President Goodluck Jonathan’s choice for reelection campaign director,
Bello Haliru Mohammed, a former minister and once an acting head of the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party, is a confirmed bribe taker, indicted by
a German court in 2007, PREMIUM TIMES can report today.
Mr.
Mohammed, named Thursday to oversee Mr. Jonathan’s declaration and
campaign for re-election, in a potentially tense political battle likely
to pitch him against either former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, or
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Messrs. Buhari and Atiku are vying for the presidential ticket of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC.
The presidency has said Mr. Jonathan will pick his nomination form
shortly and will formally declare a long-expected candidacy for the 2015
election, at a grand event early November.
That event will be overseen by an expansive Presidential Declaration
Committee led by Mr. Mohammed, supported by a former senate president,
Ken Nnamani, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim
Pius, and the president’s political adviser, Rufa’i Alkali.
Dozens of others drawn from the PDP, the National Assembly, the
Executive Council of the Federation, and the PDP Governors’ Forum, are
also members of the team.
But Mr. Mohammed’s appointment has revived a mind-boggling bribery
case for which he and other senior officials of the Olusegun Obasanjo
administration were indicted of by a German court in 2007.
In its October 4, 2007 ruling against Siemen AG, the Munich State
Court named Mr. Mohammed as one of the recipients of 77 hefty bribes
paid by Siemen officials in three countries- Nigeria, Russia and Libya.
The indictment, published in November 2007 by the United States-based
Wall Street Journal, listed Mr. Mohammed, who at the time was the
Minister for Communications as having received millions of Euros in
bribes, alongside other Nigerian cabinet members, to allow the German
Conglomerate a piece of the Nigerian telecoms market.
In all, the company paid more than 10 million euros to Mr. Mohammed,
former telecommunications ministers, Tajudeen Olarewaju, Cornelius
Adebayo and Haruna Elewi, as well as an unnamed Senator, an unnamed
immigration officer, and the PDP, the court said.
Bello Haliru and President jonathan
Mr. Mohammed was appointed Nigerian minister of Communications in
June 2001 by President Olusegun Obasanjo, replacing Mohammed Arzika.
He was appointed at a time the government was planning to privatise
moribund state company, Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL. The
court said as minister, Mr. Mohammed received 550,000 euros in kickback
in July 2002 and another 150,000 euros in August 2003.
The court said Nigerian ministers under the Obasanjo government also received unspecified sums of money for the ruling PDP.
“According to the Munich court ruling, Edward Seidel, who headed
Siemens’ operations in Nigeria earlier this decade, helped deliver many
of the bribes to the final recipients,” the Wall Street Journal reported
at the time.
“In August (2003), according to the (Munich) court, Mr Siekaczek and
Mr Siedel funnelled a 150,000 euros bribe to Mr. (Bello) Mohammed,
following a 550,000 euros payment the year before when he was still the
Nigerian telecommunications minister,” the paper reported.
“The Munich court estimated that the roughly 12million euros bribes
in Nigeria, Russia and Libya produced at least 200 million euros in
‘unlawful economic advantages’ for Siemens,” according to the paper.
Reinhard Siekaczek, a top Siemens Manager, also coordinated the large scale illicit payment, the Munich court said.
Siemens, at the time, accepted responsibility for the misconduct of
Mr. Siekaczek and agreed to pay 210 million euros in fines to the German
government.
While Mr. Siekaczek was indicted, German prosecutors said they would
not pursue action against non-German citizens who were identified as
recipients of the bribes, leaving them to be sanctioned by their own
governments.
But for more than seven years, Mr. Mohammed, and other recipients of
the bribes, have escaped justice with two investigations by the Nigerian
authorities yielding no indictments.
The former minister has instead been rewarded with choice
appointments, serving as acting chairman of the ruling party, PDP and
later as Nigeria’s defence minister.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission, ICPC, launched an investigation following the ruling of the
German court, but punished no one despite former President Umaru
Yar’adua famously vowing that “… there will neither be sacred cows nor a
cover up for anybody found culpable of breaching the law”.
Separately, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
investigated the scandal but failed to prosecute the main culprits amid
claims the former minister admitted receiving the payments. Mr. Mohammed
was later elected the deputy chairman of PDP, before being appointed
the defence minister by President Goodluck Jonathan between 2011 and
2012.
On the website of PDP, no mention is made of the bribery scandal in Mr. Mohammed’s profile.
The party merely narrates its former chairman’s career dating before
and after he joined the Nigerian Customs Service, where he rose to the
rank of Comptroller General and retired in 1995.
After his retirement from service, he was appointed Commissioner,
Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission in 1999 from where
he became minister.
He later became National Vice Chairman of the PDP, North West Zone.
In March 2008, he became Deputy National Chairman of the Party and
Acting National Chairman in 2010.
It is unclear whether Mr. Jonathan is aware of corruption allegation
against Mr. Mohammed. But the President is not known for any vigorous
war against corruption. He famously recently said reports of corruption
in Nigeria were exaggerated.
He is also not known for firing officials indicted for corruption.
Source
Saturday 25 October 2014
Saturday 18 October 2014
Ebola Bribes and Parliamentary Diplomacy
Africa needs all the help it can get on Ebola. But, the continent
must discard with practices and tendencies that inhibit efforts to curb
the deadly virus. A piece in the October 14th edition of the Wall Street
Journal makes this perhaps even more expedient than tonnes of external
assistance.
