Ben
Q: Tell me more, sir.
A: Any country that permits serious crimes to go unpunished is doomed.
Q: You’re not still talking about minor traffic violations, are you?
A: No, I’m talking about serious crimes.
Q: Like what, sir?
A: At the heart of Nigeria’s problem is the fact that serious crimes go unpunished.
Q: But we have less murder than the U.S., or even Europe.
A: Murder is a very serious crime. But there are others. Embezzlement of public funds is a very serious crime.
Q: What is embezzlement exactly?
A: Embezzlement is the stealing of monies under your control that don’t belong to you, in this case the conversion of public funds to personal use, with the consequent neglect of the responsibilities for which the funds were intended.
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Q: Such as?
A: Public funds intended for such things as teachers’ salaries; upkeep of public elementary and secondary schools, universities, polytechnics and schools of education; upkeep of public hospitals and clinics, salaries of doctors, nurses and other health workers; provision of steady electricity, safe drinking water, smooth roads, and enough roads to match the volume of traffic.
Q: Wo-ohh! Can government alone provide all this?
A: In fact government should not undertake to provide all of this. But what government must do is set up and monitor a system that permits private entrepreneurs to provide some of these services at reasonable prices and steady profit.
Q: Is that what is meant by an enabling legislation?
A: Exactly. Set the stage, remove bureaucratic obstacles and red tape, set taxes low enough. Do not change the laws on entrepreneurs every two to four years so they are constantly dribbled by each new minister or federal administration. But watch them carefully to see that they follow the rules and do not bamboozle the public.
Q: Isn’t that the practice at present?
A: Just the opposite. First of all, government that is, the senior civil servants, working in concert with the ministers and other political appointees see to it that no private entrepreneur is allowed to come in and provide any of these services. They place insurmountable obstacles in his way, and frustrate him until he gives up.
Q: But why?
A: Because every year these public officers, operating in the name of government, set aside billions of naira for provision of electricity and water, reconstruction of highways, revival of the railways, etc. The year ends and none of these tasks have been accomplished or even begun, yet the billions set aside are gone.
Q: Where does the money go?
A: The money is embezzled, shared by the public officers involved. The following year the same thing happens. And the next year. And the year after that, until that administration goes out in four to eight years.
Q: Then a new government comes to power . . .
A: Yes, new ministers and political appointees, but the same senior civil servants to tutor them and cover their tracks and the process is repeated.
Q: So they don’t want competition from private entrepreneurs?
A: If private entrepreneurs are allowed to succeed, the public officials can no longer set aside and embezzle billions of public funds each year under pretext of providing these services.
Q: Are the embezzlers never caught?
A: Sometimes they are that is, the ministers and political appointees, but never the civil servants.
Q: What happens to them?
A: Nothing. The news makes headlines for a few weeks, then silence.
Q: Are you saying there is no punishment for embezzling money?
A: None so far.
Q: So, what is the state of those services?
A: Except for tiny exceptions, all around the country there is no safe drinking water, no steady electricity. Hospitals and clinics are ill equipped. The roads are in a permanent state of disrepair. When a state governor repairs the roads in his state, or constructs new ones, there are huge celebrations of this very unusual achievement. Interestingly, he leaves untouched the so-called federal roads running through his state, saying they are none of his responsibility.
Q: But he travels on them in their broken-up condition?
A: He does, and so does the entire population of the state.
Q: Isn’t the governor embarrassed at the state of those roads, especially in contrast to the ones he has reconstructed?
A: Apparently not.
Q: And what happens to teachers and schools when their funds don’t reach them?
A: Teachers, doctors and nurses are owed salaries for months. Pensioners are owed pensions for years. The schools are dilapidated. Even the great federal government schools are in such bad shape that none but the poor send their children there anymore. The rich send their children to private schools or abroad.
Q: So what is the penalty for failing to use the money for the intended purpose?
A: None whatsoever. On the contrary, the reward is usually success at the next election, or appointment to another juicy public post.
Q: So our leaders get away with everything?
A: We the followers are guilty of the crimes of stupidity for failing to stop them from committing the crime, and cowardice for failing to punish them when they do.
