Ruing Corruption

Nigeria which should have been the pride of the black race has now become a pariah nation due to endemic corruption

Today, as never before, the level of criminal activities in our country is on the ascendancy as bare-faced looting of public treasury, fuel subsidy scam, pension scam, money laundering, economic crimes of all sorts, oil bunkering, kidnapping and cold-blooded murder, name it, are committed with  impunity.”

This was the lamentation of the former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, over Nigeria when he delivered a keynote address at the 46th Annual Conference of the National Association of Law Teachers, NALT, recently in Ilorin.

Given this state of affairs which makes security of life and property pretty difficult, Akanbi was saddened that the country, which should have been the pride of the black race, had been reduced to a pariah nation and is in a state of utter helplessness. He warned that “we are on the precipice of the predicted failed state” if corruption is not tackled with the seriousness it deserves.

The retired jurist, who blamed the surge in economic crimes in the country largely on lack of political will to confront the menace head on, wondered why these days, many indicted, accused former governors, ministers and party officials are still walking majestically around the country with their loot intact. More disturbingly, he noted that some of them had not only managed to walk their way back to the corridors of power but are also being celebrated.

•Justice Mustapha Akanbi and NBA chairman, Justice Okey Wali

Incidentally, as he put it, they had become power brokers and had been able to install their cronies in choice ministerial and civil service positions, thereby widening the vicious circle of corruption and making the fight against it more arduous. If the heinous crime is not being condoned by those who wield political power and authority, how does one explain cases of some former governors, who have been charged to court for corruption and/or looting of the public treasury, shamelessly sitting in the hallowed hall of the National Assembly, taking part in the on-going debates..?” Akanbi queried.

To him, and going by the civil service rules and regulations, once an officer is arrested for committing a criminal offence, he is immediately either placed on interdiction or suspension until his case is finally determined by the law court. He wondered what is now happening to those rules and regulations which were designed to sanitise the system. Corruption, according to the pioneer ICPC Chairman, aside breeding inefficiency and giving quacks a field day, impeding long term foreign and domestic investment and making project planning difficult and attainment of set economic goals impossible, creates social unrest, economic upheaval and political instability.

He noted that, more often than not, mediocre, incompetent and corrupt individuals, rather than resourceful, efficient and competent hands, find their way to various positions of power and authority which they use and manipulate to their own advantage and not to the benefit of the society. “Consequently, the nation begins to drift and slide dangerously down the slippery road of economic ruination,” he lamented.

He added that efforts of the enforcement agencies at the recovery of looted funds are in the right direction. Akanbi, however, observed that it is not a good panacea to allow the looter to get away with the remainder of his loot, while recovery of stolen property should also not be a reason for an accused to be left off the hook.

The Judiciary, he said, has a key role to play in the fight against corruption, adding that an independent, impartial and informed judiciary is sine qua non for an open, honest and accountable government. He, therefore, admonished judges to be fair and just and should tower over and above corruption by being faithful to their judicial oath and refusing to be influenced by extraneous consideration. He urged the president, governors and religious leaders to lead by example by being in the vanguard of the struggle to eliminate corruption or reduce it to a tolerable level.

In his opening remarks, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Okey Wali, SAN, reiterated the call for the introduction of the teaching of professional ethics in the curricula of universities. NBA, according to him, is collaborating with the National Universities’ Commission to ensure that accreditation is denied any university that fails to teach professional ethics. “We have too many problems of ethics at the bar; we have too many problems of indiscipline and when you talk about the problems of the bench, they emanate from the universities because you can only appoint for the bench the quality that is available from the bar,” he lamented.

In line with Akanbi’s argument, Wali argued that corruption is the biggest cancer that is eating up the country, arguing that most problems bedeviling the country such as infrastructural decay, poverty, unemployment and insecurity, among others, are traceable to corruption. Any lawyer, he said, implicated in any act of corruption would be made to lose his or her membership of the NBA, adding that the NBA is collaborating with the NJC to turn the country’s judiciary to a model that everybody would be proud of.

In his welcome address, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, who described the conference theme as very apt and timely, noted that corruption is not a new phenomenon but a scourge that has eaten up every facet of the country. Ambali was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Felix Oladele.

In his address NALT President, Dr. Abdulqadir Ibrahim Abikan, stated that the drive to eliminate corruption prompted the choice of the conference theme: “Corruption and National Development”. He added that NALT annual conference had become a household event through which law teachers throughout the country ruminate on topical national issues.