According to the report, some body collectors in Liberia, have resorted to collecting bribes instead of corpses of Ebola victims. Families who lose loved ones to the disease and are supposed to submit the bodies to the authorities for appropriate disposal are said to be clinging to age long beliefs of conducting funeral rites which includes washing and pampering the corpses for a couple of days before interment. And to achieve this, bribes as low as $40 are offered to officials and/or intermediaries in return for death certificates certifying demise by other causes instead of Ebola. Vincent Chounse, a community outreach worker on the outskirts of Monrovia was quoted by the paper thus: “The family says the person is not an Ebola patient and they pull them away from other people. Then they say ‘we can give you a certificate from the Ministry of Health that it wasn’t Ebola. Sometimes it is $40. Sometimes it is $50. Then they offer bags to them and (the family) carry on their own thing.” Such a low indeed in the battle to stamp out a scourge stumped in the West African country where hundreds of lives have been lost to the disease. Andrew Medina-Marino, an epidemiologist was also quoted in the report describing the situation as one in which “low-level corruption has a high-impact.”
But a piece of good news has come from the diplomatic front. And it was spurred by Africa. During the week parliamentarians from some 145 countries gathered in Geneva under the aegis of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to engage on issues of mutual interest and to promote representative democracy throughout the world. The scourge of the Ebola virus did not escape the attention of the lawmakers as the African Group threw the issue up for discourse as an emergency item.
It was a moment of unanimity for the African countries participating at the conference given the fact that the dreaded disease ravages parts of the continent on a far wider and alarming scale compared to the few isolated cases other parts of the world have recorded. Notably, Guinea which is the epicentre of the current scourge was re-admitted into the 166-member body of global parliaments. However, Liberia and Sierra Leone which have been worse hit by the deadly virus will find the IPU intervention as a needed elixir in the frenetic bid to halt the marauding strides of the epidemic.
At the end of debates, the IPU adopted a resolution which basically signified a desperate call on the world to focus more energies on and invest more resources in the fight against Ebola in countries badly affected by the disease. A statement from the IPU noted that the world had dithered in its response to the catastrophic health challenge and called on countries to redouble their efforts. The resolution tasked parliaments across the world to enact legislations that can lead to improvements in the health systems and emergency response capabilities of their countries while also calling on the global pharmaceutical industry to scale up on research and development.
The IPU statement read in part: “Deploring the loss of life to Ebola and concerned by the high risk of the virus spreading globally, the resolution acknowledged that although many countries had already provided support, the international community had been slow and its response to the epidemic had been insufficient.
“The resolution appealed to States and to those already providing assistance to redouble their efforts to heighten public awareness on the disease and vigorously counter stigmatization. Effective security and health protocols were similarly required to limit the transmission and scope of the Ebola epidemic which, according to the United Nations, could become a humanitarian disaster with immeasurable consequences.
“IPU Members underscored the impact the epidemic was having on food and water supplies and on the economies of affected countries, compromising their political stability. With thousands of people having died in some of the poorest countries in the world, the resolution urged the pharmaceutical industry, research institutions and the private sector to invest in viable treatment options and affordable vaccines against Ebola.
“Longer-term solutions included parliaments enacting legislation to improve health systems and being better prepared to deal with health emergencies and the humanitarian crises which could ensue. The IPU resolution recommended plans be drawn up to help affected countries recover quickly from the negative effects of the Ebola crisis and for the international community to set up a rapid health response to cope with health crises such as this one.”
African representatives, at the IPU have done their beat by drawing further global attention to the Ebola ravages on parts of the continent. But national, municipal and local authorities must step up the game with respect to strict procedures and global best practices in containing this debilitating threat to lives, communities and the political systems some if which like Guinea’s are still fragile.
It is instructive to note that Nigeria’s delegation to the Geneva meetings led by Senate President David Mark and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha made notable inputs in arriving at the resolution. The deputy speaker who spoke to the media on the sidelines of the conference noted that delegates from Africa drew inspiration from Nigeria in pushing for the resolution on Ebola to be adopted. Indeed Nigeria’s success story in curtailing the Ebola outbreak resulting to a near banishment of the virus from the country’s shores continues to resonate globally as a ray of hope in the battle against the epidemic. In making increased and concerted efforts in checking Ebola which has so far spread into the USA, Europe and even Brazil, the world can learn from the experiences of Nigeria, a point emphasized by the country’s delegates at the IPU meeting. “And as restated by the World Health Organization (WHO) which is at the verge of certifying the country free of the virus. But Africa’s most populous nation must not rest on its oars. Danger is not completely averted yet.”
THISDAY
According to the report, some body collectors in Liberia, have resorted to collecting bribes instead of corpses of Ebola victims. Families who lose loved ones to the disease and are supposed to submit the bodies to the authorities for appropriate disposal are said to be clinging to age long beliefs of conducting funeral rites which includes washing and pampering the corpses for a couple of days before interment. And to achieve this, bribes as low as $40 are offered to officials and/or intermediaries in return for death certificates certifying demise by other causes instead of Ebola. Vincent Chounse, a community outreach worker on the outskirts of Monrovia was quoted by the paper thus: “The family says the person is not an Ebola patient and they pull them away from other people. Then they say ‘we can give you a certificate from the Ministry of Health that it wasn’t Ebola. Sometimes it is $40. Sometimes it is $50. Then they offer bags to them and (the family) carry on their own thing.” Such a low indeed in the battle to stamp out a scourge stumped in the West African country where hundreds of lives have been lost to the disease. Andrew Medina-Marino, an epidemiologist was also quoted in the report describing the situation as one in which “low-level corruption has a high-impact.”
