“Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
No!
I’m not here to dissect Chinua Achebe’s book one bit. Even though in my opinion the book has achieved the author’s expectation: a need for discourse on those things that have been taboo-etched on the tablets of our minds. In trying to be politically correct in our associations, friendships and national discourse, we miss a salient point – the very foundation development is hinged on in a developing society (or under-developed) like ours – which is the need for consistent and truthful discourse to know where we should jack-lift when changing our worn out tires of under-development.
As a child of the very early eighties, a period of democratic governance riddled with tiresome tales of corruption, nepotism and chop-I-chop mentality of our “heroes” past, I do have a story to tell. Looking through the opaque sheets of corruption that have riddled our national life and its effects on the living standards of the populace in recent times, it is easy to see why people long for those days when corruption was still a concept taking shape (that is, when compared to now) with nostalgia.
It is instructive to know that while our corruption index increases by the day, with the constant beads slid into our abacuses, making it so hard to mathematically form an opinion on what is really wrong with us, the concept of corruption itself is basically a rumour. It is a battle of rumour mongers (of which I am one), rumour mongering (the web we spin) and rumour “mongerees” (those who help us perpetuate the web we spin about corruption).
If you look at the situation critically as someone who has seen little, heard much and ruminated painstakingly on both, you will agree with me that corruption is a rumour spun by detractors who see nothing good in any government in power, looking for ways to discredit them, for their wistful exclusion from the caucus that implements these gigantic policies, the unrivalled accomplishments and the successful roadmaps that have served our 1% so well till now. We heard that our founding fathers /politicians only took 10% on contracts before the 1966 military coup swept that generation away. Present day creativity allows them pocket 100%. Bad rumours!
I challenge you to discredit my assertions!
We cry daily about the rot and mess emanating from powerful corners of Nigeria, we list those who we’ve identified as corrupt and their sins with “proofs”, we maintain a database in our brain, talk about its various effects along street corners, buses, recreation centers and places of worship. One thing we have failed to understand is that: there is a need for successful prosecution to actually assert with all authority that someone is actually corrupt. We also fail to look at ourselves!
The Nigerian Dilemma, that is what I call it. A country riddled with so much unproven corruption cases that it has gradually become a national religion. It is a pedantic point of sorrow to well meaning Nigerians who abhor it but also a telling sign that the sacred nature of corruption in high places cannot be rivalled any more – it is now an ingrained practise that validates unique leadership qualities in Nigeria.
Listening to our leaders talk about corruption and their plans to tackle it, mirrors a set of jabberwockies according toHonourable Patrick Obahiagbon. They dawdle, but continue the pilfering – Yes, things of little value to them, such as billions stashed away for no use – and pillaging of our natural resources with no iota of remorse when caught with hand in the till.
We have broken record after record on corruption. Gallup Poll, Transparency International, KPMG report, Global Financial Integrity’s Money Laundering list and we are still opening new frontiers on developing corruption into a more stable art for those who are amateurs among the comity of nations. They ascribe these awards to jealousy and lousy citizens who have closed their eyes to everything good about the government.
Let’s Review Dr Jonathan’s record in this sense (not discounting the foundation he met in place though), our amiable shoeless President who grew up among the ranks of the poor, emerging the leader(?) of the most populous black country on earth.
Take as examples the cases of Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godspower Orubebe, her excellency, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mr Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice; there definitely would be more in that collection of national ‘servants’, but if a cabinet can harbour serially indicted officials and politically tragic figures such as these at the same time, what hope is there for the country?
Let’s reason together.
I have lived through the case of Pinnacle contractors, owned by Mr Emeka Wogu and family, who defrauded Nigeria of N2.7bn for fuel it never delivered after being paid twice. What was his reward? Chairing the White Paper Committee on the Petroleum Revenue Task Force (a.k.a The Nuhu Ribadu Committee), charged with reviewing a report that indicted him.
