nigeria, you cannot fight corruption by relying on the self-restraint of the leaders. We cannot rely alone on the personal integrity of President Buhari to fight corruption. We must establish some sort of administrative constraints on Nigerian officials to the extent that even if we mistakenly elect a crafty thief to become our leader, he will be unable to manifest his ‘skill’ due to the administrative constraints built into institutions. In order for us to do this and like I have said before, we must first, discard this skewed, flawed, corrupt, unitary ‘feeding bottle’ federalism that we currently practice in Nigeria and agree to ‪restructure Nigeria into a competitive, efficient, productive, competitive, and locally driven ‪‎True Fiscal Federalism.


The EFCC is only doing its job and it is expected that President Buhari should do his own job by focusing on supervising and saving the Nigerian economy from possible collapse.


What Nigeria truly needs right now is True Fiscal Federalism and not EFCC, APC, PDP, INEC or even a national budget. Restructure Nigeria and you might have used one stone to kill twenty birds! True Fiscal Federalism will eliminate corruption, promote regional integration, reduce ethnic tension and secession demands, unite Nigerians, promote development and put Nigeria on the path to greatness once again.

If the funds recovered from the eight month ‘Fighting Corruption’ Project can be used to fund at least 10 percent of the 2016 budget, then President Buhari should continue with the project, but if not, then he should pay more attention to sourcing for revenue to fund the 2016 budget and fix the entire economy.



The EFCC is only doing its job and it is expected that President Buhari should do his own job by focusing on supervising and saving the Nigerian economy from possible collapse. Nigeria urgently needs diversification and fighting corruption on a daily basis through the media does not diversify the economy.

http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/?p=170587

Ok

One question; Was PT hacked?

How can buhari do something else when he doesn't know what else to do? I laugh at naija youths sometimes especially d yoruba youths that voted for dis man. Apc is worse than pdp. Buhari is worse than jonathan. Fela will be having nightmares in his grave wondering what kind of juju buhari and tinubu used on his people.

i can nw see that our problem in naija is the media nt the politicians, the sole reason i voted 4 buhari was for fight against corruption. what did u people do when jonathan was the president, hope the fight against corruption is nt near u peoples doorstep,
Charity begins at home, the southeast voted 4 Jonathan with 97percent bt can u name a single strong project executed in the region e.g no seaport,no bridge, no international airport.
U are saying that jonathan started national Id number registration to fight corruption, where is the Id card since 2013 if nt in some politicians stomach.
Talking about illegal detention and arrest, if JONATHAN can wake up in the morning and grant Diepreye Alamieyeseigha presidential pardon. so does BUHARI have the right to detain anybody without shakingAbeg buhari fire on

Eight months in and the only thing our president has done is to fight corruption

Fighting corruption is Buhari's only economic policy.

Lalasticlala

emamos:
Ok

i can bet my last kobo that u didn't read the epistle before commenting.

Thank you!

PAINGAIN:
How can buhari do something else when he doesn't know what else to do? I laugh at naija youths sometimes especially d yoruba youths that voted for dis man. Apc is worse than pdp. Buhari is worse than jonathan. Fela will be having nightmares in his grave wondering what kind of juju buhari and tinubu used on his people.

^^^

that same yoruba youths voted Jonathan against buhari in 2011,d same way i voted 4 Gej in 2011 but voted for pmb in 2015..everybody voted for their choices...so you missed the road @ the emboldened..

Will they listen? Sycophants and thieves he has surrounded himself with can only work for his and their personal interests.

Well written. We can only talk (or wail as they call it). This man we call Mr. President has made up his mind to do one thing; nothing!. I don't blame him, I blame Nigerians, who were too gullible to believe that such a man could bring a positive change.