But a piece of good news has come from the diplomatic front. And it was spurred by Africa. During the week parliamentarians from some 145 countries gathered in Geneva under the aegis of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to engage on issues of mutual interest and to promote representative democracy throughout the world. The scourge of the Ebola virus did not escape the attention of the lawmakers as the African Group threw the issue up for discourse as an emergency item.
It was a moment of unanimity for the African countries participating at the conference given the fact that the dreaded disease ravages parts of the continent on a far wider and alarming scale compared to the few isolated cases other parts of the world have recorded. Notably, Guinea which is the epicentre of the current scourge was re-admitted into the 166-member body of global parliaments. However, Liberia and Sierra Leone which have been worse hit by the deadly virus will find the IPU intervention as a needed elixir in the frenetic bid to halt the marauding strides of the epidemic.
At the end of debates, the IPU adopted a resolution which basically signified a desperate call on the world to focus more energies on and invest more resources in the fight against Ebola in countries badly affected by the disease. A statement from the IPU noted that the world had dithered in its response to the catastrophic health challenge and called on countries to redouble their efforts. The resolution tasked parliaments across the world to enact legislations that can lead to improvements in the health systems and emergency response capabilities of their countries while also calling on the global pharmaceutical industry to scale up on research and development.
The IPU statement read in part: “Deploring the loss of life to Ebola and concerned by the high risk of the virus spreading globally, the resolution acknowledged that although many countries had already provided support, the international community had been slow and its response to the epidemic had been insufficient.
“The resolution appealed to States and to those already providing assistance to redouble their efforts to heighten public awareness on the disease and vigorously counter stigmatization. Effective security and health protocols were similarly required to limit the transmission and scope of the Ebola epidemic which, according to the United Nations, could become a humanitarian disaster with immeasurable consequences.
“IPU Members underscored the impact the epidemic was having on food and water supplies and on the economies of affected countries, compromising their political stability. With thousands of people having died in some of the poorest countries in the world, the resolution urged the pharmaceutical industry, research institutions and the private sector to invest in viable treatment options and affordable vaccines against Ebola.
“Longer-term solutions included parliaments enacting legislation to improve health systems and being better prepared to deal with health emergencies and the humanitarian crises which could ensue. The IPU resolution recommended plans be drawn up to help affected countries recover quickly from the negative effects of the Ebola crisis and for the international community to set up a rapid health response to cope with health crises such as this one.”
African representatives, at the IPU have done their beat by drawing further global attention to the Ebola ravages on parts of the continent. But national, municipal and local authorities must step up the game with respect to strict procedures and global best practices in containing this debilitating threat to lives, communities and the political systems some if which like Guinea’s are still fragile.
It is instructive to note that Nigeria’s delegation to the Geneva meetings led by Senate President David Mark and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha made notable inputs in arriving at the resolution. The deputy speaker who spoke to the media on the sidelines of the conference noted that delegates from Africa drew inspiration from Nigeria in pushing for the resolution on Ebola to be adopted. Indeed Nigeria’s success story in curtailing the Ebola outbreak resulting to a near banishment of the virus from the country’s shores continues to resonate globally as a ray of hope in the battle against the epidemic. In making increased and concerted efforts in checking Ebola which has so far spread into the USA, Europe and even Brazil, the world can learn from the experiences of Nigeria, a point emphasized by the country’s delegates at the IPU meeting. “And as restated by the World Health Organization (WHO) which is at the verge of certifying the country free of the virus. But Africa’s most populous nation must not rest on its oars. Danger is not completely averted yet.”
THISDAY
Wednesday 15 October 2014
Bribery and Corruption with Impunity
By
Sam Nda-Isiaah
Last
week, the much expected rain started to fall in the chambers of the
Senate. And, to borrow Senator Sarki Tafida’s inimitable parlance of
bribe takers, this rain did not fall on every household in the Senate.
The massive bribery that started last Thursday through Friday
–
and will doubtless continue this week
–
has not been seen in the history of corruption in Nigeria. If
Transparency International (TI) with which the Nigerian president is
associated is not taking note, then it is not worth its global name.
President Obasanjo has turned Nigeria into a laughing stock among
nations. He has elevated sleaze to a new level. No one expected someone
who calls himself a leader to be associated with that level of
crookedness. It is a disgrace.
We have a megalomaniac president who has
lied to the whole world that his regime is doing its best to curtail
corruption, while at home he is sharing bribes, as much as N50 million
to every senator, in order to further commit the crime of elongating his
most inept and rotten regime. And, as has now become public knowledge,
this is only part payment of the total bribe sum of N100 million per
senator. Obasanjo is doing this at a time pensioners have not been paid
for several months and children die daily for lack of essential
medicines in government hospitals. These days, the Obasanjo presidency
does not even bother to conduct its stealing business behind closed
doors. The president disdains Nigerians so much that he thinks he can
commit any crime, even dance naked in the market square in the
afternoon, and nothing untoward would come to him. What now remains for
the president and his boys to do is start collecting receipts from those
they give bribes. I have not heard of this level of lawless leadership
Last week, the whole world knew bribes of N50 million were being offered senators at the Wuse Zone 4 branch of First Inland Bank Plc. Everybody in Abuja knew. Schoolboys and taxi drivers discussed it openly.
This is the time that the EFCC, the ICPC and the SSS should show their mettle. I am not so naïve as to suggest that they arrest the bribe givers. Or even the bribe takers. For now, they are beyond arrest. They are armed robbers still in operation and you do not arrest an armed robber when he is still pointing a gun at your temple. The time to arrest the thieves will come very soon and they shall be paraded before Nigerians and the international community like common thieves. The EFCC, ICPC and SSS must work ahead, so that when the free fall starts they will not be lumped together with the crooks.
