Ben
Q: How can our leaders get away with everything? I should think the culprits are well known, both the civil service bureaucrats and the political appointees.
A: Because no authority exists to compel them to account for the monies allocated to them.
Q: Outside of crude oil revenue, do the various states raise any monies themselves, say through taxation of industries and workers?
A: Only Lagos has any taxable corporations and industries worth mentioning. The other states are less than viable; they live on allocations from the federal government. So far, they produce virtually nothing.
Q: But there is agitation for more states?
A: The administrative machinery of states and local governments consumes a huge chunk of the nation’s GDP.
Q: Why is there no authority to compel our leaders to behave, to be responsible and accountable, and to punish them when they are not? This is how it is in other countries, isn’t it? There are laws, no one is above the law, and those who break the law are punished.
A: In the 1960s and 70s it was thought that the armed forces could be such a compelling authority.
Q: Couldn’t they?
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A: The army proved a terrible disappointment. Each time they stepped in and took out the civilian rulers, there was widespread rejoicing because the people had become so completely fed up. Any change, we thought, was better than no change.
Q: Then what happened?
A: Then it turned out that the army was no better. They committed the same crimes. They mismanaged things and embezzled funds. The country kept going downhill.
Q: Surely the army couldn’t be worse than the civilians? For one thing they had discipline, they were trained to enforce order and to follow orders.
A: But they had guns. You couldn’t argue with someone who had a gun and didn’t hesitate to use it. You could criticize the civilians and they would just laugh at you and keep doing what they were doing. The soldiers would shoot at you or throw you into detention.
Q: Na wah-o! Is there no third force?
A: So far, none.
Q: Can there be?
A: I don’t know. If a right-minded leadership could emerge within the armed forces the story might be different. Because in any disagreement between the people and their rulers, victory can only go to the party backed by the army.
Q: Or if the armed forces, including the police, remain neutral?
A: That’s also possible.
Q: Where is the judiciary in all this?
A: The entire law enforcement and justice system, the police, the courts, the magistrates and judges, have not been able to stand up against the national crime of embezzlement.
Q: Are they part of the problem? Are they corrupt?
A: I don’t know. Some say they are, but so far it’s just rumor. At any rate, they have shown no backbone, no courage, no sort of independence, or not enough to make a difference.
Q: Have they said or done things that lay them open to suspicion?
A: Consider those instances when some foreign governments have investigated, prosecuted and convicted their own citizens who colluded with Nigerian government officials to embezzle Nigerian funds.
Q: Ah-haa! What did the Nigerian government and judiciary do in response?
A: Each of them turned a blind eye, played ostrich, and refused to act to punish those officials, our own citizens, who arranged and benefitted from the entire affair.
Q: Could it be that they are themselves guilty of the same crimes of embezzlement? That if they consider the evidence dug up by the foreign courts, bring the suspects to swift trial, and convict and punish the guilty, they themselves might be next?
A: That might well explain their refusal to act.
Q: So, sir, what is this Nigeria you are handing over to us the younger generation?
A: It is a Nigeria with enormous challenges. You will define those challenges as you grow and mature. The great philosopher Frantz Fanon said that every generation must discover for itself what its mission is, what main task the times call upon it to perform, and then it must either get to work and perform that task and fulfil that mission, or it can relax, fail at that task, and betray that mission. The burden of discovery and decision falls on every generation.
Q: Well, sir, what did your own generation discover to be its mission?
A: My generation grew up in the closing days of the struggle to end colonialism. Independence was won by our fathers’ generation. Then came our turn. It was our mission to carry their struggle forward, to build a Nigeria to match its potential and reputation as the most populous black nation on earth, one that is well organized and well run, industrialized and modern, using all our vast natural and human resources.
Q: And, sir, how do you think your generation has performed?
A: My generation has been an utter failure. My generation are the very embezzlers and traitors to the national cause that we’ve been discussing . . . .
