Slowly but steadily, the ultra
conservative wing of Nigeria’s largely self-absorbed and callous elite is
spoiling for a fight. And it’s all about the renewed war against corruption
which has induced in this group an emotion that can only be described as
culture shock. As a result, the unconstructive and clearly combative reaction to
a development that ordinarily should be applauded and encouraged by anyone who
means well for this country is no less unexpected.
Now that it appears that the war
against corruption is getting some traction, unlike in the past when only
minions were arraigned and convicted and the big crooks got a let off or at
best a slap on the wrist if summoned at all, the game has changed dramatically
in the last couple of months. The powerful and the mighty who are the major
looters of the commonwealth are not just being invited; they are getting the
grill of their lives and their big toes are beginning to feel the pain of a new
clamp down from an inspired EFCC led by a reputed no-nonsense cop, Ibrahim
Magu.
Magu’s new leadership zeal is telling
in its redefinition of the mode of operation which has triggered a heightened momentum
for change in a way that has never been seen at the nation’s prime anti-graft
agency. On a daily basis, the hitherto ‘untouchables’ are now being poked with
the hard questions in EFCC interrogation rooms; the so-called ‘sacred cows’ are
being prepared for onward transfer to what would turn out to be their slaughter
slab for the ultimate rite of humiliation. And more than ever, the prospect of
a good number of the politically exposed looters and fraudsters and their
collaborators ending up in jail soon enough seems very bright. This is
heart-warming in a country which until now has been a terribly misgoverned
space.
Yes, the class of elite to which we
referred above also wants change, but this is not the type of change they are
prepared to accommodate. A change that upsets the applecart (pardon the cliché)
in such a decisive manner as to not only dismantle all forms of corrupt
practices, but also seek out their perpetrators, name them and shame them by
ensuring they end up in prison is certainly not what they want to welcome with
open arms.
Therefore, members of that group are
not folding their arms to let the EFCC roll over them. They are well-heeled,
thanks to their fraudulent escapades. So, they are fighting back both
stealthily and furiously, enlisting the services of all individuals and groups
that can help them scuttle the fight against corruption. To that extent, they
have gone as far as recruiting an equally retrograde faction of the bar, pliant
members of the bench, a mercenary arm of civil society, gold-digging religious
leaders, a tractable media that is also notorious for hatchet jobs and, above
all, an unreceptive and docile public.
And it is easy to identify them. For
example, they are manifested in a Chief Judge who recently warned magistrates
to stop approving requests from EFCC to detain suspects for interrogation. Curiously,
this judge did not cite any known law to back his directive. They can be seen
in very senior lawyers who collect dubious briefs to defend persons known to
have looted public funds, manipulate the court process on their behalf and
scream rule of law.
They are revealed in a well-known
Pentecostal pastor who urged government to focus on other areas of development
instead of fighting corruption, which he claims constitutes only 20 per cent of the
country’s problems. They are exposed in phony civil society groups who go about
accusing government of violating the rights of persons currently being tried
for corrupt practices. You will find them in a nonagenarian who has repeatedly
blasted President Buhari and scoffed at his anti-corruption war; and among
members of the public who have joined the looters and their supporters to pronounce
that the more than $2billion arms scam is an invented story aimed at dealing
with members of the opposition party and, therefore, is a ‘distraction.’
These are the kind of people the EFCC
must contend with. One forecasts that in their desperation they will go all the
way to rubbish the institution and its leadership. Don’t be shocked if suddenly
a report surfaces in the media dubbed ‘Exclusive,’ brashly claiming to have
unearthed a massive scandal involving Magu, the EFCC boss. The purpose will be
to destabilise and make him lose focus. But he must remain resolute, for having
come this far in this war, there will be no plausible excuse to reverse the
gains.
The anti-graft campaign can only be
meaningful if the real thieves in the society, the big men who have ensured
that our soldiers don’t have guns to fight insurgency, hospitals lack
equipment, children can’t go to school, electricity supply is epileptic, petrol
queues continue, basic infrastructure is non-existent, are made to pay for
their criminal acts by being marched to jail one by one. And that will just be
the beginning of the change that this government talks about, and one of the
many that Nigerians expect.
Let there be no doubt. We believe in
and are committed to the rule of law. But the rule of law can’t be a basis to
let loose on society men and women whose transgressions are no less than armed
robbery, murder, terrorism and allied crimes that more often than not are not
bailable offences.
Then there is the issue of selective prosecution,
which has been the battle cry of every scoundrel who has found himself in the
corridors of power, a comfortable alibi for many certified criminals to avoid
facing justice. Our response is, let anybody who is accused answer “his
father’s name.” People who have been accused of corruption should be proud to
clear their name and “put the government to shame” if they have nothing to hide.
Finally, we think the government and
the EFCC should expand the war against corruption. The mandate of the
Commission, for example, gives it power to look beyond the mindless looting by
the political class and their collaborators to other equally sinister
criminals, including influential civil servants, who have made a killing in the
name of public service.
They own all the choice property – most of them lying
fallow because Nigerians who are not corrupt can’t afford the rent – in Abuja and
other parts of the country which has become a veritable avenue for money
laundering.
Now is the time for the EFCC to assert
itself!
Chido Onumah & Godwin
Onyeacholem/GEE
Chido Onumah can be reach on conumah@hotmail.com; Follow him on Twitter @conumah; Godwin
Onyeacholem can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com
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