The source of this bribe money is clear. It certainly did not come from Corporate Nigeria. Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke has been hustling to be rewarded by the president for all the not-too-straight electoral deals she did for him in 2003. She is only an opportunist that is jostling to be noticed. She does not have the capacity to generate that kind of money. It also could not have been from the proceeds of the sales of Heinekens and Gulder beer in Nigeria. Nigerians are not such gifted drunkards. Besides, Festus Odimegwu would have been long sacked and jailed by his more serious Dutch partners if he attempted that. Aliko Dangote is too much of a darn good investor to not see a bad investment. He might have invested heavily in Obasanjo in the 2003 elections. He won’t take that silly chance with third term. Dangote could not have given his money. The money came directly from the public till, that is, public funds that would have been used to better the lives of Nigerians. More people would have had better potable water and more lives would have been saved if some of it had been deployed to purchase drugs for our hospitals and even repair Nigeria’s obsolescent refineries. Instead, the funds are being used to bribe legislators to extend the tenure of a president who, we are told, has done so well that we risk collapse as a nation if we let him go. Nigerians are bemused, stupefied and outraged at the conduct of a crass leader who many wish would end up worse than Nebuchadnezzar.
I hear one of the strategies to cover their tracks would be to say that even the anti-third term senators collected their own share of the bribes in foreign currencies. But that only shows that they are short of new ideas. Nigerians shall identify the bribe takers by the way they vote on the third term issue and they will take note for future action.
Wherever General Sani Abacha is today, he must be having a good laugh at Obasanjo. And at all of us, too. Obasanjo coined the term “Abacha loot”. Nigerians have already coined their own favourite term, “the Obasanjo loot”. Compared with Obasanjo, Abacha is already looking like a candidate for sainthood. At least Abacha didn’t deceive himself and never bribed anyone to extend his stay in office. He vacated office via a cardiac coup. Nigerians are praying that Obasanjo does not get that lucky. They want him to remain alive for a very long time to come, even though he has made up his mind to die in office.
The crime that the third termers have been committing since Thursday is manifold. Apart from stealing money from the Nigerian people, they are also guilty of a grave economic malfeasance. By their act, the CBN will have to deploy all its arsenal to start managing inflation in Abuja. The little gains the apex bank has recorded in strengthening the naira against other currencies in the past few days would come to nought by the time the president is done with the NASS members. The president’s men are also guilty of suborning the National Assembly and of interfering with the sacrosanct process of law-making. These are all very serious charges.
Since Obasanjo came to power in 1999, he has destroyed everything on his path. The democracy that was handed over to him on a platter of gold by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) has been destroyed. In its place, we now have the dictatorship of one man that is worse than any military dictatorship Nigeria has ever known. He and his boys have destroyed the judiciary and now he is trying hard to do same with the National Assembly. Electric power supply is worse than he met it. Our refineries still don’t work and security of life and property is akin to a civil war situation.
And, in terms of corruption, Obasanjo has not fared badly either. The list is long: serial misappropriation of budgets, Presidential Library Project, forgery of Electoral Law, Abuja Stadium Complex, Vincent Azie’s report, misappropriation of excess crude proceeds, Transcorp, election 2003, NNPC, NNPC, and NNPC. By now, even the president’s ardent admirers must admit that Abacha has ceded place as the most corrupt leader this country has ever had.
It is dangerous to continue to have Obasanjo at the helm of the nation’s affairs. The current mindless orgy of bribery and corruption going on should frighten all of us. He is now the greatest security risk that this nation currently faces. This president must be persuaded to leave power on schedule and, if persuasion fails, he must be helped out!
Source
Last week, the whole world knew bribes of N50 million were being offered senators at the Wuse Zone 4 branch of First Inland Bank Plc. Everybody in Abuja knew. Schoolboys and taxi drivers discussed it openly.
This is the time that the EFCC, the ICPC and the SSS should show their mettle. I am not so naïve as to suggest that they arrest the bribe givers. Or even the bribe takers. For now, they are beyond arrest. They are armed robbers still in operation and you do not arrest an armed robber when he is still pointing a gun at your temple. The time to arrest the thieves will come very soon and they shall be paraded before Nigerians and the international community like common thieves. The EFCC, ICPC and SSS must work ahead, so that when the free fall starts they will not be lumped together with the crooks.
The source of this bribe money is clear. It certainly did not come from Corporate Nigeria. Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke has been hustling to be rewarded by the president for all the not-too-straight electoral deals she did for him in 2003. She is only an opportunist that is jostling to be noticed. She does not have the capacity to generate that kind of money. It also could not have been from the proceeds of the sales of Heinekens and Gulder beer in Nigeria. Nigerians are not such gifted drunkards. Besides, Festus Odimegwu would have been long sacked and jailed by his more serious Dutch partners if he attempted that. Aliko Dangote is too much of a darn good investor to not see a bad investment. He might have invested heavily in Obasanjo in the 2003 elections. He won’t take that silly chance with third term. Dangote could not have given his money. The money came directly from the public till, that is, public funds that would have been used to better the lives of Nigerians. More people would have had better potable water and more lives would have been saved if some of it had been deployed to purchase drugs for our hospitals and even repair Nigeria’s obsolescent refineries. Instead, the funds are being used to bribe legislators to extend the tenure of a president who, we are told, has done so well that we risk collapse as a nation if we let him go. Nigerians are bemused, stupefied and outraged at the conduct of a crass leader who many wish would end up worse than Nebuchadnezzar.
