Morality is the foundation of justice not politics. Political go-getters are not forethoughtful. They cause systemic corruption for their immediate gains. And, the society or country is left to suffer the consequential losses for their misadventures in power. Societal forces inveigle their ways through institutions of government. Corruption is the reflection of our moral state. The Book of Proverbs Chapter 27 Verse 19 in the Bible tells us that; “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person”. Also, Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verse 7 said “Extortion turns wise people into fools and bribes corrupt the heart”. I do not want to get preachy about corruption. The phrase “The Faces of Corruption” herein is used metaphorically to mean kinds of corruption.

Corruption criminalizes governance. This is done through systemic corruption. Rules and regulations are made but not followed. Laws are made but not obeyed. Political behaviours will not be consistent with public culture when there is systemic corruption. The whole value chain of the political society will be observed in breach by leaders and followers. Processes can also be corrupted to cause systemic failure. The Nigerian factor is a euphemism for process corruption. Leadership will be a criminal enterprise if the leaders are products of delinquent political associations. Corruption does not always lead to resource colonization, except it is monetized. It can result in systemic distortions. David Hume-a philosopher said “the corruption of the best produces the worst”. Elections are rigged through process corruption and institutional corruption in Nigeria.

Anyway, our desire and passion to control our circumstances and environment is the motivation for our behaviour. Graham Greene said “Corrupted by money, corrupted by sentiment, sentiment is more dangerous because you couldn’t measure the price” We are corrupted by sentiment when we practice: nepotism, ethnicism, favouritism etc. Ethnocentrism and Stereotypical reasoning are sentimental corruptions. We practice monetary corruption when we collect money and do the wrong. Corruption is nuanced with stealing when the public treasury is looted. We suffer from moral corruption when lies thrive in the public space. Lies are told as a form of public diplomacy and governance is made secretive. The intention for spinning is to mislead the public. In the word of Paul Twitchell “man is misled in his thinking by emotion rather than by intelligence”.

But, sustainable relationships are not built on bribes or favour but in adding value and solving problems over time. Lies told as a matter of public diplomacy can cause credibility gap between the rulers and the ruled. Politicking during electioneering campaigns can be excused but not in governance. Corruption is a moral crime and a legal crime. As a moral crime, corruption is a sin. As a legal crime, it is an offence against the state. The most radical theorists of crime argued that, the definition of crime was ideological. It is creating criminals of people who the rulers choose to define as deviant. Sub cultural offenders are normal persons who find crime rewarding, because they have learned to commit crimes through political associations or affiliation. The unsocialized offenders are abnormal persons; who commit crime because they have weak conscience and so cares little about the opinions of others.

Yes! Crime is a circumscribed event where motive and opportunities interplay. The word corruption had become a dead metaphor. It has lost its figurative meaning. This is because governance had become a sweep stake – a gambling transaction, a lottery for picking public funds. If there had been system abuse and distortions; Political parties would become shrines of political idolatry. The price of greatness is no longer responsibility but corruption. Political languages are euphemistic. The phrase “dividends of democracy” had been used for infrastructural development rather than for process audit of democratic practices.

And now, our political vocabulary had changed. It is the era of “war against corruption”. Corruption is the symptom and not the cause of our problem. We must address the root causes of corruption. The motivations of corruption are: Power, Materialism, Individualism, Greed, Avarice, Covetousness and Capitalist tendencies. Corruption defines a decaying society where norms and values had collapsed. Hard work is no longer rewarding as unearned looted funds pervades the nation space.

The corrupt are rather rewarded with national honours, Chieftaincy titles and doctorate degrees. There is spiritual corruption in the nation. Corruption had gotten into our places of worship. Character is no longer a priceless possession. Integrity is the consistency between actions and inner convictions over a long period of time. Proverbs chapter 30 Verses 7 – 9 is very instructive on the need for contentment as a principle of life. The driving force for corruptive tendencies is lack of contentment. Corruption is the evidence of the presence of “get rich quick” syndrome in our nation space.

Leadership demands courage, character and capacity. A leader must have sufficient moral assets and must not be spiffy. Politics is full of spiels. Persuasive talks cannot deliver services and promises. If we must rebuild our nation, we should redefine our value system; but not on compromises. Corruption must not be a way of life and we call in “the Nigerian factor”. The consequences of corruption are staring us in the face. When you fight corruption, corruption will surely fight back at you. Corruption creates development paradox.

The Nigerian senate is suffering from institutional corruption. It started with process corruption. There are legislative processes for making a senate standing order. But, the so called senate standing order 2015 was not the product of any senatorial process. There was an opportunity offered for process audit during plenary; when a senator displayed two senate standing orders and asked to know which one is the authentic one. He was ruled out of order by the senate president. There is no imaginary cross for anybody to carry in the senate. There is no executive over reach in the forgery case now in court. There must be a process audit to stop the mindless process corruption in the senate. The process of law making must not be rigged with impunity.

The press statement issued by the senate president after his arraignment on the 27th day of June 2016 is rather un-statesmanly. His use of fighting talk is rather unbecoming. The matter concerning the forgery of the senate standing order 2015 is res nova. Trust is a product of time and test. Nigerians can reason their way into conclusions concerning the forgery of the senate standing order 2015. So, nobody should try to win public sentiment in the matter. The forged senate standing order 2015 cannot be res nullius. It must have ownership and proof of when the senate standing order 2011 was amended. Joseph Hall said “A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was”. The case in-extenso will reveal to the nation if there was any amendment to the senate standing order 2011. I wish our senators god speed in their process corruption.