—Stephen Olufemi Oni/Ilorin

Source: http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/05/08/ruing-corruption/

Shun Corruption, Kogi Governor Admonishes Newly Elected LGA Chairmen

The Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada has charged the newly elected 21 local government chairmen to shun corruption and work towards delivering the dividend of democracy to the people at the grass root level during the swearing in of the officers.

Accompanied by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi and PDP party executives to the venue to introduce the newly elected chairmen to the governor, the secretary to the state government, Olugbemiro Jegede said Governor Wada has appointed liaison officers to take over the administration of local councils.

The Governor stated that the election is an acknowledgement of acceptability and leadership quality of the people of their respected local government.

While administering the oath of office on the newly elected Council Chairmen, the governor warned all the council chairmen that the oath they have taken is between them and the people at the grass root level, adding that the large portions of the rural dwellers are economically disadvantage and urged them to use this opportunity to impact positively on the masses at the local level.

Source: http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/05/06/shun-corruption-kogi-governor-admonishes-newly-elected-lga-chairmen/

Naturalizing Nigeria: A Strategy for Fighting Corruption, By Okey Ndibe

“Achebe’s first novel shows how a community works in concert to subvert one man’s rude power. “

From the outset, Okonkwo, the tragic protagonist of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, comes across as extraordinarily strong, a man who is “well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond” and whose “fame rested on solid personal achievements.”

Not only does he stand out in his community, he is also a prototype of the imperial character, a man taken with the singularity of his powers. In an important sense, he foreshadows the British authorities lurking around the corner of late 19th century Umuofia, about to burst upon the lives of a once proud and self-governing people.

Like the British colonial authorities, Okonkwo is in no hurry to argue with any force weaker than himself – or with weakness of any sort, period. When he encounters weakness, especially weakness symbolized in another individual, his first impulse is to kill it, squelch it, erase it. He is a veritable serial killer, armed with various stratagems for killing his nemesis – the weak. When a man named Osugo contradicts him at a meeting, a hectoring Okonkwo reminds the man that “this meeting is for men.” As Achebe informs us, Okonkwo knew “how to kill a man’s spirit.” During the Week of Peace, a period when the earth goddess mandates the absolute absence of rancor, belligerence and violence from the community in exchange for her bequest of a bountiful harvest, an imperious Okonkwo thoughtlessly beats one of his wives.

For me, the one thing that’s even more significant than Okonkwo’s untoward exhibition of rude power is his community’s poise, their possession of the ultimate means to chastise the errant hero, their capacity – in other words – to deal with the threat of a man who appears not to know where his moral boundaries lie. When he defames Osugo, Okonkwo is compelled to apologize. When he breaches the Week of Peace, he scandalizes his community and incurs the wrath of the goddess whose priest makes a brusque, chastening visit to Okonkwo to spell out the fines.

Achebe damningly portrays Okonkwo as a man incapable of thought, a man who reposes too much faith in his physical prowess but puts no store by wisdom. Yet, there are numerous opportunities when the community forces Okonkwo to reckon with the fact that they – to say nothing of their ancestors and gods – are, in the end, more powerful than he. When the strongman foolishly ignores old Ezeudu’s counsel not to have a hand in killing the “doomed lad” called Ikemefuna, it falls to Obierika, Okonkwo’s best friend and an exemplar of the thinking man, to chide the morally repugnant Okonkwo. In a warning that proves prescient, Obierika describes Okonkwo’s participation in the killing of his adoptive son as the kind of act for which “the earth goddess wipes off” an entire family. Okonkwo earns himself a seven-year exile in his maternal home, Mbanta, when his gun discharges accidentally, inadvertently causing the death of a clansman, Ezeudu’s son.

In all of this, the instruction is that the people of Umuofia are able to rein in Okonkwo, a man who has developed a warped and ethically problematic vision of strength as corresponding to virtue. If he could, Okonkwo would gladly have stipulated that he was the only way and the light. He would have insisted that his community’s will be subordinated to his decrees. But Umuofia does not let him. Instead, the community constantly reclaims the ethical ground that Okonkwo wishes to usurp for sheer power.

