[s]

weyreypey:

Such classification makes it difficult to get convictions in the law court. When sans start argument on technicalities.
Poor GEJ. He was too refined for Nigeria.

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LordAdam16:


They are corruption not stealing. It is illiteracy that allows you to conflate those two without realizing the differences.

This is the simplistic definition of corruption according to Transparency International:



This is the simplistic definition of stealing from Google:



As such, in your examples:

A. The government official did not steal the car. He did not take it without permission or legal right. After all, it was approved legally. However, he abused his entrusted power for private gain to deflate the actual price of the car so he could legally buy it at a far reduced price. That's corruption.

B. Same as A. The politician and his cronies did not steal the hotels. He instead used his political office for private gain.

C. Same as B and C. It is well within the NSA's right to spend on national security concerns. That is not stealing. When he abuses his office to classify non-security concerns as security concerns, that is corruption.

Even after building Almajiri schools and new universities, GEJ couldn't force Nigerians to use dictionaries which are freely available. It wasn't just GEJ that said it. The Chief Justice of Nigeria also echoed it. Yet you and your ilk called Jonathan clueless for making the statement but couldn't go toe-to-toe with the country's most prominent legal luminary.

Many Nigerians are daft beyond measure, you included. If you can't tell the difference between stealing and corruption in 2018, go ask for refund from your English and economics/commerce teachers. They failed you. Then when you're done, never forget you're an id*ot for not improving your knowledge when all it takes is 30 minutes and a bit of computer literacy to educate yourself on the difference.

-Lord

The more you people try and justify the stupid and irresponsible statement Jonathan made, the more stupid you guys sound, it's like trying to dig yourself out of a hole.
This was what President Jonathan said in his February 2015 media chat to defend his earlier gaffe about stealing not being corruption;

“ The CJN, Mustapha decided to take a look at the files that dealt with corruption and more than 80 per cent of them were just cases of stealing. But people use corruption to cover all. What I am saying is that let us go to the South-West and go to a typical community and they look at you and say this man is corrupt, people will be looking at you. But call that same man “ole”, that is thief, and see what will happen to him. Our people hate thieves more than corrupt people, yet most times, we use corruption to cover the lapses.

“A thief should be called a thief and treated as such. In my village, when an adult steals, they strip him naked, humiliate him and his family, but if you say this man is corrupt, they won’t know what you are talking about. We are using corruption to cover it all up.

“So, let us communicate properly. It was not me that said it, I quoted Mustapha. He examined the corruption cases and he saw that they were just cases of stealing.

“We are identifying thieves; we can talk about what the agencies are doing. We have made more convictions in this period than before. But I always say that the answer is not convicting more people. We must make sure that they don’t steal. Do not put the money where they can steal it. That is what we are doing.”

Now, does the above quote sound like coming from a sane or sober man?
He is insinuating that stealing is more grievous than corruption.

You too is beginning to sound like Jonathan. You agree with me that abuse of office for personal gain is termed corruption, but you agree with Jonathan that almost all the cases in court (about 80%) concerning illegal enrichment by public officials should be tried under stealing instead of corruption or abuse of office. I hope you do not drink shepe also.

Don't you find it curious that in all these years, the former CJN has not come out to own the statement? If the chief justice should come out and admit that it was he who actually advices Jonathan that "stealing is not corruption", then people would exonerate Jonathan and face justice Mustapha .

If you juxtapose this explanation with the "how much did Jim Nwobodo stole" statement, you would realize that Jonathan is indeed a very confused human being.

wirinet:


The more you people try and justify the stupid and irresponsible statement Jonathan made, the more stupid you guys sound, it's like trying to dig yourself out of a hole.
This was what President Jonathan said in his February 2015 media chat to defend his earlier gaffe about stealing not being corruption;



Now, does the above quote sound like coming from a sane or sober man?
He is insinuating that stealing is more grievous than corruption.

You too is beginning to sound like Jonathan. You agree with me that abuse of office for personal gain is termed corruption, but you agree with Jonathan that almost all the cases in court (about 80%) concerning illegal enrichment by public officials should be tried under stealing instead of corruption or abuse of office. I hope you do not drink shepe also.

Don't you find it curious that in all these years, the former CJN has not come out to own the statement? If the chief justice should come out and admit that it was he who actually advices Jonathan that "stealing is not corruption", then people would exonerate Jonathan and face justice Mustapha .

If you juxtapose this explanation with the "how much did Jim Nwobodo stole" statement, you would realize that Jonathan is indeed a very confused human being.

