By
Oguchi Nkwocha
When he brags about his much vaunted
prowess in “jailing corrupt public officials,” Buhari only exposes his lack of
full understanding of what corruption is. Corruption is not all just about
embezzled money.
Corruption is also about power, and even more so, one can
argue. By that yardstick, Buhari is the most corrupt himself: he usurped and
misused power in Nigeria to perform dreadful and even criminal actions.
A symptom of power-corruption is using
illegally obtained power with utter disregard for constituted law and order and
elected government. When Buhari carried out a military coup to sack an elected
government, he indicted himself as power-corrupt.
In bragging about it, he
makes the second point about power-corruption—arrogance. Years after
essentially raping and destroying an elected government, Buhari insists to the
hapless peoples residing in Nigeria that he will continue to try to seek the
office of the president of Nigeria, no matter how many times he has to try! The
subtexted message is that if military coups were still possible in Nigeria, he
would have used that avenue once again to achieve his goal.
Military decrees are not laws: they are
in fact military orders that must be carried out by civilian-citizenry, on
penalty of death. Buhari set about issuing decrees and ensuring their
enforcement In Nigeria between 1983 and 1985.
During that period, due process,
proper legal representation and process, presumption of innocence until formal
trial and conviction, were trashed and would never be practiced as Buhari
wielded the power of life and death over each single person and all living in
Nigeria then.
The most unimaginable occurrence is
when Buhari issued his military decrees and then made them retroactive. Based on
such cruel and unconscionable act and display of abuse of power, Buhari ordered
the execution of persons who had earlier been convicted of drug offences well
before his “regime terrible” locked down Nigeria. The death of such prisoners
as such is in fact an act of murder by a psychopath, Buhari. Corruption with
power does not get much worse than that.
Buhari registered Nigeria as an Islamic
nation with the OIC—the Organization of Islamic Conference, reserved for Muslim
countries. There was no discussion with the rest of non-Muslim Nigeria who
constitute over half of the population and who would have bluntly said “No” to
that. But, Buhari “had the power” and exercised it, without qualms. How else
would one define “power-drunk” and corruption with power?
Buhari
had a chance to show remorse or at least render some accounting and
accountability for his inimical activities as a Military ruler of Nigeria at
the Oputa Commission, an event reminiscent of the much successful Truth and
Reconciliation commission post-Apartheid South Africa.
But in sheer arrogance
and contempt, Buhari refused to show up. Not quite satisfied, he went to court
after intimidating the judge(s) and won an injunction successfully prohibiting
the government of Nigeria from ever making the Oputa findings public.
A society is always threatened by
corruption in any form, but power-corruption is invariably more frightening,
devastating and lethal than money-corruption. Yet, there is even more danger
when a society fails to recognize that power-usurpation and abuse is a form of
corruption—and deadly at that. This failure results in the unthinkable: that
given their records, persons like Buhari would actually show their faces to
contest for public office, and that society would tolerate that.
Today, the peoples living in Nigeria
will be tempted to vote for any candidate who claims that he is an
“anti-corruption agent.” Characteristically gullible or otherwise influenced by
other criteria, many will actually vote for such a candidate without even checking
out the candidate's past (and without learning from previous votes for such
candidates).
When corruption is narrowly defined around money, the peoples are
lulled into accepting such blinders and fail to realize that power-corruption
is a more lethal form of corruption. Buhari is probably correct by claiming
that he did not touch any public funds; that does not make him any less
corrupt, however, considering how he acquired power and how he used it in
Nigeria. All it proves is that money corruption and power-corruption can exist
independently.
But, the greatest failing of the
peoples living in Nigeria is the inability to realize that the main problem of
Nigeria is not corruption. When a society has “meaningful options,” the
incidence of corruption is low, and the chances of getting caught and convicted
are high. Nigeria does not offer such meaningful options; it has actually
worked very hard to restrict them, and Buhari represents one class of those who
have made it so.
Predictably—and unfortunately—there is
nothing coming out of the current elections that is going to change this
picture. Unless, of course, the peoples living in Nigeria demand and get a
restructuring of Nigeria along the lines of Self Determination: that's when
their options will open up and their potential, collectively and individually,
will be fulfilled and even surpassed.
Oguchi Nkwocha, MD
oguchi@comcast.net
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