CAN BUHARI REALLY FIGHT CORRUPTION USING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS? BY PRINCEWILL OJONG ODIDI For the past few weeks, I have read with dismay the alleged believe that Muhammad Buhari would fight and end corruption in Nigeria when given the mandate to rule. While I applaud the courage and determination that corruption is coming on center stage as a political discourse and timely in our fledgling democracy, I have often wondered the tools he plans to use to achieve his goal. When Buhari was head of state in the 80s, it was believed he fought corruption to a standstill. Have we bothered to ask what tools he used to fight corruption then? Students of history, for lack of a better description, what was categorized as a fight against corruption in today’s democracy is better described as an abuse of fundamental human rights. During military regimes, perceived corrupt politicians were jailed without due process of the law, sent to prison without trial based on mere speculation, suspiciously killed in the event no incriminating evidence found on them, and the militarization of society in itself was believed to checkmate government waste and corruption. These were the tools Buhari used in the 80s, the biggest question today is, and can these same tools be used in our modern democracy to checkmate corruption? The answer is No. A military Buhari who was able to put Nigeria and Nigerians in a strait Jacket in the 80s cannot do the same in a democratic Nigeria 2015. Using the same military tools he used in the 80s to fight corruption in 21st century will be termed dictatorial, authoritarian, and a gross abuse to human rights. The same legislators who should work with him to achieve his goal will be first to impeach him and declare him unfit to rule. In our present day democracy, the only acceptable tools to fight corruption are the established Institutions. However, these institutions in themselves are corrupt and lack capacity to fight corruption. If Buhari is coming into power to help strengthen this institutions and make them competent, I may have some hope in the assertion that he will fight corruption, but how he plans to do it is a mute question. Let me use the fuel subsidy scam to buttress my point on fighting corruption and why Buhari may not be different from President Jonathan. The story of the fuel subsidy scam is no more news, we all know what happened. Why hasn’t anyone of those accused been sent to prison? The answer is simple. The institutions do not have the capacity to convict them. You want to know why the alleged Boko Haram Nyanya bomber is almost walking out of the courts a free man? The Institutions do not have the capacity to convict. Let me try to explain. The problem starts from the top. Ministry of Justice is underfunded and even if funded, allocations to the state prosecutors office is not given priority, and if given priority, the state prosecutors themselves will divert investigative allocations for private use, or in most cases, wealthy defendants will bribe prosecutors who will drag the cases in court for such a longtime until they are overtaken by other events and later dropped, in the event they appear in courts without due investigations and facts, sometimes court clerks are bribed to temper with files. In the event these cases go on trial, most of our courts still operate as though in the 17th century with some judges who cannot use computers, in other cases the judges have nothing to base their rulings on, coupled with a legal system that is foreign to us and long overdue for reforms, and as such, backdoor negotiations or political interference creeps in and cases are closed, dismissed or left redundant. These I term democratic corruption and institutional failures. Can a democratic Buhari do any better than Jonathan when it comes to failed Institutions? It is a mute question. Given the above scenario, how can we move forward as a nation when it comes to corruption? The difference between one leader to another in terms of handling corruption will be the political will. But how can a President Jonathan wield political will efficiently when he readily accepts over 20 billion naira in campaign funds from government officials and private individuals without questioning the source of such funds? How can a President Buhari fight corruption when some of the king makers and Party Lords, the Atikus and Tinibus who have propelled him to be nominated are some of the most corrupt men in our country’s history? If his first assignment as President will be to investigate these two men and if found liable of corrupt practices in the past and sent to jail, then he will have a smooth beginning. Since the inception of EFCC, how many people have been duly convicted? Considering the pension scams, fuel subsidy scam, massive looting by office holders and abuse of public office by politicians? Will a President Buhari maintain the toothless politically influenced bulldog called EFCC to achieve his goal of fighting corruption? Are these the same tools he intends to use in fighting corruption or is it the low morale and corrupt Nigeria police or the politicized judiciary he intends to work with? Dear reader, don’t be discouraged by my emotional commentaries, all hopes are not lost. Nigeria can still be fixed. Laws are made by men and executed by men. Institutions are not just the physical structures you see, Institutions are governed by men. Men are not born corrupt, men are rather cultured into corruption when the institutions meant to maintain civic responsibilities fail. All we need is to have the right type of concerned Nigerians in position of authority, who will consider Nigeria first before personal gain, and a society that will appreciate hard work and dignity of labor from legitimate enterprises rather than sing the praise of stolen wealth, with this, we will one day get it right as other nations and regain our national pride as a people. PRINCEWILL OJONG ODIDI IS A SOCIAL COMMENTATOR WRITING FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ( princewillodidi@yahoo)
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 13:56:44 +0000
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