The increasing number of corruption scandals rocking the Muhammadu Buhari administration has further exposed the dishonest ‘integrity’ of a man who many love to describe as ‘Mai Gaskiya’ but who, to the disappoint of the greater number of people, has progressively turned out in a reality to be ‘Mai Kariya’. The latest revelation about the re-instatement Abdul Rasheed Maina, a fugitive public servant accused of stealing billions of naira from the pensions of senior citizens only adds to the sad tales of corrupt practices in high places under the Buhari administration. In order to keep his crowd of devoted Buharideens in the line of devotion, because of a visible expression of dissatisfaction and audible murmuring among the rank and file, President Buhari, a master in the game of minds, gave his followers the usual opium. He belatedly ordered the sack of Abdulrasheed Maina and asked for explanations surrounding the entire saga, and like the SGF Babachir Lawal’s grass cutting affair and the Ikoyi cash dump controversy, the case could as well be considered CLOSED. Once again the president has succeeded in shifting the blame for this scandal to the cabal which everyone blames for every wrong, while crediting him for everything that is right.
While campaigning to be president, Muhammadu Buhari rightly identified corruption as one of the causes of Nigeria’s stunted growth and arrested development. He was so passionate about the fight against corruption that Nigerians gave him a chance to prove his credibility by voting out the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, under whose watch, corruption took a hydra headed and monstrous dimension. Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief and hoped for a new beginning with a leader who they believed was going to be incorruptible, just and fair to all in the discharge of his responsibilities as head state and duties as head of government.
Once in government, it became increasingly – and is now abundantly – clear that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks the understanding of the theme of his most passionate electoral promise – corruption. Through his body language, associations, public speeches, appointments, policies and programmes, Buhari has revealed his lack of adequate knowledge of the proper definition of corruption and the wisdom to tackle it holistically. Otherwise, the president should have known that at the root of corruption is sectionalism; a most unfortunate practice that he has elevated to near state policy.
By elevating sectionalism in his administration to an unprecedented level in the history of Nigeria, Buhari has succeeded in deepening the roots of corruption with the grave consequences of the increased stealing of public funds by members of his administration to satisfy personal and sectional interests with impunity, who know that they are well protected…
Unpatriotic practices such as cronyism, nepotism, ethno-geographic chauvinism and religious bigotry, collectively known as sectionalism, are corrupt practices that are conditions precedent for economic and financial crimes (the stealing of public funds). Sectionalism elevates mediocrity above merit because the yardstick is not what you know but who you know. Sectionalism creates separate conditions for the different ethnic nationalities within a state, with each group seeking to strengthen its positions in order to compete more unfairly with others, and secure a bigger share of Nigeria’s meagre national resources by any means possible. This involves subversion of the rule of law and the undermining of laid down rules and regulations – which constitute due process – to favour cronies, friends and family. Consequently, law and order enforcement agencies like ICPC and EFCC are prevented from bringing to justice offenders who owe their positions in government to sectionalism. By elevating sectionalism in his administration to an unprecedented level in the history of Nigeria, Buhari has succeeded in deepening the roots of corruption with the grave consequences of the increased stealing of public funds by members of his administration to satisfy personal and sectional interests with impunity, who know that they are well protected by a system that has elevated every associate, appointee and family member of the president above the rule of law. If Goodluck Jonathan provided the umbrella for corrupt cronies, Muhammadu Buhari is sweeping the corruption allegations against his cronies under the carpet.
The Buhari administration’s hinging of its war on corruption on Ibrahim Magu’s EFCC is an unfortunate display of the arrogance of ignorance. Neither Magu nor his EFCC can fight corruption because the agency in question is not set up by law to be an anti-corruption agency. EFCC was established to tackle economic and financial crimes, both of which are just two of the consequences of corrupt practices like cronyism, nepotism, ethno-geographic chauvinism and religious bigotry that are collectively known as sectionalism. So long as these practices are entrenched in government, economic and financial crimes (the stealing of public funds) will be inevitable. This is one of the reasons why Magu’s pursuit of corrupt individuals has not abated the stealing of public funds within the system. The measure of the success of Buhari’s war on corruption can easily be observed in the day-to-day life in Nigeria. Police men still mount illegal road blocks and extort money openly from helpless citizens, while bail is still not free in police stations. The procurement process is still riddled with over-pricing, over-invoicing and multiple repetitions of the same items in capital budgetary provisions throughout government establishments. Also, the hoarding of contracts in exchange for kickbacks ahead of award by public servants is widespread under this administration. Top jobs are closed to the children of ordinary Nigerians, while they are secretly opened up for those of powerful men and women in the Buhari administration, in high paying government ministries, departments and agencies, such as CBN, NNPC, NCC, FIRS, LNG, NIMASSA, NPA, etc.
The president of the federal republic should at all times lead by good example of fidelity to the dictates of the letters and spirit of the constitution, whose underlining philosophy is the security and welfare of the citizens, while applying the principles of justice, equity and fairness to all irrespective of the place of birth, ethnicity and faith.
From the foregoing, the president is not immune from corrupt practices as his defenders would want people to believe. The attempt by his devotees to shield him from the now complex and monstrous level of corruption under his watch by blaming it on the cabal is ridiculous. More ridiculous is when his ministers are blamed for obvious acts of corruption, while leaving out the real culprit – Muhammadu Buhari – hitherto venerated as Mai gaskiya but who is fast gaining notoriety as Mai kariya. Ministers of government are merely acting on delegated authority by the president or his clique of “influence peddling” close and absolutely trusted associates, through his chief of staff, who is their loyal protégé in the administration. The fact that nobody in his cabinet gets fired for brazen acts of corruption is enough proof of complicity on the part of the head of government. As president and commander-in-chief, Muhammadu Buhari is bound to always take responsibility for the actions of his appointees, as it is essentially his government that they are serving.
Until the conflicts of interest arising mainly from sectionalism in high places is not only frowned at but discouraged and criminalised, the war against corruption has not even started. The basis for appointment into public office should not be premised upon loyalty to the person of the president but to the Nigerian people. The leadership of a republican constitutional democracy such as Nigeria is far different from a hereditary dynastic monarchy, wherein personal loyalty to the sovereign is mandatory. The president of the federal republic should at all times lead by good example of fidelity to the dictates of the letters and spirit of the constitution, whose underlining philosophy is the security and welfare of the citizens, while applying the principles of justice, equity and fairness to all irrespective of the place of birth, ethnicity and faith. Once these principles are sacrificed on the expediency of satisfying sectional interests, as is the case with the Buhari administration, the seeds of corruption are sown and continuously watered by the intense struggle for Nigeria’s meagre resources by competing ethno-geographic groupings.
The presidency has a two term (of four years each) limit for any occupant of the office and as such the energy of every president should be to entrench corporate good governance in the system by strengthening all institutions of state to function according to the declarations and spirit of the constitution. Similarly, the basis of trust for individuals to be considered for appointments should not be premised on how much the president knows them but on how much of good governance such individuals are capable of, because their service is to the nation and not to the president.
Majeed Dahiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja and can be reached through dahirumajeed@gmail.com.