The culmination of this tussle between the community’s sense of propriety and Okonkwo’s faith in violence arrives towards the end of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The men of Umuofia are holding a meeting to decide an appropriate response to the troubling presence of white men who – to paraphrase Obierika – have put a knife to the things that held the community together, gravely threatening Umuofia’s corporate cohesion. The meeting has hardly taken off when the uniformed messengers of the white intruders appear, with instructions to disband the gathering. Okonkwo confronts the haughty messengers, draws his machete and beheads one of them. In responding in this decisive, “manly” way to the provocations of the white presence, Okonkwo hopes to propel his fellows into war. In effect, he wishes to make a demand on the warriors of Umuofia. He wants them to prove themselves to him, to demonstrate that they deserve to be called warriors still. He wants them to illustrate that they have not become effeminate, wilted cowards.

The men of Umuofia stoutly reject Okonkwo’s precipitate action. They resist the summons to go to war on Okonkwo’s terms. They have a time-tested, settled protocol they must follow before declaring a war. They won’t let a failure at “thinking,” a man whose genius lies exclusively in acting out violently, to determine the nature and timing of their response to the foreign invaders, however egregious and gratuitous the “white” provocation.

Rather than join Okonkwo in battle, the men of Umuofia wonder aloud about his awful act. They do not admire his decision to act alone when communal action was meet and mandated. It is, of course, a moment of mutual incomprehension. Okonkwo misreads his community’s refusal to embrace his violent act as final proof of Umuofia’s decline, its descent into paralysis. Convinced in his misapprehension, he leaves the scene of his final murder to go off and hang himself, no doubt viewing himself as a man utterly betrayed by his fellows, a man who sees no alternative other than a final act of separation: suicide.

In death, as in life, Okonkwo is a figure of extreme impulsiveness. Left to his devices, he would sooner force his community to bend to his will. If it were up to him, then, even the ancestors and gods of Umuofia must redefine themselves according to Okonkwo’s strictures.

In present-day Nigeria, a man like him could very well be an imperial president or governor – and proceed to mistake himself for the totality of his community, his interests and values superseding those of the rest of his people. Yet, Achebe’s first novel reveals how the members of the Umuofia community – ancestors, the living, and deities – work in concert to check Okonkwo’s masculinist excesses and to hold him accountable to the community’s ethical precepts.

The question then arises: What has happened to weaken such faculties of ethical enforcement in contemporary Africa, specifically in the space called Nigeria?

Source: http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/132930-naturalizing-nigeria-a-strategy-for-fighting-corruption-by-okey-ndibe.html

Nigeria: a lesson on corruption from Indonesia

Published on May 7, 2013 by pmnews   ·   No Comments

.An Indonesian governor surrenders a guitar given to him as a gift by US rock band Metallica

Indonesia and Nigeria may not be peers on the scale of economic development, but they have a problem of endemic corruption in common.

Transparency International in its last corruption rating ranked Indonesia 118th in the world. Nigeria is a little down the ladder at 139th.

Like Nigeria, Indonesia has an anti-graft agency, battling hard to stem the epidemic. And there are some Indonesian public figures who try to stay above the mud, like the governor of Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, who just returned a gift of guitar, given to him by a US rock band, for evaluation whether he can keep it or whether the state should have it. Nigeria is yet to introduce this defining culture between graft and gift. Read the story out of Jakarta for some lesson… and your comments

“The heavy metal-loving governor of Indonesian capital Jakarta has surrendered a guitar that was a gift from US band Metallica to anti-corruption authorities, an official said Tuesday.

A beaming Joko Widodo appeared on TV last week strumming the maroon bass guitar gifted to him by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, which was autographed and bore the words “Giving Back!.. Keep Playin’ That Cool Funky Bass!”.

But the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that Widodo, widely considered clean in a notoriously graft-ridden country, had now handed the gift to them.

“We will check if there is any conflict of interest or if there was an exchange of favours,” commission spokesman Johan Budi told AFP

“The screening process takes up to 30 days, and after that we will decide whether to return the guitar to him or confiscate it.”

During the TV appearance Widodo, an anti-establishment figure who was elected in September, said he was a huge fan of Metallica, whose hits include “Enter Sandman” and “Nothing Else Matters”.

Joko Widodo: returns a guitar gift

He also listed Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Napalm Death as among his favourite bands.

His spokesman Eko Hariadi said the guitar was the first gift Widodo had received since becoming governor, he had handed it over voluntarily to be checked and there was no conflict of interest.

“The governor loves rock music. So he was certainly happy to receive it, it’s like getting a tennis racket from Boris Becker,” the spokesman told AFP, referring to the German tennis great.

“To him, it was a souvenir and there was no exchange for favours.”

Corruption remains rampant in Indonesia, particularly among public servants, and the country last year slid to 118th of 176 countries in Transparency International’s annual graft index.