I hear one of the strategies to cover their tracks would be to say that even the anti-third term senators collected their own share of the bribes in foreign currencies. But that only shows that they are short of new ideas. Nigerians shall identify the bribe takers by the way they vote on the third term issue and they will take note for future action.
Wherever General Sani Abacha is today, he must be having a good laugh at Obasanjo. And at all of us, too. Obasanjo coined the term “Abacha loot”. Nigerians have already coined their own favourite term, “the Obasanjo loot”. Compared with Obasanjo, Abacha is already looking like a candidate for sainthood. At least Abacha didn’t deceive himself and never bribed anyone to extend his stay in office. He vacated office via a cardiac coup. Nigerians are praying that Obasanjo does not get that lucky. They want him to remain alive for a very long time to come, even though he has made up his mind to die in office.
The crime that the third termers have been committing since Thursday is manifold. Apart from stealing money from the Nigerian people, they are also guilty of a grave economic malfeasance. By their act, the CBN will have to deploy all its arsenal to start managing inflation in Abuja. The little gains the apex bank has recorded in strengthening the naira against other currencies in the past few days would come to nought by the time the president is done with the NASS members. The president’s men are also guilty of suborning the National Assembly and of interfering with the sacrosanct process of law-making. These are all very serious charges.
Since Obasanjo came to power in 1999, he has destroyed everything on his path. The democracy that was handed over to him on a platter of gold by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) has been destroyed. In its place, we now have the dictatorship of one man that is worse than any military dictatorship Nigeria has ever known. He and his boys have destroyed the judiciary and now he is trying hard to do same with the National Assembly. Electric power supply is worse than he met it. Our refineries still don’t work and security of life and property is akin to a civil war situation.
And, in terms of corruption, Obasanjo has not fared badly either. The list is long: serial misappropriation of budgets, Presidential Library Project, forgery of Electoral Law, Abuja Stadium Complex, Vincent Azie’s report, misappropriation of excess crude proceeds, Transcorp, election 2003, NNPC, NNPC, and NNPC. By now, even the president’s ardent admirers must admit that Abacha has ceded place as the most corrupt leader this country has ever had.
It is dangerous to continue to have Obasanjo at the helm of the nation’s affairs. The current mindless orgy of bribery and corruption going on should frighten all of us. He is now the greatest security risk that this nation currently faces. This president must be persuaded to leave power on schedule and, if persuasion fails, he must be helped out!
Source
Corruption Eradication in Nigeria: An Appraisal
Introduction
Some of the things that cause poverty in Nigeria are the Nigerian ruling and business elite. The ruling elite lack the kind of philosophical and ideological vision and orientation that is committed to developing "a dream society." They have no dream beyond the satisfaction of desires. This paper examines the nature of corruption in Nigeria.Definition
Corruption is a social problem that has interested many scholars. Ruzindana (1999) asserts that corruption in Africa is a problem of routine deviation from established standards and norms by public officials and parties with whom they interact. He also identifisd the types of corruption in Africa as bribery, private gain, and other benefits to non-existent workers and pensioners (called ghost workers). The dishonest and illegal behavior exhibited especially by people in authority for their personal gain is corruption. According to the ICPC Act (section 2), corruption includes vices like bribery, fraud, and other related offences. Corruption is the abuse or misuse of power or position of trust for personal or group benefit (monetary or otherwise).Corruption is a symptom of numerous difficulties within contemporary societies. It usually involves more than one party. It takes a form of an organized crime. At times, an organization can be established on corruption to beget corruption. Gbenga (2008) asserts that corruption is contagious. According to thfe perception index of Transparency International, Nigeria was ranked 144th out of the 146 countries, beating Bangladesh and Haiti to last position. An analysis of the anti-graft/anti-corruption laws in Nigeria shows that corruption will continue in spite of the laws because the perpetrators do not fear any consequences. It is now dawning on the Nigerian public that the so-called private enterprise and legislators are free from scrutiny, and governors claim to be immune. Corruption is found in the award of contracts, promotion of staff, dispensation of justice, and misuse of public offices, positions, and privileges, embezzlement of public funds, public books, publications, documents, valuable security, and accounts. Corruption can be systematic in nature and affect the whole life of an organization or society.
Corruption in Nigeria
John Locke outlined the doctrine of the separation of powers, indicating the danger of oppressive and arbitrary rule when all functions of government are exercised by a single person or institution. The growing corruption in Nigeria can be traced to people holding power at the federal, state, and local government levels. Corruption does not involve just people in government, but also to people in both private and public positions and even traditional rulers .President Olusegun Obasanjo presented a bill to the national assembly on “the prohibition and punishment of bribery, corruption, and other related offences bill of 1999”. Obasanjo's regime has certainly fired the most critical shot at corruption in Nigeria in recent times. At the federal level, it cannot be business as usual in Nigeria. Corruption has also spread to both the state and local government levels, as well as some decentralized centers of power and authority.
Thomson (2004) reports on the then National Electric Power Authority (NEPA):
There were powerful views on the problems of corruption. ... You need
tip them to get them to rectify a problem, said one, while some
people in the focus group thought transformer were being vandalized by
NEPA officials to warrant either replacement or repair of the
transformer.