Elder(?) Godspower Orubebe, of the Save NigeriaGroup(SNG)-$50,000-bribe-fame of 2010 – rewarded with the juicy Niger-Delta ministry, currently relaxes in his billion Naira house in Mabushi, Abuja. He owns other undeclared (according to the code of conduct bureau) buildings. TheMabushi house which was a gift(?) from Setraco construction company certainly can not be a big deal. Question is what could he have done for Setraco to make them bequeath a billion Naira mansion to him? Or was it a case of gifting yourself a house in the name of another? There are several gifts of this nature traced to him but he has dismissed those claims as the work of detractors and distortionists.
The chief goddess of the republic, Her Excellency the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke comes to mind whenever the word corruption tickles my thoughts. How else would you describe a serially indicted, arrogant and condescendingly consistent persona like the one of her excellency, who ensures hersmug smirks mirror the disdain that the supposed leaders have for the ordinary person on the street?
Several reports, Presidential inaugurated committees and intensivesly coordinated investigations have serially condemned Mrs Alison-Madueke to the bin of corruption but she sits with head held high, with the President, in the presidential chambers enjoying the wade in the “rumours” we peddle.
Mr Adoke, on his part was alleged to have authorised the illegal transfer of N165bn of Federal funds into an account belonging to a felon. That fund was the payment for the famous OPL 245. You don’t know about OPL 245? It is a prolific oil block holding over 9billion barrels of crude oil, that was a subject of protracted legal battle between Malabu Oil and Shell. A visit to google will open your eyes to the wonders of OPL 245.
There was also the case of multi-million dollars stashed in secret accounts traced to Adoke, which he acknowledged ownership of but denied anything close to the reported funds ever existed with him. No official investigation was ordered, further fuelling my “corruption rumour” theory.
We’ve been treated to the saying: Asset declaration is a “matter of principle”, albeit publicly. We have an opposition so bent on taking power rather than planning on what to do with it. It is a case of a member of the opposition that was corrupt while administering a certain sector of our political life but is now a born-again looter who now sees corruption as anathema to the growth of the country.
It is in this same country that it has been established that a Federal Lawmaker earns more than the US President and about 25% of government overhead in the budget goes to the National Assembly. With over 50 Ministers, thousands of aides and special assistants (also with assistants) we run arguably the most expensive democracy in the world. Add that to the several scams such as Halliburton (which has fingered present and past high-ranking government officials), Education budget scam where senators requested for bribes before passing a ministry’s budget, Euro-Siemens scam, Ogbulafor and Bankole shenanigans, Bode George’s NPA scam, Pension fraud, Police equipment scam and several countless others including AMCON recently declaring N2.37Trillion loss after tax, you will agree we are heading for disaster.
Financing our 2013 budget is becoming a cause of worry as the US government is cutting down on its oil imports (which accounted for 30 and 33 percent of our exports in 2010 and 2011 respectively) and as such will affect our budget since 80percent of our income is dependent on oil exports. Make no mistake about it, the little coming in would still be looted by the callous and perpetually-hungry set of leaders we parade.
The common axiom is that darkness has no fellowship with light whatsoever. Going by this, we can assert that if majority of high-ranking Ministers in a federal cabinet are “rumoured” to be corrupt, it is fair game to spread the “rumour” of the leader’s corruption, a basic inferencial pricinple.
Now, if we’ve established that the leader and his cabinet, saddled with marshalling the country towards safety, are corrupt, it is also fair to infer that the country is heading towards annihilation.
Before it’s too late, we can stand up to corruption by: plugging all the loopholes in the system, agitating for proper enforcement of law and order, embracing accountability and probity in public office, having a society that shuns sudden / unexplained wealth, voting a leader who can stand up to corruption in all its form e.t. c but most importantly, we as citizens must be ready to punish -in ways agreed- all these “rummoured looters” bent on milking us dry.
If we continue at the present speed, rate and acceleration, most of us will be required to write our personal memoirs of what Nigeria was. We would be needed to pontificate on what could have been and where it all went wrong for a country that was once billed as the giant of Africa.
That would be tragic, but not totally impossible.
