Nigeria: Corruption and leadership in 2013

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The eagerness with which the Federal Government dismissed the 2012 report of Transparency International (TI), the global corruption watchdog, which rated the country poorly, is not the appropriate way to tackle an endemic problem. If the perception outlook of corruption in Nigeria is to improve in this New Year, the authorities should be more accommodating of critical independent reports. Denying the veracity of the reports or looking for loopholes to erode their credibility is like playing the ostrich.

In its annual ranking of corruption for 2012, the TI placed Nigeria as the 35th most corrupt country in the world. But rather than treat the report as a challenge to design and implement a systematic approach to tame corruption, the government seemed to have opted to play the ostrich, burying its head in the sand and suggesting that TI’s globally renowned corruption measurement is flawed. What is required is for the government and the ruling People’s Democratic Party to seriously address the threat posed by corruption to Nigeria’s future.

There is little doubt that time is running out on the country, as its diverse and growing security challenges are partly rooted in widespread poverty and unemployment, which in turn, are outcomes of pervasive corruption. The year 2013 offers another opportunity to stop living a lie and seriously address the issue. To continue with business as usual this year is to lead Nigeria into despondence and anger. President Goodluck Jonathan has the ultimate and unique responsibility to build the confidence that politics and public offices are not primarily a means to fleece the citizens.

The TI Report somewhat confirms the Mo Ibrahim Foundation 2012 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which ranked Nigeria 14th out of 16 countries in West Africa and 43rd out of 52 African countries on indicators of good governance. These rankings demonstrate the dismal failure of the effort to reduce corruption and deploy Nigeria’s wealth to the socio-economic betterment of its citizens rather than into the pockets of politicians and bureaucrats. It is futile to dispute the rankings. Both Transparency International and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation are well-resourced, apolitical institutions with well-established international reputations. They hire experts from various countries to design the methodology of the ranking and compile the data.

Transparency International’s ranking measure perceptions of the incidence of bribery of public officials, kick-backs in public procurements and enforcement of anti-corruption laws, among others.

Interestingly, Nigerians know, based on their own perceptions and experiences, that their country is one of the world’s most corrupt. The Ibrahim Index measured performance according to indicators of safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development. Nigeria’s woeful performance on this composite good governance index is also a story of systemic corruption; a reflection of the sad inability of various national institutions to translate increasing allocations of petroleum export dollars into better education, protection of lives and property, among others. Politicians and national institutions have preferred to bribe a few citizens and exclude the majority from genuinely engaging with and benefitting from the exercise of political and institutional mandates.

Sadly too, the opposition parties are equally involved in the politics of profiteering either at the national or state level; when they should be promoting a model of governance that pressurises the ruling party to change and give Nigerians hope. It is saddening that corruption investigations by both the legislative and the executive arms is increasingly regarded by Nigerians as a ploy by committees to wring “protection fees” from officials in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) rather than a genuine attempt to expose or bring the corrupt to book. Despite countless probes, hardly is any Nigerian being punished, except those caught abroad for corrupt acts committed in Nigeria. There is no coherent agenda for scaling back the enormous corruption in the MDAs or for making the anti-corruption agencies more effective. Progress and credibility in the fight against corruption can be won only through concrete, well-thought-out plans and not cheap slogans.

The TI Report and Ibrahim African Governance Index are reflections of the greedy nature of Nigerian politics and governance that Nigerians well recognise. There should be a sober response to it by public officers; and the buck stops at the desk of President Jonathan. Nigerians are not fooled by official pretences to fight corruption. In the first instance, those appointed into public positions should not be tainted with corruption perception; else the anti-corruption fight and government’s reform agenda lose meaning to Nigerians. January 2013 is the time to do a rethink before the politics of 2015 nominations take over.

Refusal to change means less trust in politics and politicians, government and national institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It also increases the appeal of unorthodox means to achieve change. The President should take the lead in saving the country from corruption.

Culled from The Guardian.