Source http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/05/07/nigeria-a-lesson-on-corruption-from-indonesia/

Removal of roadblocks reduced corruption in police by 80 Per cent, says IGP

By GABRIEL EWEPU, Abuja
THE Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar yesterday said the removal of roadblocks from the nation’s highways has reduced corruption in the Nigeria Police Force in the past one year after he assumed office.

Abubakar disclosed this during an interaction session at a ‘One Day Roundtable and Dinner’ organized by a non -governmental organization, CLEEN Foundation to mark the post-one year of his being in office.

Opining on the removal of roadblocks from highways across the country, Abubakar said it has drastically reduced accidental discharges and eliminated the N20 syndrome, as well as harassment of road users.

Abubakar said: “The withdrawal of police roadblocks has reduced 80 per cent corruption in the Nigeria Police These roadblocks were centres of corruption, which dented the image of the Force. With the removal of the roadblocks, the accidental discharge, harassment and human rights abuse have reduced as well.

“Measures are put in place for the past one year have led to drastic reduction in complaints against members of the Force, especially extra-judicious killings and N20 syndrome.

“In improving police image and enforcement of fundamental human rights, there has been increased media presence through proactive response to media and public enquiry, greater synergy between police and other security agencies.”

Meanwhile, CLEEN Foundation presented awards to deserving top 10 police stations in the Nigeria who participated in the Altus Police Visitors’ Week, 2012, and whose performance were assessed and met the standards set.

The Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Mrs Keme Okeyendo said the awards has been a yearly assesment done to evaluate the poerformance of the poloice across the country. Also to challenge other police officers to do more in their service.

Source http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/removal-of-roadblocks-reduced-corruption-in-police-by-80-per-cent-says-igp/

Jonathan urges Nigerian police officers to respect human rights

President Goodluck Jonathan

The president announced FG’s intention to provide one helicopter per state command.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday urged officers of the Nigerian Police Force to be mindful of the rights of citizens while doing their job.

The President gave the charge while commissioning 275 patrol vans, seven helicopters, 17 Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC, and other equipment for the Police Force at a ceremony held at the Eagle Square in Abuja, to mark the end of the Nigerian Police Force Week, the first to be held in 37 years.

He advised police officers to have regards for human dignity and the sanctity of life in the course of their duties.

“I will also charge the Police that while doing their work to be mindful of the rights of ordinary citizens because that is very sensitive. While policing us you must know that the rights of the citizens of this country must be protected.

“In that regard respect, maximum discipline from officers and men of the Nigerian Police is required,’’ he said.

The president decried the poor maintenance of equipment by Nigerians and urged the police to ensure it maintains the equipment so as to get maximum results.

“In the issue of the equipment, one thing I will urge the Police to do is the issue of maintenance. As a nation we are not too good in maintaining what we have. Presently, that aspect is improving because my interaction with the armed forces they have set up a very formidable team that now maintain their equipments, the Police should do the same so that these equipment will last the time it is expected to last.

“Also we must emphasise the need to train. For you to remain functional in whatever you do, and especially in security services, training is very paramount. So you must train with the equipment so that our men and women in the Police Force will have confidence in themselves and they will continue to operate as gallant men and women.

“The Police must be well equipped and kitted to protect us while on land, while in water and also in the air,” he said.

Helicopter for each state in Nigeria

The President further announced that the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that each state command across the country has a helicopter.

“My commitment is that every state command must have helicopter. This is the commitment of government and that is why we set up a special fund because the idea that armed robber will take over a city and be operating for three hours and no challenge must be a thing of the past,” he said, adding that the government was determined to reposition the security sector for a more effective policing of the country.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to lend their full support to the police as the officers are noble men and women drawn from “our neighbourhood families and society; who have dedicated themselves to our protection and well being. In return all officers and men of the force must rise to the challenges that face us”.

The President condoled with the families of officers and men of the Police that lost their lives in the course of the security challenges faced by Nigeria. He assured that government will continue to remember their loved ones who had served the nation, as well as the family members.

While commissioning the equipment, the president said he expected that the equipment will “enhance Police capability in the prevention of crimes and deployment in emergency situations. They shall be instrument of justice and protection of all men and women of goodwill”.

In his welcome address, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, said the resuscitation of the Police Week signified that police was returning to the basics aimed at restoring public confidence in the police.

According to him, it also provides an opportunity for police authorities to reappraise their activities in the last one year; especially as they relate to the security challenge confronting the nation and crime fighting.

