By Olusola Aladejebi

In 2016, the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, while briefing the Queen of England on the visit of Nigeria’s president, Buhari, referred to the country as fantastically corrupt. Not corrupt. But fantastically corrupt. Incidentally, our president went for an anti-corruption summit. Cameron seemed to be saying Nigeria (alongside Afghanistan) belong to senior class. Now what does it mean to be fantastically corrupt? I’ll attempt an answer after a while.

Sometimes I wonder how this entity Nigeria has survived until now given the amazing levels of abuse meted out on the system by persons (and they are a vast multitude) driven by sheer desire to violate others as long as it results in some material acquisition. Maybe we have survived because we are a cat with 9 lives—but most likely we are on the 9th one! We may not be far from Resting in Pieces (RIP).

A person in the position of Prime Minister of UK knows a great deal about what goes on in Nigeria. We were colonized by the British and it is expected that they keep some tab on their former colony. They must have watched in incredulity how a country so endowed has remained decrepit, broken and a far cry from what she could have been. This talk with the queen was supposed to be a private session with no cameras but someone recorded the conversation. It is in such sessions that matter-of-fact views are expressed, not the diplomatic flattering of official functions. In my view to be fantastically corrupt means to be unthinking corrupt; to be possessed by a greed that is completely blinded to other considerations except to acquire what one has no legitimate right to.

True. It is bad to be ordinarily corrupt. But ordinary corruption wants to steal and enrich itself unjustly but stops short of some considerations. It would enrich itself but give some consideration to what becomes of the other person or society at large. Fantastic corruption is totally unthinking. It is absolutely blinded to the consequences of its avarice on fellow countrymen. Even if we contend that Nigeria has not yet attained nationhood and therefore a Nigerian nationalism has not been formed, what does one make of same callous inconsideration towards fellow ethnic brothers?

When I hear of bandits, kidnappers, dare devil armed robbers and other violent crimes that breach our national security, I sigh because I know they are inevitable. And they will continue until we have a police and justice system that is not founded on the infrastructure of greed—lustful wicked greed. Every day, personnel of the Nigeria Police extort money from citizens. But the corporals and constables on the streets are not the only enemies. (Some of them may not like that tag of enemy but if you forcefully take from me, you are not my friend; you are an enemy no matter how we look at it!). Some of the proceeds of the brazen extortion go to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO). The DPO makes deliveries upward. Who knows may be the returns go all the way to the top. So if there is a police system whose preoccupation is frequently money acquisition, there is no way such can successfully combat crime. It would be too easy to buy them over. The focus and hard work required to investigate and break criminal gangs just won’t be there.

I learnt that in the ‘foremost’ teaching hospital in Nigeria, resident doctors have to bribe some Ministry of health cabal to get arrears of their salaries. Meanwhile these amounts would have been released by the finance ministry but these leeches sit on the money. Until the ‘bribeprice’ is right, there is no salary in sight. It does not matter how long until the doctors get to gratify them, cabal would wait. Some ‘big people’ in the health sector may be called in to arbiter the negotiations of the ransom for the kidnapped money. In the meantime, the resident doctors would have gone on strikes many times. Many people would have died or lost vital organs due to the industrial action but cabal don’t give a hoot. For all they care you may all die, they just must get their share of something that doesn’t belong to them.

For any nation to develop, it is a universal consensus that they must invest in the health and education of their people. For any nation that does so consistently for a couple of years, development is certain. For us, our thoughtless senseless corruption makes us award marks—useless marks—for money in our higher institutions! Fewer things are more sardonic than that. The foolish men and women lecturers who are blinded by lustful greed don’t consider that they actively destroying their society. It is like throwing cyanide in the opposite part of large water reservoir thinking, or more appropriately, under the delusion the poison won’t get to their section. Of course it would. And their poison is hurting us all.

Malaria is killing us but those who don’t have mosquitoes in their countries are the ones rescuing us. We have abundance of sun but the technology for solar energy is being developed by people who don’t have half our sunshine. How would we presume to compete with other serious countries when educational institutions issue certificates for people who have no competence whatsoever relating to what is stated on them? We are jokers jare.

Deji Yesufu, a social commentator, is of the view that societies are destroyed primarily due to bad politicians and evil preachers. That can’t be far from the truth. This lust for money in religious houses seals the destiny of a country waiting to be killed by greed. The preachers cannot restrain the politicians in their evil because the preachers are almost beating them in this avariciousness.

Can Nigeria ever avert the looming national death? I mean there are many people in Nigeria who if they are aware of an approaching solution to one of our major problems, say unemployment, would rather actively sabotage the solution as long they can benefit from the continued misfortune of millions of fellow countrymen! The only hope I see to prevent this imminent self-destruction is just if somehow some way we can have a sub-unit of the country that refuses to subsidize corruption. Then hopefully this unit’s prudence can impact the country at large. However, from what I now see we are heading downhill fast!

https://mouthpiece.com.ng/when-nigeria-dies-greed-killed-her/

Seun, Mynd44, Lalasticlala

Hmmm..

Naija matter don tey no be today

Founded on fraud and exploitation with zero national interest zero patriotism and zero allegiance ..infact Nigerians just woke up to the news that they are now Nigerians.

Imagine discovering stashed wealth of a late former head of state after 2 decades like it's some mineral resource.

Infact Nigeria is like a public toilet where the administrator collects money from users but fails to clean or maintain the toilet for weeks and months and years. Sadly people still troop to this toilet because they have no alternative as using any other place is law breaking. The rule is any toilet user can become a toilet officer sometime but no one ever thinks of cleaning the waste left by their predecessors..No it's sabotage it can't be me it's suicidal. It has to remain that way all the toilet users are used to it afterall.."we spend no dime on cost while we make more money"....Haha this analogy is so crazy.

The "God bless Nigeria" crew are only a bunch of jokers most of whom I feel doesn't reside in Nigeria or have refused to come to terms with reality

Successive generations that handled leadership positions have all towed the same path

Nigeria just may have gone beyond redemption

This o.p. is so right on point. Even our state owned oil company,NNPC, is a monumental disgrace. Am not surprised shell,total and agip doesn't want to fully release NLNG into nigeria's hand,because they know we will come and ruin it with wanton greed,corruptiin and nepotism. We nigerians use our own hand destroy our lovely country,what a pity.


Abeg o.p what measures do you think can be taken to redeem the situation?