Nigeria is not lucky
enough to blame corruption for all its problems. That would be too easy. A
country as multidimensional as ours cannot blame every single problem on
corruption. Despite the dominance of the corruption narrative, it is clear that
our obsession with corruption comes at a hefty price, a price we should
consider whether or not is worth paying.
At first, it all seems to make sense, a lot
of sense. 'If Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption
will kill Nigeria'. This is the basis on
which many successful Nigerian politicians have built their careers. One of the
reasons this corruption narrative works so well is that the polity plays the
perfect muse. Whenever citizens get close to any meaningful conversation about
policy, administration, or the economy, we are reminded to focus on corruption.
It is almost as if nothing else matters but 'anti'-corruption. The smokescreen
it creates is so compelling and distracting that other issues are temporarily halted to focus on
corruption.
This is very unfortunate.
Recently, the Rivers State Governor gave an
interview talking about his state, and inevitably, his predecessor.
Typically, allegations of corruption and looting of state funds dominated the
conversation. This pattern occurs whenever politicians appear in the media.
What is discernable is that there are always enough allegations of corruption to raise in the press that they rarely ever have to
discuss policy or any other meaningful topic.
Our politicians are lucky to live in such a corrupt
country.
The War on Corruption
"You will no longer need to be ashamed to be
Nigerians. Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in
high and low places that seek bribes and demand ten percent."
If this war on corruption seems familiar, it is
because we have been fighting it since 1966. Anti-corruption was the
justification for the first military coup, in the words of Major Patrick Nzeogwu.
The irony is that most other military leaders who did not offer to 'discipline' Nigeria, offered to wage war
on corruption instead.
Despite the consistent failure rate, we fell for it again
in 2015. Or at least, most of us did. President Buhari rode all the way to Aso
Rock on his promise to fight corruption. He pledged to clean up
the government, eradicate corruption, and tackle insecurity. In retrospect, we
should have focused as much on his economic plans as his anti-corruption
intentions. We are still paying the price for that oversight.
Admittedly, asking Nigerians to focus on economics is
a tall order. Anti-corruption is such a vote-winner with Nigerians that it can
save any political campaign. The secret is to appear less corrupt, or more
determined to fight corruption, than your opponent. Here lies Nigerian
populism. Nigerians will elect a man based on his integrity and the fact that
he does not 'steal'. It simply does not matter what else his manifesto
says because corruption is king.
Unfortunately, the citizens bear the cost of such a one-dimensional
approach. What worsens the situation is that corruption is not a low hanging
fruit. Any politician elected through the traditional Nigerian political
machine will find himself surrounded by corrupt politicians waiting to join him
or stop him. If he genuinely fights corruption,
he will inadvertently fight himself. If he does not fight corruption, he will
still fight himself.
Between the Devil and
the Deep Blue Sea
In fairness, it is not illogical for Nigerians to
think corruption is the only issue that matters.Chatham House estimates
that close to $400 billion was misappropriated from Nigeria’s public accounts
from 1960 to 1999. Illicit financial flows from the country between 2005 and
2014 are estimated to have totalled some $180 billion. Corruption is a big
economic issue, and big issues command big crowds. Big crowds help politicians
win elections. It makes sense.
But the real issue is that we sometimes treat
corruption like it is our only problem. It is just one. It may be the biggest,
but it is just one. In fact, Chinua Achebe hits the nail on the head when he argues that the
average Nigerian is likely to be found at a point in social space with limited
opportunities for corruption as we understand the word. Even with the spread of
petty corruption and a penchant for graft in nearly all facets of Nigerian life, the dominant,
and arguably most harmful kind of corruption is in public affairs. This kind of
corruption requires power, the type of power that the average Nigerian does not
possess.
So how should Nigerians assess corruption in public
affairs?
The answer is simple; it is part of a bigger puzzle.
In our case, Nigeria's puzzle is made up of many other issues. An absentee President is one. A secession threat is
another. Ahumanitarian crisis is a third. No matter how diligently the EFCC raids Ikoyi this month, they will not solve these issues. Greater
countries have defeated corruption, yet encounter other crises. The United
Kingdom for example, in all its past glory, is facing a political crisis it has not seen in years. The United States, with its
self-proclaimed superiority, appears to be dealing dirty with Russia.
This is not to say that Nigerians should forget all
about anti-corruption. That is not the point. Fighting corruption will and
should always be a part of any meaningful plan to make Nigeria 'great'. But we
cannot continue to focus on corruption at the expense of other significant
issues. We have tried this sole focus on corruption long enough. It has not
worked. So why not pivot? After all, 'if you always do what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get what you’ve always got'.
Follow the writter on Twitter @TimeyinPI.
Original piece via StearsBusiness
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