President Muhammadu Buhari
| credits: tualenaija.com
| credits: tualenaija.com
So
much has been written on the devastating effect of corruption on
Nigeria and the Nigerian people that I will not devote much time in this
brief write up on the magnitude of the evil that this cancer has done
to our nation. Corruption has held our beloved country in chains and
left her to crawl in perennial babyhood in the comity of nations.
The chief obstacle on the path of the
crusade against corruption is we, the Nigerian people. Students of
ancient and contemporary history understand that no country has achieved
greatness without the unflinching dedication of its people. It is not
my intention to write a treatise on this subject. Countries like Japan
and South Korea, which at a stage in their development, were at the
bottom of the rung of the ladder of development, have come to global
reckoning by the collective efforts of their citizens. The crucial and
sincere questions we as Nigerians must therefore ask ourselves at this
point in time are these: are we truly ready for a national rebirth? Are
we ready for a national sanitisation that will birth good governance?
Are we ready for a nation renaissance that will make a Nigerian content
with his wages because he is sure of good medical care, adequate
security, good transportation, potable water, affordable housing and
everything that makes life worth living, without having to grease
anybody’s palm or seeking connection with those that matter in the
society?
We
cannot in one breath celebrate kleptomaniacs who have embezzled our
commonwealth, and in another breath desire a system of government that
will meet our basic aspirations. We cannot worship materialism to the
point that we do not question the source of wealth acquisition and
expect to have a sane society; we cannot be biased in favour of friends
and kinsmen neck deep in corruption and hope for a better society;
religious leaders cannot continue to accept offerings and gifts from
corrupt political office holders and/or preach sermons soothing to their
ears and expect to see a transformed society; our royal fathers cannot
continue to adorn criminals and certified men of graft with chieftaincy
titles and expect to have a great society ; we cannot continue to demand
gratification from political office seekers during elections and expect
that they would not devise means of re-couping themselves for their
electoral expenses since money spent for elections cannot be regarded as
a gift or a loan to Nigeria.
If we must win the war against
corruption, it is not enough to pay lip service to the new phenomenon of
change, we must NOW OR NEVER shout it loud and clear that enough is
enough to graft and recognise that corruption and every anti-social
behaviour are enemies of national growth and development. Until he that
stole and embezzled in the past resolves, like the Biblical Zacchaeus,
to steal no more; until individual and ethnic support for those accused
of financial impiety is discouraged; until all Nigerians resolve to be
whistle blowers; until the enforcement of law-enforcement is total and
without favour; until men and women who have impoverished and
dehumanised Nigerians are held in utter contempt and disdain; until
there is a national, moral reawakening and reorientation, the much
desired change will remain a mirage because the President alone cannot
single-handedly kill corruption or reduce it to a tolerable level.
The second impediment, in my humble
opinion, to finding a solution to national theft is our present system
of criminal justice. While I concede that we cannot break away
completely from our colonial past, we must recognise that laws are
enacted in the supreme good of the larger society. Bearing in mind
therefore that no society is static; laws should be dynamic if they must
be relevant to an evolving society.
It is therefore against the background of
a dynamic Nigeria with its peculiar developmental challenges that our
criminal justice system ought to be evaluated. In this context I am
considering the present day relevance of the presumption of innocence
which imposes on the prosecution the burden of proving the guilt of the
accused beyond reasonable doubt.
There is no doubt that the proponents of
this age-long criminal doctrine, generally regarded as a bastion against
criminal high-handedness, meant well and it has worked in England over
the years.
However, the application of this criminal
principle, which makes the conviction of a criminal superlatively
difficult, should be amended to win the fight against corruption. I
therefore recommend that the principle be applied only to other criminal
cases while persons charged with corruption-related cases should have
the burden of proving their innocence. My recommendation is based on the
following factors:
(a) The average Nigerian criminal is very
hardened and does not own up even in the face of hard facts. The
converse is the case with his English counterpart.
