This anti-corruption war

In Nigeria corruption is not just a phoenix, it is also a cat with nine lives. Corruption has survived every government. Killing corruption completely is impossible. Though, I believe we can incapacitate corruption. As they say “perfection is impossible but when we approach it we get excellence”.

In an anti-corruption fight one of the most important ammunition is the political will. To support the effort, the Federal Government introduced the “whistle blower policy” to disclose financial crimes. The whistle blower gets rewarded with an incentive from the recovered funds. This policy has led to the discovery of a lot of money. 

The anti-corruption war achieved another feat recently. Two government officials were suspended by the presidency. Ayo Oke, the DG of NIA was suspended with links to the 15bn Naira found at Osborne Towers in Lagos. He said the money was meant for covert operations. The SGF, Babachir David Lawal was also suspended for breaching due process in awarding contacts to Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE). Both of them have been subjected to investigation and whoever is found guilty should face the full wrath of the law. 

If the Osinbajo-led committee finds the SGF guilty then his political sojourn is over. The people of North East will be disappointed to see their very own deprive them succour after the ordeal they have gone through. It is believed that a leader represents the true and good interest of his people. If as a leader he ends up stabbing his people and boss on the back then he has committed a political suicide. 

Mr. Vice President, you remain one of the few diligent and honest lawyers we have. Your service to this nation has made Nigerians to fall in love with you. Kudos to your boss for giving you chance to shine.  

Mr. Senate President, tension between the executive and legislature should be doused; we are demanding for a better synergy. Someone indicted by the red chamber is on his way out. Nigerians are worried that the legislature has not been supportive of this fight against corruption. Since 2016, the President sent anti-corruption bills to the National Assembly. These bills will help in fighting corruption but we have heard nothing about them. What we are hearing is that: lack of passage of a particular bill is derailing access to recovered funds.

When Magu was rejected, Nigerians lost faith in the Senate and social media has been awash with calls for the scrapping of the senate. Mr. Senate President, rally your colleagues to support this government; represent our interest; deepen democracy and promote good governance. I hope things will improve. 

Mr. Chief Justice of Nigeria, the pace of trials and reaching verdicts has been lethargic. You were appointed to support this fight; overhauling and repositioning the judiciary to be efficient is a necessity. The National Judicial Council knows the corrupt ones. Purge the system, bring back sanity and instill discipline, dignity and dedication so that we can have strong institutions. The Judiciary ought to be the most dignified arm of government but its performance have been unconvincing and of poor standards.

Government is a tripod. Other arms of government should also support this fight against corruption. PMB has helped in redeeming our image abroad. We are no longer seen as “fantastically corrupt”. Nigerians are now wiser we will not vote undemocratic and retrogressive people anymore.

We can see corruption fighting back vividly. Wailers have been finding loopholes in this fight. They criticised the TSA and whistle blower policy. They called the fight a charade and a noise. PMB, we are sure you will not be deterred. We want new policies and initiatives that will frustrate these looters; they milked us dry so they should also face the full wrath of law. We want to see all their skeletons out of the cupboards. 

Cynics and naysayers will be banished to the labyrinth of ignominy. History is always on the side of the oppressed. 

Khalifa Musa Muhammad, Kaduna.