Within
the educational sector in Nigeria, especially from secondary to
university levels, corruption is very pervasive, and most of which is
not in the public eye. Corruption in education includes: Corrupt Practices by Parents of Students
Parents are known to have used unorthodox means to influence their children's or wards' admission to federal government secondary schools, commonly referred to as unity schools. A high JAMB score is critical for admission in to the university in Nigeria, and this has led to cheating by some students and parents. There are expensive coaching centers that charge exorbitant fees to guarantee a minimum score of 300 in the JAMB score, which is been orchestrated by coaching centers through aiding and abetting cheating in the JAMB examination with the connivance of JAMB officials.Corrupt Practices by Lecturers
Within the university system, some students resort to "sorting" (finding ways of purchasing of high and unmerited mark from a lecturer in order to enhance the grade in their final examination.) Such students will then say they have gone into the university and having what they not work for. Lecturers and students print fake receipts, which they use in collecting school fees, and some unsuspecting students are usually discovered by the audit department.Corrupt Practice by Police
It has been alleged that some unscruplous officers rent firearms to criminals who use them to harass the public and engage in highway robberies. The police are also alleged to be collecting an unauthorized fee before granting bail to anyone who is arrested. Some police in traffic control collect a graduated illegal charge on all operators of inter- and intra-city. Some tax officials are alleged to be using two types of receipts to collect revenue. Once receipt is the original, and hence genuine, while the second is usually a false one for the collector.s private use, thus depriving government of its legitimate revenue (Bello Iman 2005)Causes of Corruption in Nigeria
With unchecked, unbridled, and uncontrolled, power, humans become corrupt. According to Thomas Hobbes, “life becomes solitary, nasty, brutish, and short." Our previous colonial background has been identified by scholars. Our colonial heritage has altered our values and perception of morality; some of the causes of corruption are:- Trade Restriction. This is Government-induced source of rent a seeking/corruption. The restriction on importation of foreign automobiles are examples of how government officials and politicians can make quick money via rent seeking/corruption.
- Government subsidies. When government allocates scarce recourses to individuals and firms using legal criteria other than the ability or willingness to pay, corruption is likely to be the result. Corruption can thrive under industrial policies that allow poorly-targeted subsidies to be appropriated by firms for which they are not intended.
- Price controls. The purpose is to lower the price of some goods below market value. For social and political reason, these are also a source of corruption.
- Low wages in civil service. When public wages are low, public servants may be compelled to use their official positions to collect bribes as a way of making ends meet, particularly when the chances of being caught are low.
- Sociological factors. Muilti-ethnic societies may be more likely to fall prey to corruption as a result of failure to manage ethnic conflict in a way that is fair to everyone.
Effect of Corruption on Nation-Building
Many have noted the effects of corruption on nation-building. Development scholars observe this effect. Corruption has an adverse effect on social and economic development and also in building a nation. The effects include:- Diversion of development resources for private gain
- Misallocation of talent
- Lost tax revenue
- Negative impact on quality of infrastructure and public services
- Slowing of economic growth.
Role of Law Enforcement in Combating Corruption
Before President Olusegun Obasanjo's regime, the police and some related agencies were the only ones fighting corruption. When Obasanjo became president in 1999, the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences (ICPC) were put in place, they have dealt seriously with the pandemic situation. The EFCC and ICPC have a number of roles in fighting corruption in Nigeria. The ICPC is not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority. The EFCC collaborates with international and local agencies.Solutions
In order to prevent corruption from happening at all, Nigerian should emphasis transparency, integrity, and accountability in all their private and public transaction. There Achanism Model is named for Achan who appears in the Old Testament of the Bible. Achan in the scripture was avaricious (Joshua 7). He was caught and his entire family was severely dealt with. His children, who might have expected to inherit the proceeds of his illegal act were not allowed to do so. The solution is as follows:- Social Transformation. Rransformation in education of the public is a necessary factor in social transformation. There is need for formation and reformation, orientation and re-orientation of the minds and heart of Nigerians, for them to see that corruption is the enemy of development.
- Enforcement of Anti-Corruption Law. The law should be enforced to its fullest and without fear and favor.
- Improvement of Sociopolitical and Economic Life. This is another weapon against corruption in Nigeria. The multiplying effects of this improvement will reduce the tendency of public servants to demand and take bribes and get involved in other corrupt practices.
Conclusion
Corruption in Nigeria is systematic, and to address the problem a systematic approach is needed. To curb and eventually eradicate corruption, children, youth, and adults must be given the power to distinguish right from wrong. All schools should return to the teaching of moral education to empower children with the spirit of stewardship, while adults live exemplary lives, reflecting truth, kindness, dignity of labour, and integrity. Permit me to conclude with this popular Yoruba moral song on corruption.1. Kini ni no fole se laye timo wa (2x)
Laye ti mo wa kaka kin jale
Kaka kin jale makuku deru.
Kini ni no fole se laye timo wa.
2. Eni to jale adele ejo (2x)
Adajo awa fewon si lese
Fewon si lese bi olugbe
Eni to jale Adele ejo
3. Aye ema fole segbe ti moni (2x)
Egbe ti moni ewon ko sun won
Ewon ko sun won fomoluwabi
Aye ema fole segbe ti mo ni.
4. Oluwa ma fole segbe ti mo ni (2x)
Egbe ti mo ni kaka kin jale
Kaka kojale bo ba ku to
Aye ema fole s’gbe ti mo ni.
5. Beni to jaleba Lola laye(2x)
Balola laye kole rorun wo
Kole rorun wo bolojo bade
Beni to jale Balola laye.
