Before Muhammad Buhari came to power, one of the issues that formed the centerpiece of his campaign, is the war against corruption, which endeared him to many Nigerians. Many Nigerians came out En-masse during the last general election and voted for him, hoping that he would tackle the Many problems that have been militating against the development and progress of this country. One of such problems is corruption.
This menace exists in any federal agency, and ministry. it is corruption that led to a situation whereby, countries like Ghana, South Africa among others, have outstripped Nigeria interns of development. This is one of the factor, that made it incumbent on the current president to tackle corruption head on.
The recent revelations about the huge sum of money, stole and stashed away in foreign countries, is another factor that make this war against corruption necessary.. News of people accused of stealing the amount of money, that they cannot spend even, if the will live for one thousand year, shows the extent of this obstacle to Nigeria's march, towards becoming a force to reckon with, interns of development..
It is important to note that, with current oil glut in oil market, which led to the decline in the price of crude oil, which is our mainstay economically. coupled with our inability to to diversify our economy, made it necessary for the incumbent president, to find the ways of getting the money to be used, in order to get Nigeria out of its current travail. So the only way to do that, is to recover the money, stolen by those who served in the previous administration,. Because when he Buhari assumed office he claimed that the government treasury was virtually empty. Coupled with the fact that both the excess crude account and the foreign reserve were depleted. That is why, even federal government could not pay the civil servants, working at federal level shortly, after Buhari was sworn in . In light the of the aforementioned, No person in his right mind, will kick against the effort.
But in Nigeria, because of the entrenched ethnocentrism and the nature of our politics, everything no matter how good it is, can be portrayed as an attempt to persecute and victimized some people, due to their political affiliations, religious leaning or ethnic backgrounds. But what many people do not seem to understand is that, those who are corrupt do not give a hoot about, the well fare of Nigerians, whether their kinsmen or not. The corrupt public officials are united in their attempts to shortchange Nigerians. therefore, there is no reason why some people should shout blue murder, because one of their own has to pay the price of being corrupt.
Recently, some people tried to discredit this crusade against corruption, claiming that, it was selective and politically motivated. for example recently, The peace committee that made it possible for the last general election to defy the prophesies of many people, who kept on saying that Nigeria would not remain as one country after the general election, paid a visit to the villa. the visit to the president is seen by many, as an attempt to procure soft landing, for the officials of the immediate past administration, Even though, this is just conjecture. But after the said meeting, one of the members of the committee in the person of reverend Marthew Hassan kukah, said something to the effect that Jonathan, did not ask the committee to intercede with Buhari on behalf of him( Jonathan). Even though, what kukah said during an interview granted to channel TV contravenes what he said after meeting Buhari. in that interview, he(kukah) said "history will not forget what president Jonathan did..........: even if he stole all the money in the world" this statement and many others made by him, lent credence to the what many people said about the visit.
PDP too is not left behind as it frequently take a swipe at the way this war against corruption is prosecuted, claiming that it is aimed at witch hunting those who worked under Goodluck Jonathan. Then suddenly, the chairman of the EFCC was invited to the senate based on the petition forwarded by a senator over the alleged diversion of more than two trillion by the chairman of the anti graft commission .
However, many people feel that the invitation is not unconnected with the, recent visit to the EFCC by the wife of senate president. But analysts are of the opinion that inviting him(Lamorde) at this time, when anti corruption campaign is at full throttle, will derail the effort of curbing the menace.Even though, it is the hope of every Nigerians to see that this allegation against Lamorde, is looked into. But such thing should be done at the right time and on cogent reason, not aimed at settling old score as alleged by many.
Instead of discouraging MR president, those who are against the decision to probe the corrupts should support Buhari, so that at the end of the day, the recovered money will be used, to improve the lives of Nigerians, who are in desperate situation. After all, the war against corruption is not started by this
administration. Even the administration of Goodluck Jonathan probed some people that served under the administration of Yar'adua. That is why i feel that this probe is the step in the right direction. Nigerians will never forgive Buhari if he allow those looters of public treasury, to go Scot free. What the officials of the last administration embezzled belong to Nigerians. therefore, it is the responsibility of Buhari to retrieve the looted money, since it is Nigerians that entrusted him with power. For example, in Nigerian port authority, about N162 billion was generated in one year while only the paltry N2 billion was remitted into federation account.. So if investigation had not been instituted how could this fraud be uncovered. The sympathy of the people that want to shield corrupts should have been with the masses, who are pauperized by the high level of sleaze, that is inherent to Nigerian office holders.
For any country that is aspiring,to develop corruption should be regarded as stealing, not the other way round. If Buhari decides to turn a blind to the incurable corrupts, who only misappropriate public funds for the fun of it, while petty criminal that steal pittance are jailed without mercy. Though, i am not trying to legitimize the theft committed by common thieves, since their action is condemnable. No person with Nigeria in his mind, will go against the scrubbing of this soiled Augean stable. This corruption could have brought Nigeria to its knee, if Buhari had not won the last election. Those people that want to stop this war against corruption, should be reminded that,, other countries are ridiculing Nigeria and turning it into a butt of derision, because of the foolishness of the public office holders that keep stolen money in foreign countries, boosting the economy of those countries, while impeding the economy of their country. Therefore, it is not enough to probe the thieves, they should be incarcerated, as doing this will serve as a deterrent to others.
it is good that Buhari is looking for courageous judges, that will preside over the trials of those found guilty. Buhari should not listen to those who are dissuading him from doing the right thing. He should not spare even those who are around him, if their capability is established. Doing so will give credibility to his quest, to purge corruption from Nigeria.
Written by, Mukhtar Usaini Alasan a
graduate of Mass Communication
Department, B. U. K.
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