Please, permit me for the purpose of this write-up, to define corruption as any act of corrupting or state of being corrupt which includes moral perversion and depravity, perversion of integrity, corrupt or dishonest proceedings, bribery, debasement or false alteration, putrefactive decay and rottenness, stealing, and any corrupting influence or agency. I had to make this distinctive definition as I do not wish to be called out to debate on what constitutes stealing, and at what point it qualifies to be deemed corruption.
So how come corruption, rather than abate, has now become very sophisticated, despite all the anti-corruption drive (EFCC, ICPC and their variants)? According to Theodore Roosevelt, “a man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad”. I guess that explains the changing nature and level of sophistication in the corruption we now experience in Nigeria, as many in positions of authority now not only have university education, but are now quite exposed and have access to experts in the field of subterfuge.
Almost every Nigerian is a perpetrator of corruption- do you own a drivers license without having passed a driving test, are you guilty of not giving way to traffic on your left at a roundabout, guilty of not stopping at a zebra crossing, paying to fast-track services and you are not issued a receipt, you hug the fastest lane while not overtaking, and the list goes on and on-. If you’ve answered in the affirmative to any of the above, then you are as guilty as the next person.
One of the dictators Nigeria was unfortunate to have been plagued by was credited with the claim that ‘every Nigerian is corrupt, but just at a different price’; so if the price and prize are right, then the conscience of every Nigerian is available for sale. This is a brazen statement which has also proven to be very ‘prophetic’ indeed, and time and again, we have seen many ‘trusted’ and ‘trustworthy’ Nigerians fulfill this ‘prophesy’. Many ardent critics of the government and corruption have turned to government supporters and crooners as soon as they are invited to partake in the national cake sharing.
I often wonder how true it is that power actually corrupts, but fortunately or otherwise, I’m not in a position to validate or refute the authenticity of my thoughts since I probably haven’t wielded the type of power that corrupts. I, however, prefer to align with John Steinbeck who posits that “power does not corrupt; fear corrupts…perhaps the fear of a loss of power”. I’m not about to apportion blames, pillory the government or remind Nigerians about how corrupt we all are- as I am not a saint, neither am I in a position to take the moral high ground. I’m however interested in the factors that make most Nigerians susceptible to corruption.
In my opinion, the high incentive and ‘reward’ for corruption makes a good case for being corrupt. It is now common knowledge that the only people that get punished when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar are those that do not steal enough to bribe their way through the justice system. So rather than steal a million, people prefer to steal billions, and after bribing the justice system, they are sure to be slapped with an option of N750k fine, and left with some billions as proceeds. If you are unfortunate to be caught with a stolen goat, you may end up jailed for five years without an option of fine.
The lack of basic infrastructure also contributes to the incentive to be corrupt. Every level of comfort in Nigeria comes at a huge cost. Individuals are now their own local government- they provide their own electricity, water, security, roads and transportation. These services don’t come cheap and if one must enjoy the best of these services, it is almost certain one’s legitimate income will not be able to support the desired level of comfort.
Discrimination against the poor and worship of the ‘rich’ also make getting rich at all cost or die trying attractive. Almost everywhere one turns in Nigeria, the evidence of ill-gotten wealth is flaunted without repercussion. One is judged by the car one drives, the clothes one adorns, the area one lives, the schools the kids attend, how much tithe and offering one pays, and how many times one travels on vacation annually. The discrimination knows no bounds, and from the secular to the religious, one is not spared.
The cash based economy we run also contributes to the corruption menace. There is an obvious mismatch between income and expenditure. We pay rent annually despite the fact that salaries are earned monthly. One is expected to cough out about a year’s salary for a brand new car all at once as banks are only willing to provide lending facility at cutthroat rates. Mortgages are a no-go area as the rates are tantamount to modern day slavery.
Poor conditions of service and work infrastructure also fuel corruption. If the law enforcement officers were well remunerated, funded and provided with relevant work tools for 21st century, then the contact between them and the populace will be minimal, and hence, avenue for extortion reduced. Imagine a Nigeria where police only stop cars because they ran an electronic check on the license plate and discovered it is a stolen vehicle or the car is carrying an expired insurance or no driver’s license registered in the car owner’s name? Imagine a Nigeria where the Road Safety officers do not need to hide in drivers blind spots in order to catch them unawares to force them to a halt, but rather send tickets to registered addresses for traffic infractions? Imagine a country where customs and immigration officers won’t need to harass traveling Nigerians and rummage through their luggage searching for what isn’t lost when scanners can do the dirty job?
Forget EFCC, away with ICPC, and banish rebranding. You will only be throwing good money at a very rotten and broken project. Sort out the institutions and structures in Nigeria, and you would have sorted out corruption along with it. Let us build structures and legacies that are not our look-alikes, but yet will always remind people of us. The built institutions and structures will be the checks and balances for corruption, and people will be willing to defend those institutions.
Olugbenga A. Olufeagba