Elosky20:
i can nw see that our problem in naija is the media nt the politicians, the sole reason i voted 4 buhari was for fight against corruption. what did u people do when jonathan was the president, hope the fight against corruption is nt near u peoples doorstep,
Charity begins at home, the southeast voted 4 Jonathan with 97percent bt can u name a single strong project executed in the region e.g no seaport,no bridge, no international airport.
U are saying that jonathan started national Id number registration to fight corruption, where is the Id card since 2013 if nt in some politicians stomach.
Talking about illegal detention and arrest, if JONATHAN can wake up in the morning and grant Diepreye Alamieyeseigha presidential pardon. so does BUHARI have the right to detain anybody without shakingAbeg buhari fire on

u guys r so funny I tell u!
u r talkng lagos, no seaport, no international airport r u serious?
lagos with hispopulation currently is beyond the term overpopulation n u still thinking of adding to its problems.
abt the issue of alams, do u knw the meaning of presidential pardon?
was alams still in the prison when gej pardon him?
somebody was convicted, humiliated n stripped of all that he stole, he served his jail term came back. n u r so disturbed abt the presidential pardon, who will pardon obasanjo for the atrocities he committed when he was in charge?
can u compare alams loot which is just a state to obj which covers the whole 36 states n fct altogether, n the latter is the one directing the ship we r in.
gej didnt achieve anything, yes we know, the ball now is in buhari's court. he promised so many things..... 10000megawatt of electricity in his first term is still afresh in my memory!

Those who have ears let their hear

poiZon:









u guys r so funny I tell u!
u r talkng lagos, no seaport, no international airport r u serious?
lagos with hispopulation currently is beyond the term overpopulation n u still thinking of adding to its problems.
abt the issue of alams, do u knw the meaning of presidential pardon?
was alams still in the prison when gej pardon him?
somebody was convicted, humiliated n stripped of all that he stole, he served his jail term came back. n u r so disturbed abt the presidential pardon, who will pardon obasanjo for the atrocities he committed when he was in charge?
can u compare alams loot which is just a state to obj which covers the whole 36 states n fct altogether, n the latter is the one directing the ship we r in.
gej didnt achieve anything, yes we know, the ball now is in buhari's court. he promised so many things..... 10000megawatt of electricity in his first term is still afresh in my memory!

where did i mention lagos pls. alamesieigha was convicted for 12 years and how can u grant pardon to somebody that escaped detention in disguise. even the american and british have nt forgiven him. he was convicted and pleaded guilty as charged bt obasanjo has nt been convicted, wat is the fate of those that spend 20years in prison for stealing 50 thousand naira. going by ur rply stealing is gud and normal abi. no problem

lalasticlala

Elosky20:

where did i mention lagos pls. alamesieigha was convicted for 12 years and how can u grant pardon to somebody that escaped detention in disguise. even the american and british have nt forgiven him. wat is the fate of those that spend 20years in prison for stealing 50 thousand naira. going by ur rply stealing is gud and normal abi. no problem

I asked a question, was alams in prison wen he was pardoned by the president?
alams absconded from uk, he wasnt tried thr. he jumped bail, came back to nigeria, efcc picked him n with d evidence on ground he was sentenced in nigeria, he served his jail term.
what the presidential pardon did was to make him a new citizen, since he was jailed n automatically became an exconvict, he wouldn't hv been able to contest for any post again or aspire for any post even if na for party, d pardon was just to erase d exconvict tag on him n made him a good citizen.
all that he stole n looted was stripped n ceased from him, what u shud be asking is what happened tk the monies n properties that was confiscated n ceased from alams!

It is only people that are corrupt or have enriched themselves through corrupt means that are afraid of the fight against corruption.

OrlandoOwoh:
It is only people that are corrupt or have enriched themselves through corrupt means that are afraid of the fight against corruption.

Example...

poiZon:






I asked a question, was alams in prison wen he was pardoned by the president?

Is it a right decision to pardon criminals and what message is he sending across?

IVORY2009:

Example...

They know themselves. The law will fish them out.

Elosky20:

Is it a right decision to pardon criminals and what message is he sending across?

was it right to pardon ojukwu?
was it also right to pardon gen oladipo diya?
is it right for someone to say abacha never stole?
is it right to ignorw the petitons written by concerned citizens to efcc against fashola n amaechi?
is it write for d president to wittle down on the haliburton scandal?
nothing is right in nigeria n noone has the powers to correct the ills n d mess the owners of nigeria xommitted!

