The real cost of corruption

I logged on to Facebook and saw that a school building had collapsed in Jos, killing at least 20 students and injuring many more. Students who’d been taking exams one minute found themselves losing their lives or fighting for them the next. Less than 24 hours after the Jos school building collapse, a section of a two-storey residential flat in Abuja collapsed. Luckily, there were no fatalities, but people were trapped under the rubble. Not even two weeks ago, a building collapsed in Garki, Abuja.

According to the New York Times, “Buildings collapse relatively frequently in Nigeria, primarily because of the use of low-quality building material, poor or no soil testing before construction, and lax supervision and maintenance… Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, had the highest number of building collapses on the African continent, Farouk Salim, director general of the country’s public regulatory agency, acknowledged last year.”

These recent collapses are reminders of the systemic issues plaguing Nigeria as a whole. People put their lives and the lives of others in danger by replacing due diligence with corruption. For instance, last week, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, the man who ought to have checked that I hadn’t managed to slip anything illegal into my bag before boarding the plane was too busy asking for money to pay attention to the job he was doing. You could tell that he didn’t really care about the job at hand.

I had nothing illegal, and maybe the stakes are lower at that stage of pre-boarding security check (because it’s the last one, and I don’t understand why they need to do it) than it is for buildings, but still. It is the same mindset that makes building contractors execute sloppy jobs. Their eyes are on how to maximise their own gains rather than on how to do a good job. Everyone is out for what they themselves can get. How old are all these buildings that they should be falling?

This pervasive culture of corruption undermines the very fabric of society, creating a dangerous environment where safety and accountability are sacrificed for personal benefit. The airport security officer’s inattention is a small but telling example of the broader issues that contribute to tragedies like the building collapse in Jos and all other unnecessary tragedies.

When corruption becomes the norm, the consequences ripple through all aspects of life: the principal of a school unable to express himself in simple English, graduate students unable to write simple grammar, law enforcement looking the other way when a crime is committed, buildings folding in on themselves and taking precious lives. We cannot continue like this.

The only way forward is to address these issues at their root. We must battle and eradicate corruption. It sounds vague and unattainable, but a cultural shift will do that. Education, media campaigns, etc., can help remind our people that corruption is a rot that harms everyone. And where folks’ minds don’t get changed, making bribery and corruption unattractive will force that change. Same result. For example, more stringent punishment for anyone found guilty of bribery and corruption might deter others. After all, that Nigerian who easily asks for and easily gives a bribe to “smoothen” whatever road they are on will neither offer nor ask for those bribes quite as easily abroad.

There is bribery and corruption in the West, but it isn’t pervasive for a reason, and it is not because Westerners are better people than we are. When people can live sufficiently on their wages/salaries, they don’t need the fear of punishment to keep them from asking for bribes. It’s almost impossible not to be tempted to beg for money from passengers when you’re earning a pittance. And doing so in a country where your politicians fly out and in with hand luggage that costs more than your entire year’s house rent.

An aside: at CDG in Paris, I saw one of our retired politicians carrying two massive shopping bags from an exclusive designer. And I can bet you that he hadn’t even bought the cheapest things in the store.

I really hope that we have no more buildings collapsing. We must enforce stringent building regulations (and if those are already there, make sure that they are followed). Materials used in construction must meet safety standards. The most recent tragedy should serve as a catalyst for real change, a wake-up call for Nigeria to prioritize the safety and well-being of its citizens. May the souls of the dead rest in peace. Ozoemena.