No!
I’m not here to dissect Chinua Achebe’s book one bit. Even though in my opinion the book has achieved the author’s expectation: a need for discourse on those things that have been taboo-etched on the tablets of our minds. In trying to be politically correct in our associations, friendships and national discourse, we miss a salient point – the very foundation development is hinged on in a developing society (or under-developed) like ours – which is the need for consistent and truthful discourse to know where we should jack-lift when changing our worn out tires of under-development.
As a child of the very early eighties, a period of democratic governance riddled with tiresome tales of corruption, nepotism and chop-I-chop mentality of our “heroes” past, I do have a story to tell. Looking through the opaque sheets of corruption that have riddled our national life and its effects on the living standards of the populace in recent times, it is easy to see why people long for those days when corruption was still a concept taking shape (that is, when compared to now) with nostalgia.
It is instructive to know that while our corruption index increases by the day, with the constant beads slid into our abacuses, making it so hard to mathematically form an opinion on what is really wrong with us, the concept of corruption itself is basically a rumour. It is a battle of rumour mongers (of which I am one), rumour mongering (the web we spin) and rumour “mongerees” (those who help us perpetuate the web we spin about corruption).
If you look at the situation critically as someone who has seen little, heard much and ruminated painstakingly on both, you will agree with me that corruption is a rumour spun by detractors who see nothing good in any government in power, looking for ways to discredit them, for their wistful exclusion from the caucus that implements these gigantic policies, the unrivalled accomplishments and the successful roadmaps that have served our 1% so well till now. We heard that our founding fathers /politicians only took 10% on contracts before the 1966 military coup swept that generation away. Present day creativity allows them pocket 100%. Bad rumours!
I challenge you to discredit my assertions!
We cry daily about the rot and mess emanating from powerful corners of Nigeria, we list those who we’ve identified as corrupt and their sins with “proofs”, we maintain a database in our brain, talk about its various effects along street corners, buses, recreation centers and places of worship. One thing we have failed to understand is that: there is a need for successful prosecution to actually assert with all authority that someone is actually corrupt. We also fail to look at ourselves!
The Nigerian Dilemma, that is what I call it. A country riddled with so much unproven corruption cases that it has gradually become a national religion. It is a pedantic point of sorrow to well meaning Nigerians who abhor it but also a telling sign that the sacred nature of corruption in high places cannot be rivalled any more – it is now an ingrained practise that validates unique leadership qualities in Nigeria.
Listening to our leaders talk about corruption and their plans to tackle it, mirrors a set of jabberwockies according toHonourable Patrick Obahiagbon. They dawdle, but continue the pilfering – Yes, things of little value to them, such as billions stashed away for no use – and pillaging of our natural resources with no iota of remorse when caught with hand in the till.
We have broken record after record on corruption. Gallup Poll, Transparency International, KPMG report, Global Financial Integrity’s Money Laundering list and we are still opening new frontiers on developing corruption into a more stable art for those who are amateurs among the comity of nations. They ascribe these awards to jealousy and lousy citizens who have closed their eyes to everything good about the government.
Let’s Review Dr Jonathan’s record in this sense (not discounting the foundation he met in place though), our amiable shoeless President who grew up among the ranks of the poor, emerging the leader(?) of the most populous black country on earth.
Take as examples the cases of Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godspower Orubebe, her excellency, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mr Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice; there definitely would be more in that collection of national ‘servants’, but if a cabinet can harbour serially indicted officials and politically tragic figures such as these at the same time, what hope is there for the country?
Let’s reason together.
I have lived through the case of Pinnacle contractors, owned by Mr Emeka Wogu and family, who defrauded Nigeria of N2.7bn for fuel it never delivered after being paid twice. What was his reward? Chairing the White Paper Committee on the Petroleum Revenue Task Force (a.k.a The Nuhu Ribadu Committee), charged with reviewing a report that indicted him.