(b) Corruption, being the greatest enemy
against our national growth, must be dealt with Sui generis (in its own
class). After all, a desperate ailment, they say, requires a desperate
remedy. To treat this menace with the general laws is to fail ab initio
in the war we set out to win. We have in our hand a peculiar problem and
it would amount to national acquiescence to adopt a simplistic approach
or to sheepishly cleave to a system of justice that has helped to breed
more corrupt men and women. Every nation devises the laws that best
serve her unique interest in all economic crimes. It is no wonder that
countries, like Japan and China, to mention a few, in the recognition
that corruption does more evil than any other crime to their national
well-being have, irrespective of global condemnation, imposed the death
penalty on corrupt public office holders.
The third obstacle in the crusade against
corruption is the JUDICIARY. How far can Mr. President go in his
crusade against this deeply-rooted cankerworm if the judges, before whom
persons implicated in corrupt acts, are themselves corrupt? If the much
desired change is to be achieved and sustained, a probe of the
judiciary must be embarked on now. The stench in the judiciary has
escalated to a shameful and worrisome state because no judge has been
prosecuted and sent to jail if found guilty. The only sanction so far
meted to corrupt judges is retirement with full benefits. In a country
with misplaced values, retiring erring public officers without
appropriate sanctions encourage rather than deter potential criminals.
In view of the very decisive role the judiciary is expected to play in
redeeming our nation from the abysmal pit of national kleptomania,
judges must be kept under close watch. If ministers and other public
servants must be probed, judges who pervert justice to sustain the rot
of graft should not be treated differently.
A concomitant factor to be considered
along with the judiciary is the establishment of special courts which,
like electoral tribunals, shall conclude trials within a stipulated time
frame. This is a veritable guarantee to the game of dribbles that have
characterised the trials of high profile cases of corruption some of
which have dragged on for over eight years.
Another institution that the Buhari-led
administration should turn its search light on in achieving its laudable
goal in the crusade against corruption, that has put us in a perpetual
reversed gear in our match to national greatness and global reckoning,
is the Police, which I like to refer to as the clearing house. The
Amended 1999 Constitution reaffirms the critical role of the Police in
crime detection and investigation.
Owing to its notoriety for extortion and
bribery, there are genuine doubts among Nigerians that the Nigerian
Police Force will not live up to expectation in the war for the
eradication of graft. The policeman who stoops so low in demanding a
paltry sum of N20 from drivers and killing their targets where their
demands are not met; who still demand money before a suspect can be
granted bail; who extorts money from complainants before their
petitions/ complaints are investigated, constitute the greatest obstacle
to the change Nigerians are desperately and anxiously demanding from
this administration.
The President and Commander-in-Chief must
therefore consider the establishment of a high-powered commission of
patriotic and experienced Nigerians to X-ray the Police Force and come
out with recommendations that would reposition it.
That the typical Nigerian Policeman is
incorrigible and is not ready to flow with this current wind of change,
has again been recently demonstrated in a horrific story published in
the PUNCH Newspaper of August 11, 2015, where a woman was arrested
through the complaint of her neighbours to the Police in Gowon Estate
Divisional Headquarters, Lagos. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the
crime, in which the suspect was implicated: the brutalisation of her
house help, she was curiously released almost immediately after her
arrest to the consternation of her neighbours.
While I may not recommend the complete
sacking of the Police Force, as was done in 2005, by the President of
the Republic of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvil, who considered such drastic
decision as the only panacea for his country’s salvation, there is no
doubting the fact that our Police Force urgently needs a complete
overhauling.
Closely related to the Police are the
Special Agencies established to investigate and prosecute persons
involved in Economic Crimes. The relevant Agencies such as the Economic
and Financial Crime Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and
other related offences Commission should be overhauled to regain the
confidence of Nigerians and for better performance.
This piece cannot be concluded without
stating the place of reward for integrity. I accordingly recommend that
public officers with proven and attested record of integrity and
rectitude should be openly acknowledged and rewarded. The modality of
this reward package should be carefully worked out by a presidential
committee.
To protect Nigerians who are eager to
expose corruption, in public and private sectors, I further recommend
that Mr. President should, with minimum delay, assent to the Whistle
Blower’s Act which has already been passed by the 7th National Assembly.
I am more than confident that we shall
arrive at the Promised Land in our journey to true nationhood if Mr.
President will adequately and promptly address the issues hereby raised.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Akiri sent this piece via akirilaw@yahoo.com
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
Comments
Post a Comment