Cost of investigating scandals

I guess he would have had to say that it is in the nature of the obscenely wasteful Nigerian Federal Government to spend N1 billion Naira to investigate a fraud of N1 million. A new way of wasting government money has steadily evolved over the past few years and has now become accepted as standard […]

I guess he would have had to say that it is in the nature of the obscenely wasteful Nigerian Federal Government to spend N1 billion Naira to investigate a fraud of N1 million. A new way of wasting government money has steadily evolved over the past few years and has now become accepted as standard practice. When there is a whiff or sniff of scandal in the air at any of the agencies of the bloated Federal Government, there emerges some kind scramble as to who has the right or duty to carry out the investigation. Every organ of the federal government will be fighting to conduct the investigation: the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation; committees of both chambers of the National Assembly, the EFCC, the ICPC, the serious fraud office of the Police, the DSS and a thousand and one others.
Take the current alleged scandal in the purchase of two armoured cars by the NCAA for the use of Aviation Minister Mrs Stella Oduah. I have lost count of the offices, institutions and organs of the Federal Government investigating this allegation. Given the way we do our things, it will be discovered at the end of the day, by anyone who is truly concerned for the public good that several millions would have been spent by the various investigators. The alleged misdemeanour may have become a good fertile ground for others to harvest a rich harvest in the name of public do-gooding. Nigeria, we hail thee! At the end of the day Mrs Oduah may look more saintly than those who are shouting about her alleged misdeeds.
It is truly disgusting to have people who lack investigative skills; people who lack a patriotic heart to do something to safeguard public interest and people who lack holiness and have absolutely no business with a task that requires honesty and integrity scrambling to investigate others for alleged wrong doing. The image that gives me is one of ravenous vultures hovering in the nearby sky ready at short notice to descend in droves to devour the carcass of some unfortunate animal. For how long will we continue to deceive ourselves that we really care about the display of public virtues in conduct by our public servants? Who among us has the moral credentials to sit in moral judgement against another? It is only those without a twitch of conscience who dare to wear the rob of righteousness and who pretend to harbour righteous anger against those who have done wrong.
And what makes me feel so disgusted is that the scramble is not motivated by a hatred for fraud or other malfeasance but a desire to fulfil many self-serving causes. Some of those who play leading roles in these investigations are worse in terms of lack of honesty and integrity than the person(s) they are seeking to investigate. Note for example that during the so-called Patricia Etteh scandal which turned out to be false alarm (the lady never stole a kobo) Farouk Lawan was the spearhead. A few years later it was the same Farouk Lawan who was embroiled in the scandal of nearly 700,000 dollars.
Many legislators who seem so eager to investigate scandals involving others do so in order to place themselves in a vantage position to have a piece of the action and not necessarily because they hate wrong doing and want to protect the national interest. That is far from their minds.
There is nothing like frugality in the thinking of those running our government. I know our system seeks to provide checks and balances but I do not think that the system says that efforts should not be made to avoid duplication of efforts and the wasting of time and good money in chasing bad money. If these investigations actually protect public interest, I will not complain too much but if my knowledge serves me right, I cannot remember a single instance in our public life when investigation of fraud led to a refund of money by those who stole it.
My thinking is that since this is our story, we should not bother to ask or allow many institutions and agencies to scramble to investigate a fraud because in the end, we will lose a substantial sum of money on the investigation as well as the original money stolen. This is what is called double jeopardy.
Any smart thief who was not caught red handed while trying to steal should be decorated with garlands and allowed to enjoy his loot instead of spending some more money trying to understand how he stole it, much less hoping to retrieve his loot.
Faithful readers of my humble opinions on national issues would have realised that I hardly comment on stories or allegations about fraud. This is because my conscience does not simply allow me to sit in judgment against any other Nigerian because we as a people seem to have no sincere hatred for bribery, corruption, fraud and all such things. Those who act holier-than-thou when stories of fraud break are some of the most despicable souls we have around us. Some of them, especially the most vocal among them in the social activists community live on hypocrisy and I do not want to dignify them by joining in calling for the head of anyone who is merely unfortunate enough to be exposed.
I have also come to the realisation that many scandals break in our country only because in most cases the chief culprit is too greedy. He or she has not bothered to stick to a more ‘just’ or equitable ‘’sharing formula’’. If not, for everyone scandal for which the beans have been spilt in our country, there are thousands of others which remain splendidly hidden as skeletons in the cabinet.
When we as a people decide that stealing of public funds is terribly undermining our efforts at national development, it is then that I will feel obliged to comment on fraud and other scandalous behaviour on the part of government officials. For now some of us will leave those opportunists who want to trample on others in order to rise politically and financially to carry out their game.
My pain as a patriot is that scarce public funds that should be used for development are often spent in the game of vendetta and hypocrisy in the name of investigation. If Mother Nigeria can speak, she would have cried out long ago that it is better to allow her rapists to go scot free than spending good money to pursue them because even when they are arrested and guilt is established against them, they will suffer no penalty.