Buhari: Contours of a revolution

The result of almost every study on corruption has pronounced our country guilty. Nowadays, our political, religious and business leaders, our institutions and almost all Nigerians are deemed guilty of corruption until they prove otherwise. For too long, our elite have used knowledge, special skills and political power at their disposal to oppress us and […]

The result of almost every study on corruption has pronounced our country guilty. Nowadays, our political, religious and business leaders, our institutions and almost all Nigerians are deemed guilty of corruption until they prove otherwise. For too long, our elite have used knowledge, special skills and political power at their disposal to oppress us and corner all the good things of life for themselves. We have about the most arrogant, selfish and merciless elite anywhere in the world. In return for our timidity and disunity which hold us back from a cathartic united action, our elite take us for granted, they continue to lord it over us while basking in self adulation. Any wonder, the world regards all of us as corrupt; General Colin Powell calls us “marvellous scammers.”
Corruption has so permeated our national life that our elite are no longer ashamed of being called corrupt; what they rather fear is being jailed for their corrupt acts. Going to jail will deny them unfettered access to their exotic bars, their glamorous cars and private jets, their women, their mansions, lavish publicity and other luxuries powered by ill gotten wealth. Whenever they are fingered out for this corruption, the elite will cry witch-hunt, persecution and humiliation.
Nevertheless, there is a growing national consensus that all manifestations of corruption have to be fought. By seeking to break the “vicious circle of corruption, insecurity and unemployment” which has held our country down, to the consternation of our admirers and foes alike, President Muhammadu Buhari is starting a revolution.  Buhari’s revolution or rebellion against a culture seen as an acceptable way of life in Nigeria is a courageous thing.
To demonstrate that he means business in the fight against corruption, the President has named a committee to advise him on how to deal with it. The committee of seven has about five Professors and will be chaired by Itse Sagay, a Professor of Law and a civil rights activist. Other members of the committee are: Professor of Criminology, Femi Odekunle of Ahmadu Bello University; Professor of Sociology, E. Alemika of the University of Jos; Professor of Criminology, Sadiq Radda of the Bayero University Kano; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, who will serve as Secretary; as well as Dr Benedicta Daudu, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Jos and Hadiza Bala Usman.
The committee’s brief is to advise the incumbent administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. The Professor Sagay committee is also expected to develop comprehensive interventions for achieving recommended reforms.
By now, members of the committee will have known that tackling corruption and corrupt elements is one of the cornerstones of Buhari’s Presidential campaign. The breakdown of their mandate may therefore entail a scientific analysis of why corruption has got such a fertile ground in our country and what can be done to uproot it. More importantly, this anti-corruption committee must recommend simple but effective ways to help Buhari connect with the people at the grassroots in order to obtain their buy in and empower them to fight the menace on a sustainable basis. In order words, the Sagay committee must help the country entrench a culture of fierce opposition to corruption long after Buhari and APC may have left the stage. All manner of people will have to be mobilised to give thumbs down to corruption and corrupt elements among us. If those caught engaging in corruption are severely punished, chances are those warming up to copy them will have been deterred. In their proposed criminal justice reform, the committee may also recommend even stiffer penalties for corrupt Judges in order to underscore Buhari’s zero tolerance for this pervasive problem. We must also enthrone and popularise a custom of corruption watch and whistle blowing
However, the utterances of a member of the National Peace Committee a few days ago have stunned Nigerians. I have tremendous respect for Father Matthew Hassan Kukah; he is a man of peace and a great scholar. His interventions in our national life, including his mediation in the Niger Delta, brought salutary effects on the burning issue of militancy.  Kukah was in order to say that the Peace Committee would insist that due process was observed in prosecuting those that might be charged with corruption. But for Kukah to say that “if Buhari insists on his probes, who is to say he won’t be the victim of a probe himself when he leaves office?”, amounts to intimidating the president and an unwelcome attempt to arm-twist Buhari into abandoning the war against corruption. Is Buhari’s trumpeted anti-corruption drive all about staving off the investigation of his government and the saving of his skin after he leaves office? Is that fear sufficient enough to deter him from doing his duty to our country?
Kukah also advised Buhari thus: “President Buhari has to start governing and leave his anti-graft war on the back burner.” Who says? Here, Kukah rather sounded like Olisa Metuh, or a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) strategist. It is in bad taste and ungodly to ask Buhari to put the fight against corruption on the back burner, for what reason? Rather than doing so, corrupt elements and their lobbyists should expect the President to put the fight against corruption on the hottest front burner, is that not what he promised the country?  It amounts to arrogance from the pulpit to, in one breath counsel Buhari to observe the rule of law while prosecuting thieves and to, in another, advise that he puts aside flagrant cases of looting of scarce national resources.