“The Police is returning to the basics and the traditional values and practices of the Force are being restored. Today, the Force leadership is giving practical meaning to its firm determination to restore the lost glory of the Force and re-enact those practices which bind the citizens to their police and elicit fond memories of the Force.

“The week provides veritable window to reappraise our achievements in an increasingly complex security and crime environment, while also identifying our peculiar challenges in the fight against crime”, Mr. Abubakar said.

He thanked President Jonathan for supporting his vision to transform the police and for rewarding “deserving officers who have displayed exceptional gallantry and professional excellence in the line of duty and those that have paid the supreme sacrifice while discharging their constitutional mandate.” Presidential awards were presented to 17 police officers at the event.

Also speaking, the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, thanked the President for supporting the police reform agenda especially the move to upgrade the Police Academy in Kano to a degree awarding institution.

As part of the ceremony, the President presented a presidential commendation awards to some officers and men who have distinguished themselves in the course of duty.

The police event caused a traffic snarl as most parts of the Abuja Central Area where the Eagle Square, venue of the event, is, was cordoned off.

Commuters complained of the difficulty in transporting themselves to their various destinations; and the loss of man power hours caused by the road blockage.

source http://premiumtimesng.com/news/131833-jonathan-urges-nigerian-police-officers-to-respect-human-rights.html

CODE OF CONDUCT AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR POLICE OFFICERS

To achieve the Mission and Visions as well as imbibe the values illustrated above, it is expedient to formulate a Code of Conduct for all Police officers employed into the Service of the Nigeria Police Force. The code will be regarded as an accountability code that will apply to all officers (irrespective of rank) and will reflect International conventions for Law Enforcement Agents, the provisions of sections 353-368 of Part XV of the Police Act (cap 359) and other relevant Force Orders as well as Public Service Rules.

The purpose of having a code of conduct is to provide all members for the Nigeria Police Force with a set of guiding principles and standards of behaviour while on or off-duty. It is intended to be used by Police officers in determining what is right and proper in all their actions. The code should set an outline which every member of the Force can easily understand. It will enable Policemen to know what type of conduct by a Police officer is right and what is wrong. The code will encompass the following:

Primary Responsibilities of a Police Officer – A police officer acts as an official representative of government who is required and trusted to work within the law. The officer’s powers and duties are conferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community, safeguarding lives  and property, protecting the innocent, keeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice;

Performance of duties as a police officer – a police officer shall perform all duties impartially, without favor of affection or ill will and without regard to status, sex, race, religion, political belief or aspiration. All citizens will be treated equally with courtesy, consideration and dignity. Officers will never allow personal feelings, animosities or friendships to influence official conduct. Laws will be enforced appropriately and courteously and in carrying out their responsibilities, officers will strive to obtain maximum cooperation from the public. They will conduct themselves both in appearance and composure, in such a manner as to inspire confidence and respect for the position of public trust they hold.

Discretion - a Police officer will use responsibly, the discretion vested in his position and exercise it within the law.

 Use of Force – a police officer will never employ unnecessary force or violence and will use only such force in discharge of duty, as is reasonable in all circumstances. The use of force should be used only after discussion, negotiation and persuasion have been found to be inappropriate or ineffective. While the use of force is occasionally unavoidable, every police officer will refrain from unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering and will never engage in cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment of any person.

Confidentiality – Whatever a police officer sees, hears or learns which is of a confidential nature, will be kept secret unless the performance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise. Members of the public have a right to security and privacy, and information obtained about them must not be improperly divulged

 Integrity – a police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will an officer condone such acts by other police officers. The public demands that the integrity of police officers be above reproach. Police officers must therefore, avoid any conduct that might compromise integrity and that undercut the confidence reposed by the public, in the Police. Officers will refuse to accept any gifts, presents, subscriptions, favours, gratuities or promises that could be interpreted as seeking to cause the officer to refrain from performing official responsibilities honestly and within the law. Police officers must not receive private or special advantage from their official status. Respect from the public cannot be bought; it can only be earned and cultivated.

Cooperation with other Police Officers and Agencies – Police officers will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice. An officer or agency may be one among many organizations that may provide law enforcement services to a jurisdiction. It is imperative that a police officer assists colleagues fully and completely with respect and consideration at all times; 

Personal Professional Capabilities - Police Officers will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level or knowledge and competence. Through study and experience, a police officer can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition of knowledge is a never ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly; 

 

Source:

http://npf.gov.ng/code-of-conduct