I do marvel at the kind of brain some Nigerians have.
this is a very simple issue to understand.
People steal and hide under the term corruption to escape conviction because the constitution is not very clear on that unlike stealing which is very clear.have you not for once wondered why phone thieves most times get higher higher sentences where as when it comes persons stealing public funds,most times they get exonerated.this is the problem justice Musdapher pointed out and which GeJ quoted in his statement.
there is no tribe in Nigeria that does not abhor thieves and have a word for them,but what is the word for corruption in our local dialect.if there is a thief in commuinty,people will know that person for what he is,a thief but that can't be said when you said that this person is corrupt.that is how stealing is not corruption.

overall90:


I do marvel at the kind of brain some Nigerians have.
this is a very simple issue to understand.
People steal and hide under the term corruption to escape conviction because the constitution is not very clear on that unlike stealing which is very clear.have you not for once wondered why phone thieves most times get higher higher sentences where as when it comes persons stealing public funds,most times they get exonerated.this is the problem justice Musdapher pointed out and which GeJ quoted in his statement.
there is no tribe in Nigeria that does not abhor thieves and have a word for them,but what is the word for corruption in our local dialect.if there is a thief in commuinty,people will know that person for what he is,a thief but that can't be said when you said that this person is corrupt.that is how stealing is not corruption.

Still digging further to try and get out of a whole.
Someone who is in charge of an agency approves clearing of grass contract in an IDP camp for N500 million, award contract to his company or his wife's company and pays 100% upfront. You then want prosecutors to charge the government officials for stealing instead of corrupt enrichment?
Mind you all necessary procedures and approvals were followed, and the grass was actually well cleared.

What do you call Stella Oduah's approval and purchase of 2 BMW's for over $1.6million and also applied for and got import duty waivers?

Why phone thieves are easier to prosecute is because phone thieves first of all cannot afford to hire SANs if they can afford a lawyer at all, and proving outright theft is relatively easy. You just need witnesses and possession of the physical phone.
In corruption cases, everything is given official seal and approval. It cannot be carried out by a single person. The tracks are usually well covered.
If the punishment for corrupt enrichment is not severe enough, it is left for the national assembly to make appropriate laws, like in China. But. ..., will they? You know the answer.

wirinet:


Still digging further to try and get out of a whole.
Someone who is in charge of an agency approves clearing of grass contract in an IDP camp for N500 million, award contract to his company or his wife's company and pays 100% upfront. You then want prosecutors to charge the government officials for stealing instead of corrupt enrichment?
Mind you all necessary procedures and approvals were followed, and the grass was actually well cleared.

What do you call Stella Oduah's approval and purchase of 2 BMW's for over $1.6million and also applied for and got import duty waivers?

Why phone thieves are easier to prosecute is because phone thieves first of all cannot afford to hire SANs if they can afford a lawyer at all, and proving outright theft is relatively easy. You just need witnesses and possession of the physical phone.
In corruption cases, everything is given official seal and approval. It cannot be carried out by a single person. The tracks are usually well covered.
If the punishment for corrupt enrichment is not severe enough, it is left for the national assembly to make appropriate laws, like in China. But. ..., will they? You know the answer.

this is the whole crux of the matter.not only is the punishment not severe,it is also not clear unlike when it comes to stealing.this is what Justice Musdapher and GEJ were saying but you people have been blinded by prejudice and made it look like a sitting president was supporting stealing.

wirinet:


The more you people try and justify the stupid and irresponsible statement Jonathan made, the more stupid you guys sound, it's like trying to dig yourself out of a hole.
This was what President Jonathan said in his February 2015 media chat to defend his earlier gaffe about stealing not being corruption;



Now, does the above quote sound like coming from a sane or sober man?
He is insinuating that stealing is more grievous than corruption.

You too is beginning to sound like Jonathan. You agree with me that abuse of office for personal gain is termed corruption, but you agree with Jonathan that almost all the cases in court (about 80%) concerning illegal enrichment by public officials should be tried under stealing instead of corruption or abuse of office. I hope you do not drink shepe also.

Don't you find it curious that in all these years, the former CJN has not come out to own the statement? If the chief justice should come out and admit that it was he who actually advices Jonathan that "stealing is not corruption", then people would exonerate Jonathan and face justice Mustapha .

If you juxtapose this explanation with the "how much did Jim Nwobodo stole" statement, you would realize that Jonathan is indeed a very confused human being.

He is not insinuating that stealing is worse than corruption you daft bab**n! Do you understand the English language?

Let me break it down in very simple terms.