The condition of peace of mind is contentment. Thirst for ease of mind. Get satisfaction, be placed with what you have changed to grow, and serve our nation, for God’s sake. Look to see the miseries and damages of graft. Listen today to learn and beautify your society
References
I.B. Bello-Imam (2005).The war against corruption in Nigeria: Prospects and problems.The Guardian Newspaper. "EFCC; ICPC, record average performance, says poll. April 7 page 13
Olusegun Obasanjo (1990). Inaugural Address, "Was a new dawn delivered on May 29."
Hassan A. Saliu, Ayodele, et al. (2006). The National Question and Some Selected Topics and Issues in Nigeria.
Lai Olurode, et al. Poverty, corruption, social policy and social development.
Haralambous and Horbon (2004). Themes and Perspectives in Sociology. 6th Ed.
Dissertations
Dr (Mrs.); E.A Ogunsanya; (2006). A paper presented on social implication of graft in Nigeria polity Christian, Muslim, and traditional belief (practical orientation)Isaac A. Olomolaiye ;( 2006). Application of anti-graft act to the private sector: Implication for management and ethics.
Ajayi, Vincent (2006). Sociology of bribery and corruption in Nigerian society
Source
Tuesday 14 October 2014
Seized $15m: Niger Delta activist hails South Africa, tells Jonathan to stop defending corruption
Niger Delta youth leader, Comrade Timi Frank, has thanked Jacob Zuma,
President of South Africa and his Government for the recent seizure of
$9.3 million and $5.7 million that was allegedly illegally moved to his
country by the Federal Government of Nigeria supposedly for the purchase
of arms and ammunition.
In a statement made available to DailyPost on Monday, Frank thanked to Mr. Zuma “for a job well done in helping to checkmate this apparent act of corruption through questionable transactions emanating from Nigeria at this time”.
He expressed hope that the United States, Britain, France, China, Japan, Dubai and other African Governments would emulate South Africa in helping to curb corruption in Nigeria especially by intercepting all questionable transactions and proceeds of corruption from Nigeria.
The letter reads further: “We are not unmindful about the fusillade of criticisms that have trailed this patriotic action of yours to have impounded the money until satisfactory explanations are tendered by the Nigerian Government who have claimed ownership of the money. But we want to urge you not to relent in your efforts to help fight corruption in Nigeria despite the scathing criticisms, name calling and fierce intimidation.
“We also want to use this medium to tell the Nigerian Government to stop defending the indefensible. They should own up to reality now that the cat is out of the bag and devise means to remedy the image of the country that has taken undue bashing as a result of this diplomatic fiasco.
“We believe that it is more beneficial to use the time and efforts now being deployed by Nigerian government officials in blaming the South African authorities to identify and bring those responsible for this corrupt and embarrassing act to justice.
“We hold that the South African authorities have not done anything wrong as they are only being strict against corruption in and outside their national boundaries, that is why we are calling on other nations to emulate South Africa.”
The activist called on President Goodluck Jonathan and his government to be fair to Nigerians, noting that “Mr. President is not unaware that corruption is the order of the day in his government today and that urgent and drastic measures are needed to curtail the corruption in Nigeria. Let’s stop with the conspiracy theories, let’s stop defending corruption”.
According to him, recent events showed that the South African Government did not condone or defend corruption like the Nigerian Government.
Continuing, Frank noted that “Today, South Africa agencies are investigating their own president; a similar action in Nigeria would be regarded as anathema.”
“Nigerians know the truth about what is happening. We should stop hiding under insurgency to loot public funds that ought to be channeled to developmental purposes, instead let’s thank the South African Government. Let’s cut our penchant for diverting public funds.
“These kind of illegal transactions have been going on unknown to Nigerians. But for this South African episode, Nigerians would not have known what this administration is doing with tax payer’s money”, the youth leader concluded.
Source
In a statement made available to DailyPost on Monday, Frank thanked to Mr. Zuma “for a job well done in helping to checkmate this apparent act of corruption through questionable transactions emanating from Nigeria at this time”.
He expressed hope that the United States, Britain, France, China, Japan, Dubai and other African Governments would emulate South Africa in helping to curb corruption in Nigeria especially by intercepting all questionable transactions and proceeds of corruption from Nigeria.
The letter reads further: “We are not unmindful about the fusillade of criticisms that have trailed this patriotic action of yours to have impounded the money until satisfactory explanations are tendered by the Nigerian Government who have claimed ownership of the money. But we want to urge you not to relent in your efforts to help fight corruption in Nigeria despite the scathing criticisms, name calling and fierce intimidation.
“We also want to use this medium to tell the Nigerian Government to stop defending the indefensible. They should own up to reality now that the cat is out of the bag and devise means to remedy the image of the country that has taken undue bashing as a result of this diplomatic fiasco.
“We believe that it is more beneficial to use the time and efforts now being deployed by Nigerian government officials in blaming the South African authorities to identify and bring those responsible for this corrupt and embarrassing act to justice.
“We hold that the South African authorities have not done anything wrong as they are only being strict against corruption in and outside their national boundaries, that is why we are calling on other nations to emulate South Africa.”
The activist called on President Goodluck Jonathan and his government to be fair to Nigerians, noting that “Mr. President is not unaware that corruption is the order of the day in his government today and that urgent and drastic measures are needed to curtail the corruption in Nigeria. Let’s stop with the conspiracy theories, let’s stop defending corruption”.
According to him, recent events showed that the South African Government did not condone or defend corruption like the Nigerian Government.
Continuing, Frank noted that “Today, South Africa agencies are investigating their own president; a similar action in Nigeria would be regarded as anathema.”