Elder(?) Godspower Orubebe, of the Save NigeriaGroup(SNG)-$50,000-bribe-fame of 2010 – rewarded with the juicy Niger-Delta ministry, currently relaxes in his billion Naira house in Mabushi, Abuja. He owns other undeclared (according to the code of conduct bureau) buildings. TheMabushi house which was a gift(?) from Setraco construction company certainly can not be a big deal. Question is what could he have done for Setraco to make them bequeath a billion Naira mansion to him? Or was it a case of gifting yourself a house in the name of another? There are several gifts of this nature traced to him but he has dismissed those claims as the work of detractors and distortionists.
The chief goddess of the republic, Her Excellency the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke comes to mind whenever the word corruption tickles my thoughts. How else would you describe a serially indicted, arrogant and condescendingly consistent persona like the one of her excellency, who ensures hersmug smirks mirror the disdain that the supposed leaders have for the ordinary person on the street?
Several reports, Presidential inaugurated committees and intensivesly coordinated investigations have serially condemned Mrs Alison-Madueke to the bin of corruption but she sits with head held high, with the President, in the presidential chambers enjoying the wade in the “rumours” we peddle.
Mr Adoke, on his part was alleged to have authorised the illegal transfer of N165bn of Federal funds into an account belonging to a felon. That fund was the payment for the famous OPL 245. You don’t know about OPL 245? It is a prolific oil block holding over 9billion barrels of crude oil, that was a subject of protracted legal battle between Malabu Oil and Shell. A visit to google will open your eyes to the wonders of OPL 245.
There was also the case of multi-million dollars stashed in secret accounts traced to Adoke, which he acknowledged ownership of but denied anything close to the reported funds ever existed with him. No official investigation was ordered, further fuelling my “corruption rumour” theory.
We’ve been treated to the saying: Asset declaration is a “matter of principle”, albeit publicly. We have an opposition so bent on taking power rather than planning on what to do with it. It is a case of a member of the opposition that was corrupt while administering a certain sector of our political life but is now a born-again looter who now sees corruption as anathema to the growth of the country.
It is in this same country that it has been established that a Federal Lawmaker earns more than the US President and about 25% of government overhead in the budget goes to the National Assembly. With over 50 Ministers, thousands of aides and special assistants (also with assistants) we run arguably the most expensive democracy in the world. Add that to the several scams such as Halliburton (which has fingered present and past high-ranking government officials), Education budget scam where senators requested for bribes before passing a ministry’s budget, Euro-Siemens scam, Ogbulafor and Bankole shenanigans, Bode George’s NPA scam, Pension fraud, Police equipment scam and several countless others including AMCON recently declaring N2.37Trillion loss after tax, you will agree we are heading for disaster.
Financing our 2013 budget is becoming a cause of worry as the US government is cutting down on its oil imports (which accounted for 30 and 33 percent of our exports in 2010 and 2011 respectively) and as such will affect our budget since 80percent of our income is dependent on oil exports. Make no mistake about it, the little coming in would still be looted by the callous and perpetually-hungry set of leaders we parade.
The common axiom is that darkness has no fellowship with light whatsoever. Going by this, we can assert that if majority of high-ranking Ministers in a federal cabinet are “rumoured” to be corrupt, it is fair game to spread the “rumour” of the leader’s corruption, a basic inferencial pricinple.
Now, if we’ve established that the leader and his cabinet, saddled with marshalling the country towards safety, are corrupt, it is also fair to infer that the country is heading towards annihilation.
Before it’s too late, we can stand up to corruption by: plugging all the loopholes in the system, agitating for proper enforcement of law and order, embracing accountability and probity in public office, having a society that shuns sudden / unexplained wealth, voting a leader who can stand up to corruption in all its form e.t. c but most importantly, we as citizens must be ready to punish -in ways agreed- all these “rummoured looters” bent on milking us dry.
If we continue at the present speed, rate and acceleration, most of us will be required to write our personal memoirs of what Nigeria was. We would be needed to pontificate on what could have been and where it all went wrong for a country that was once billed as the giant of Africa.
That would be tragic, but not totally impossible.
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