*Corruption is not a word that most people in Nigeria can relate to unlike stealing. This is where the analogy of what corruption is in native languages across Nigeria comes in. But everyone knows what stealing is. Everyone decries what stealing is about. Corruption is ambiguous and does not carry the same weight. This is not because of GEJ. This did not start under his tenure. That's how we're programmed over time.

An example of stealing compared to corruption using that first example of yours is when a political official instead of buying the car legally but after devaluing it in a corrupt manner, he instead converts the car to his personal use when he is not entitled to do so. That's blatant stealing. The cashier at the JAMB office said snake swallowed 36m (?). That is outright stealing.

In our informal communities, say a market association. If the treasurer of the association says money is missing or he can't account for it. He's called a thief; ole. He is vilified and may be jailed and blacklisted if members are out for him. If however, the chairman uses his office to divert prime stores in choice locations to family instead of members of association; it doesn't carry as much weight as the treasurer's stealing; even though it is equally reprehensible.

* This is why when he found out that 70% of the so-called corruption cases were actually cases of stealing. And the culprits were using the ambiguousness and little shock value of the word corruption to cover their misdeeds, he came out to point out the difference to elicit the typical response Nigerians should have when anyone is called a thief or ole on a market road.

Call anyone a thief and everyone's attention is piqued. Call anyone corrupt and people go, everyone is corrupt. Interestingly, individuals who say most Nigerians are corrupt would not say most Nigerians are thieves. The later has more shock value than the former, even if the former is actually far more dangerous.

*Lumping stealing together with corruption makes it easy for political office holders to perform acts of misconduct (actual corruption) with impunity. By primarily shining the touch light on acts of stealing calling them corruption; they are able to perform actual acts of corruption and get only a muted response from the public. Today, it is socially acceptable that a political office holder can inflate contracts, give it to party members or cronies, request and receive kickbacks, as long as the project is sufficiently done. After all the officials who just steals the money directly are the ones tagged corrupt instead of the thieves that they are.

And this is doubly detrimental to our progress as a nation because corruption is incredibly widespread in different forms and much of it, the kinds that really hold back this nation, is not criminalized. From security votes spent with reckless abandon to fumigating an office with billions of naira.

Why would Justice Mustapha come out to say he's the one who advised the president after seeing how daft, stup*d, and unreasonable you minions are. As the CJN, he advised the President privately on principle. His job is not to sensitize the public. Moreover, you and any media house are free to ask the ex CJN if the version of events as described by the President is accurate or not. He doesn't need to come out and fuel the polity. Ask him.

-Lord

This Otuoke fisherman again?

haladadon:
stealing is stealing.


corruption is corruption

stealing is not corruption.

Corruption is all aspects of using your position for personal aggrandizement. Even in the case where you did not make money from acts of corruption, you must still have gained something possibly.. adulation, love, respect, gratitude et.c that was undeserved because you abused your office to get it. You gave someone unfair advantage over others using your power. It is STEALING. You stole "psychological gain" by abusing your office.

Stealing is carting away government funds or property like Nwobodo' s theft of the main generator at the National Stadium OR GEJ writing a note to CBN, collecting cash and using it to bribe bigwigs in SW Nigeria before the last elections.

The common thing is that they are both for personal aggrandizement. CORRUPTION IS STEALING.

It is using what is not yours (temporary authority given to you by the people) to gain access to appropriate what is not yours for personal gain.

Legally, they may be different but psychologically and philosophically they are the same.

Spiritually it is even more so.
God does not regard money. Money is way beneath his level so he sees theft in more general and complete ways than human beings. God knows people steal ...love, other people's destiny (Jacob-Esau), affection, other people's husbands, other people's wives, power, et.c. STEALING IS STEALING. CORRUPTION IS PART OF STEALING.

Jonathan was and is still the one if the most un-intelligent Nigerian leaders. This dumbo was at a meeting he called ..and a learned man of the law (Justice Musdapher) gave a narrow legal distinction between "stealing" and "corruption".
This was purely to explain why investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption can get complex. It also was to educate GEJ himself and politicians that stealing (physical theft of govt money and assets) was more widespread, took place at lower levels and was easier to prosecute and punish than GRAND CORRUPTION which is political office holders abusing their powers to "appropriate for personal gain".
This was definitely not for a President GEJ to rattle about serially like a small child who has just learnt something new in defence of his lack of action on corrupt acts taking place under his nose.

Nigerians wanted action against corruption not a lecture from a marine biologist (with questionable PhD) about elementary principles of law.