The immediate past government came to power riding high on anti-corruption promise that Nigerians naively thought was sincere. Nigerians have since realized that they were utterly wrong. Their hope that the Government elected in 2015 was going to stem the tide of rampant corruption was gravely misplaced. The government handed over power on May 29, 2023 to a candidate of the same party. That could be interpreted as voters reaffirmation of its sterling performance in the last eight years. Far from it. Afterall, its victory is being challenged judicially and the evidences emanating from the Presidential Election Tribunal have significant and damning portents.
Firstly, what is corruption? I searched the internet through Microsoft Edge search engine for a definition of corruption and here is what I found:
1. Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery:
2. The process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state to one regarded as erroneous or debased:
3. The process by which a computer database or program becomes debased by alteration or the introduction of errors:
4. The process of decay; putrefaction:
The same source gave examples of government corruption to include:
Nepotism, bribery, lobbying, embezzlement, and cronyism. For instance, a government official may use their power and influence to grant family members high-ranking positions. In other cases, officials may try to sway election results or harm opponents to hold onto power.
Having successfully handed over power, it is time for postmortems. A time to compare the promise with the reality we faced in the last eight years. A comparison of the what was promised and what we got served. Matching the talk with the walk. This can prove that the government and its agents really walked the talk or, sadly, involved the entire country in the pursuit of a hollow ritual with an intention to hoodwink and yet, feed self-interest. But it could also be that the anti-corruption sing-song was a deft manoeuvre to divert our attention while grand larceny, all be it, in different innovative formats, held sway. I will take a look at a few examples here and try to arrive at a non-corrupt, conclusion as to whether on the anti-corruption front, it has been uhuru.
I will like to take the example of the trumpeted triumph of infrastructural development. The 2nd Niger Bridge commenced by President Jonathan could not be “completed completely” in eight years of the last government. Yet, it was inaugurated with Presidential fanfare and immediately closed down. Those for whom it was claimed to have been built and completed knew better. Because it has not been in use since the former President ‘inaugurated’ it. Inauguration in these parts complete with long speeches, gaudy décor, backslapping and tape-cutting are supposed to mark the beginning of the use of such infrastructure.
Under APC, that has been reformatted to a mere showcase of subterfuge proportions. Projects are inaugurated and promptly put under lock and key, because they were really not completed. Its like America celebrating the placement of a man on Mars just after merely building the martian spacecraft which, though a major part of the process, does not constitute completion and success. An unused bridge, no matter how beautiful the edifice or how much (unaudited) is vaunted to have been spent, remains an ongoing project until the people begin to travel on it routinely. Otherwise, the inauguration attains a corrupt or fraudulent colouration.
A second example is the inaugurated Lagos rail line. With all the pomp and pageantry that accompanied the Presidential tape cutting and partying that followed, one would have expected that the beneficiaries would today be enjoying the expected benefits of such a laudable project that has spanned three administrations of Fashola, Ambode and Sanwo-Olu. As Zebrudaya would say, whosai? The rail line was promptly closed down for continuation of the unfinished work! Those who celebrated its ‘opening’ and used it for re-election “bubuyaya” know that it actually didn’t work for Lagos voters as they massively looked the other way. They knew that the railway line was not ready for operations and merely hoped for the future. They appeared to have listened to Area Father’s dictum of ‘our mumu don do’. It is instructive that bros Sanwo-Olu had to sanwo and move out buldozzers, battle tanks and juju potentates to survive the gauntlet.
Could it be that those who organized this farce were re-enacting the stoppage of the proposed Lagos Metroline during PMB’s first incarnation? The Blue Rail Line was inaugurated 24th January, 2023. Today is 10th June 2023. No single passenger has been transported on that rail line! And PBAT will no longer have the honour of inaugurating it when the project is completed and ready for use. Because the cheque has been cashed before the account was funded.
Take the case of the Nigeria Air. A very Nigerian shuttle in the crypt. The more you look, the less you see. I am yet to understand how such an ugly and corrupt smelling subterfuge could have been superintended over by, unarguably, the most handsome minister in the PMB regime. How do you package deceit in the colours of Nigeria and present it as a parting gift of the President! This takes the top position in the long list of deceits we have witnessed and the alleged corrupt schemes through which funds were allegedly siphoned into private pockets by operatives in a regime that touted integrity and anticorruption as its guiding battle cry and mantra? A Tokunbo aircraft branded in deceitful colours as an achievement by a government? What is worse, they didn’t even pay for it! It is like the make-belief weddings done by some diasporans in order to get resident permit. It is all smoke and no substance. This is Hadi Sirika’s hara-kiri. The man fell our hands. Haba!
Even those Ethiopians would be laughing at us, seeing their plane scheduled for Ethiopean Airlines flight two days later being shown off as an achievement in Nigeria’s beautiful Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport with all manner of scammers and hustlers in reflective jackets moving around like dazed puppets around the giant bird. Hadi, the debonair puppeteer was grinning from ear to ear even though he knew this spectacle was a staged fraud. Is that not what is called passing off? Removing the crown cock and labels off Trophy, dressing the bottle in Budweiser livery and selling at Budweiser price! Counterfeit. Adulterated. Fake. Wayo. Subterfuge. Someone ought to look at the books, especially the so-called consultancy services component. If EFCC finds it difficult to follow the trail, let them too, hire babalawos and marabouts as consultants and pay them in old naira notes.
Lastly, where are the new naira notes that Emefiele told us were ready and that the deposit money banks had sufficient quantities in stock? When last did your ATM dispense them? Now they are as scarce as squirrel’s excrement. Tell me if you have seen the poo of a squirrel! That too was a subterfuge! A mago mago and wuru wuru of sorts – apologies to Professor Henry Nwosu of NEC. Is the naira change, like the other CHANGE promised not a mirage now in a situation of suspended animation? At what cost to the tax payer?
Know what Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth? In a conversation with Ross, Macduff says:
“Well, may you see things well done there. Adieu. Lest our old robes sit easier than our new”
I submit that the APC of the last eight years, rather than fight corruption and shaddy and opaque financial deals, merely reformatted the nature, texture and variants of the evil scourge. Any little digging with sincerity will reveal a rotten and evil smelling underbelly, in spite of pretensions to the contrary.