“Nigerians know the truth about what is happening. We should stop hiding under insurgency to loot public funds that ought to be channeled to developmental purposes, instead let’s thank the South African Government. Let’s cut our penchant for diverting public funds.
“These kind of illegal transactions have been going on unknown to Nigerians. But for this South African episode, Nigerians would not have known what this administration is doing with tax payer’s money”, the youth leader concluded.
Source
Monday 13 October 2014
Nigerian billionaire, Dangote, sues Zambian minister over bribe claim
DANGOTE Industries Zambia is suing the country’s Labour Minister,
Fackson Shamenda, for defamation after he claimed that a senior company
official tried to bribe him, court documents showed Monday.
The subsidiary of Nigeria's Dangote Group - owned by Aliko Dangote, who is ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest man in Africa - is claiming unspecified damages for slander and libel as well as special damages in the sum of 112,042.84 kwacha ($17,728), according to documents filed in the High Court.
On September 15, the Post Newspaper carried a story under the headline "Dangote offers Shamenda a bribe" in which the minister claimed that a Nigerian human resources manager from the company offered him a bribe which he rejected.
"He told me that it was a tradition in their culture to give someone a token of appreciation," Shamenda was quoted as saying.
"May I take this opportunity to warn Dangote and all other investors in the country to avoid enticing government officials with bribes - it hinders progress."
Dangote Industries is setting up a multi-million dollar cement plant in Ndola, about 360 kilometres north of the capital, Lusaka.
Source
The subsidiary of Nigeria's Dangote Group - owned by Aliko Dangote, who is ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest man in Africa - is claiming unspecified damages for slander and libel as well as special damages in the sum of 112,042.84 kwacha ($17,728), according to documents filed in the High Court.
On September 15, the Post Newspaper carried a story under the headline "Dangote offers Shamenda a bribe" in which the minister claimed that a Nigerian human resources manager from the company offered him a bribe which he rejected.
"He told me that it was a tradition in their culture to give someone a token of appreciation," Shamenda was quoted as saying.
"May I take this opportunity to warn Dangote and all other investors in the country to avoid enticing government officials with bribes - it hinders progress."
Dangote Industries is setting up a multi-million dollar cement plant in Ndola, about 360 kilometres north of the capital, Lusaka.
Source
Friday 10 October 2014
N4,000 NYSC call-up extortion
SIR: I READ with consternation the news in The Guardian (Saturday,
September 20, 2014) that the National Youth Service Commission (NYSC)
intends to charge Corps members Four thousand Naira to print their Call
Up letters on line. Chief Gordon Bozimo, the Chairman of the NYSC tried
to justify the payment, saying it would “improve efficiency and reduce
the risk associated with the collection of call up letters” He was
quoted to have added that ‘N4,000 is a little compared to what parents
spend now’. Will someone tell me since when it has become the
responsibility of the end user to pay for the efficiency of a government
office? The insensitivity of people in government knows no bounds. Have
we no shame anymore, and no sense of propriety? The Federal Road
Safety Commission came up with its own scam sometime ago and fleeced
motorists of a large chunk of money for driver’s License and plate
numbers. Are Nigerians better off since then? Someone somewhere smiled
to the bank. The NYSC is about to do the same. One state government
tried a copy cat but public outcry made them to shelve it. The
Immigration department did its own version sometime ago with its
attendant loss of lives. Despite all the protestations, nothing came out
of it.
Already some schools, with their minimal resources post their examination results and admissions online for students. Why is a government agency unable to budget and do its work within budget without resorting to underhand tactics?
Why do people in government behave like an army of occupation and show so much disdain for their own people? Is it not the responsibility of government to make life easy for the governed? Why then does the government not make the National Service optional and let us see how many of our children will come forward to endure the indignity to which they are subjected? Have our leaders forgotten the reason why the National Youth Service scheme was instituted? Why does government needlessly make life hard for the average Nigerian?
On the average, 300,000 persons go for National Service. This Call Up letter Business will fetch the NYSC at least N1.2b. What do they want to do with all this money? What does it take to get the names of candidates onto the Internet and let each person with access print at convenience? Someone should tell those behind this project that using the internet is no longer rocket science. All other security protocols can be put in place without costing a leg and an arm.
Clearly this is another case of unconscionable exploitation of the masses, or is it also part of the ingenuity of politicians to raise money for the 2015 election?
It is heartless for NYSC to dream up this scheme.
Nigerians should Wake up, Speak up and say No to Exploitation.
• Bolaji D’Almeida,
Lagos
Source
Already some schools, with their minimal resources post their examination results and admissions online for students. Why is a government agency unable to budget and do its work within budget without resorting to underhand tactics?
Why do people in government behave like an army of occupation and show so much disdain for their own people? Is it not the responsibility of government to make life easy for the governed? Why then does the government not make the National Service optional and let us see how many of our children will come forward to endure the indignity to which they are subjected? Have our leaders forgotten the reason why the National Youth Service scheme was instituted? Why does government needlessly make life hard for the average Nigerian?
On the average, 300,000 persons go for National Service. This Call Up letter Business will fetch the NYSC at least N1.2b. What do they want to do with all this money? What does it take to get the names of candidates onto the Internet and let each person with access print at convenience? Someone should tell those behind this project that using the internet is no longer rocket science. All other security protocols can be put in place without costing a leg and an arm.
Clearly this is another case of unconscionable exploitation of the masses, or is it also part of the ingenuity of politicians to raise money for the 2015 election?
It is heartless for NYSC to dream up this scheme.
Nigerians should Wake up, Speak up and say No to Exploitation.
• Bolaji D’Almeida,
Lagos
Source
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