OrlandoOwoh:
They know themselves. The law will fish them out.

yeah the law will fish them out, Irrespective of party affiliation, PDP or APC

poiZon:







was it right to pardon ojukwu?
was it also right to pardon gen oladipo diya?
is it right for someone to say abacha never stole?
is it right to ignorw the petitons written by concerned citizens to efcc against fashola n amaechi?
is it write for d president to wittle down on the haliburton scandal?
nothing is right in nigeria n noone has the powers to correct the ills n d mess the owners of nigeria xommitted!

change is the only thing that is constant in life.
why arrest ojukwu for what he did in a declared war with nigeria pls

poiZon:






I asked a question, was alams in prison wen he was pardoned by the president?
alams absconded from uk, he wasnt tried thr. he jumped bail, came back to nigeria, efcc picked him n with d evidence on ground he was sentenced in nigeria, he served his jail term.
what the presidential pardon did was to make him a new citizen, since he was jailed n automatically became an exconvict, he wouldn't hv been able to contest for any post again or aspire for any post even if na for party, d pardon was just to erase d exconvict tag on him n made him a good citizen.
all that he stole n looted was stripped n ceased from him, what u shud be asking is what happened tk the monies n properties that was confiscated n ceased from alams!

How I wish you know the implication of state pardon for an ex-convict, you won't be saying this.

Elosky20:
change is the only thing that is constant in life. why arrest ojukwu for what he did in a declared war with nigeria pls

is thr any difference between wat ojukwu did n wat kanu is doing now?

Fighting corruption is a part of Fiscal Responsibility. In fact, Fiscal Responsibility means not being corrupt!

OrlandoOwoh:

How I wish you know the implication of state pardon for an ex-convict, you won't be saying this.

can d implication outweighs the ones who are not jailed but did far worse than those who were jailed but are still making exploit n being term kingmakers having certified license to commit legal embezzlement?

poiZon:









is thr any difference between wat ojukwu did n wat kanu is doing now?

yes ojukwu fought for biafra when there was massive killing of the igbos in the north and all calls for diplomacy was turned down. kanu on the other hand is fighting when there seems to be relative peace in nigeria and instead of going through the court and public opinion choose the path of insighting hatred between the southeast and nigeria as a country

poiZon:








can d implication outweighs the ones who are not jailed but did far worse than those who were jailed but are still making exploit n being term kingmakers having certified license to commit legal embezzlement?

My wish and prayer for is for you to emancipate yourself from self deceit.

Elosky20:

yes ojukwu fought for biafra when there was massive killing of the igbos in the north and all calls for diplomacy was turned down. kanu on the other hand is fighting when there seems to be relative peace in nigeria and instead of going through the court and public opinion choose the path of insighting hatred between the southeast and nigeria as a country

which peace do u hv in nigeria?
70percent of those killed by the boko idiots, where r they from?
did u see the letter murtala nyarko wrote to gej concerning bokoharam?
bros there is no peace in nigeria, n there is no unity either..... nigeria will never n can never be one sofar we hv plenty n diverse ethnicity n tribes scattered the whole country.

OrlandoOwoh:

My wish and prayer for is for you to emancipate yourself from self deceit.

my advice for u is to emancipate urself from the path of zombiosis!
zombiesm kills faster n more accurate than lassa n ebola fever.

poiZon:








which peace do u hv in nigeria?
70percent of those killed by the boko idiots, where r they from?
did u see the letter murtala nyarko wrote to gej concerning bokoharam?
bros there is no peace in nigeria, n there is no unity either..... nigeria will never n can never be one sofar we hv plenty n diverse ethnicity n tribes scattered the whole country.

if you say 70 percent of those killed are the igbos. mind u that majority of those killed are northeners e.g borno state, kano, adamawa, gombe. bokoharam are nt fighting the igbo bt rather fighting there own people that embraced western education. and their aim has been for sharia law to be fully implemented in northern states. nobody was out to kill the igbos or do the igbo nw worship in the mosque. how many churches has been attacked of recent pls.
Talking of ethnic groups do u mean nigeria should be divided into 700 places. are the indians nt living peacefully despite being multi ethnic