Q: It was then Cora learned that Mrs. E was herself Ebidomo Boyloaf Agro-Edibles and that the other bosses had an “interest” in the other vendors that were used. Bolatito and Selina supplied receipts to retire the N1m and at the end of the day, N200k came to Cora. She justified keeping this money to herself since everyone was doing it and it seemed the only way to get by
Ms. Cora Liam joined a parastatal of a Federal Ministry in Abuja, March 2014. She wrote her application letter in the office of the Director-General in April 2014, which was backdated to March 2014. Her aunt is Chairperson of the board of the parastatal and a close friend of the DG. On her second week as an officer, a colleague, Bolatito, invited her out to lunch and decided It was her responsibility to show Cora “the lay of the land.” At lunch she explained to her who-is-who in the department, how they relate with each other, who is on good terms with whom all the way down to from whom to buy lunch and who is selling what within the department. She also explained to her how the department works and which suppliers she was never to “mess with”.
Cora was given her first task a week later; the director had chosen her to retire the department’s float of N50k. No receipts were given but she had to retire the sum and Cora was left wondering how. She summoned up the courage and confronted her director about her predicament and Mr. Salihu merely told her to “sort it out!”Bolatito, her self-appointed “guardian” calmed her down and presented her with a “template.” She was told, “simply change the dates and re-arrange the items” and proceeded to “assist her” with a stock of blank receipts from different suppliers. At this point, the initial lunch date with Bolatito started to make sense to Cora.
Three months down the line and Cora was yet to receive her first salary or any other payment from the government and she was beginning to fret about her personal finances. She complained to her “guardian” who smiled and reassured her with the words, “leave it to me.” Behind the scenes Bolatito spoke to Mr. Salihu and before long, Cora was placed in a Committee responsible for hosting a major event in Lagos. The Assistant Director (AD), Mrs. Ezenwanyin summoned Cora to a meeting to discuss catering arrangements for the event. She started by asking Cora how well she was “settling down” and whether or not she had managed to make any friends in the department. Cora very enthusiastically described her emerging friendship with Bolatito at which point Mrs. Ezenwanyin appeared “visibly satisfied with her progress.” The AD confidently asked if Bolatito had mentioned the Civil Service rules, financial guidelines and “how things are done around here.” She promised that Cora would soon receive copies of these vital documents.
The AD concluded the meeting by warning Cora that not all suppliers were reliable; only a few tried and tested ones ever deliver good value. She directed Cora to ensure Ebidomo Boyloaf Agro-Edible Enterprises Ltd. provided the catering for the event as they are a tried and tested supplier. Cora wondered what all that was about. A few minutes later, Cora received an alert from the bank, N5m had just been lodged into her personal account. As though right on cue, the Director Finance & Admin came by her desk to confirm the payment as “logistics” for the forthcoming event.
The DG was off on an overnight trip to Port-Harcourt, and having heard through the grapevine that Cora was complaining about not being paid, as a “favour” he included her in his entourage for the courtesy visit. Notice of the trip and N120k for flight and logistics reached her just as she was packing up to leave the office at 3pm and the trip was the next day. The next morning, Bolatito dragged Cora onto the very first ABC bus leaving for PH and they spent the night at one of Cora’s friends, whom she had served with. On their return, Cora was introduced to Selina in accounts (whom she is told “normally helps” with such things) and for the price of a meal ordered from a nearby Bukka, N120k was retired. As a lawyer in the unit, she had neither received her dressing allowance nor any other entitlement and the government “owed it to her not to bankrupt her just because she took a public service job.”
Cora settled some of her mounting debts and bought a nice skirt suit from one of the directors in the other department who trades on the side. She also managed to bring back some smoked fish for Mrs. ‘E’ as she now called Ezenwanyi, Mr. ‘S’ her director and the DG. Cora decided to pay Bolatito a visit at home to thank her for all her help. She was shocked to find a 2017 Land Rover Sports parked outside her flat in a highbrow end of town. The event came and went. All payments were made in cash by withdrawals made from Cora’s account as directed by her superiors and she was intrigued that all suppliers told her amounts they had been told to fill in the receipts. At the end, the un-receipted funds stood at some N1m. In a pang of conscience Cora tried to refund the balance and her colleagues came down on her like a ton of bricks! It was up to Bolatito again to explain, “how such things are handled” in the service. It was then Cora learned that Mrs. E was herself Ebidomo Boyloaf Agro-Edibles and that the other bosses had an “interest” in the other vendors that were used. Bolatito and Selina supplied receipts to retire the N1m and at the end of the day, N200k came to Cora. She justified keeping this money to herself since everyone was doing it and it seemed the only way to get by.
That very day after signing off on the retirements, she received an alert that her N35k/month after tax salary for the last 3 months (officially) since she started work, (N105k in all) had now also been credited to her and thus began the career of Ms. Cora Liam in the Federal Civil Service. This is an obviously fictitious account of the encounters of a non-existent graduate joining an imaginary Federal Parastatal. Are the corruption schemes described in this account also fake? Tell me.
Soji Apampa
Olusoji Apampa is the CEO of The Convention on Business Integrity. Twitter: @sojapa E-mail: aviga@cbinigeria.com
