IMPUNITY WATCH: TRUST DIALOGUE INITIATES DEBATE

Perhaps of all the things that vex Nigerians the most is the impunity of its leaders and, by extension, its security agencies. In fact, two very important people recently called ‘impunity’ the Number One Enemy of the Nigerian people, far ahead of even corruption. This Thursday, at the 11th Annual Daily Trust Dialogue, Impunity as […]

Perhaps of all the things that vex Nigerians the most is the impunity of its leaders and, by extension, its security agencies. In fact, two very important people recently called ‘impunity’ the Number One Enemy of the Nigerian people, far ahead of even corruption. This Thursday, at the 11th Annual Daily Trust Dialogue, Impunity as a concept was brought to the fore as the Dialogue had the theme “Incumbency And Impunity In Politics: Safeguarding Our Democracy Beyond 2015.”
At the occasion, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said impunity in politics is the number one enemy of Nigeria’s democracy. According to him, “Sadly, a cursory look at our political history, from the first Republic to date would readily show that impunity is the number one enemy of Nigeria’s democracy…The Nigerian political system is highly skewed in favour of incumbent executives in particular, most of whom are ever too willing to exploit it to the fullest, often to the detriment of our democracy.”
The Deputy Senate President noted that “incumbents in Nigeria and Africa, with full paraphernalia of office at their disposal, do see the state as their heritage and do everything possible to keep it so.” He further disagreed with notions that impunity in the polity is caused by the non-availability of sufficient laws to tackle the menace. He argued that previous democratic eras fell largely due to flagrant abuse of the electoral process despite existing laws, a situation, he said, had remained the biggest threat to democracy in Nigeria till now. According to him, as long as the political elite fail to provide exemplary leadership by showing respect for the rule of law and electoral sanctity, more laws will not address the menace.
At the dialogue, social critics and human rights campaigners Ayo Obe, Jibrin Ibrahim and Festus Okoye all spoke in the same vein, arguing that impunity, especially by elected executives (famously known as ‘executhieves’ in Nigeria) and the security agencies poses a threat not only to the survival of Nigeria’s democracy, but also the survival of a decent society. Many contributors also spoke along the same line that, for this nation to be truly democratic, impunity must stop.
Impunity has been defined as “exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action”, as in “the impunity enjoyed by military officers implicated in civilian killings.” Its synonyms have variously included immunity, indemnity, exemption from punishment, freedom from punishment, exemption, non-liability, licence, amnesty (a la a former Bayelsa Governor), pardon (ditto), reprieve, exoneration, special treatment, favouritism, carte blanche, unpunished, with no ill consequences, with no ill effects, without being punished, without punishment; scot-free. Indeed.
We all remember that it was crass impunity that started the Boko Haram conflagration. Security agencies had shot dead Mohammed Yusuf, leader of an organisation, with wanton impunity, and continued on the same path by shooting unarmed and even shackled prisoners, including some who were disabled. And the acts were recorded for the world to see.
It is impunity that would make a minister of the government buy or lease or hire or rent security vehicles for millions of Naira, turn around to deny it, turn around to admit it, turn around to re-deny it and, to add insult to the injury, claim a qualification that one did not earn. The highest impunity of all was for the boss of that particular officer of government to let that particular officer continue to be in office.
It is impunity that killed ASUU’s Festus Iyayi and hundreds of innocent Nigerians before and after him. Convoys by governors and ministers and other un-deserving officers daily kill people by throwing them off the roads and into ditches, and for those who survive, sometimes bullets are added to send them off, for blocking roads used by ‘executhieves’.
The second person to have said as much, and a few days before Ekweremadu, was Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who,  at the 5th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos, said the culture of impunity, much more than corruption, has hampered Nigeria’s development and promoted poverty, adding that the unpreparedness of the country to sanction corrupt persons had ensured the emasculation of the system. Sanusi had noted that corruption was a universal problem, but added that other countries were able to attain development because they had adequate punitive structures in place.
He had rhetorically asked: “If corruption is a big issue in the country today as in other parts of the world like Russia, China and others, why are they eradicating poverty and Nigeria isn’t?” He went further to give the answer himself: “It is not just corruption. It is the kind of failed interventions that are procured with the proceeds of corruption. Everyone agrees that corruption is bad. It has economic cost. You take a bribe and pay subsidy to someone who hasn’t delivered the required goods. That is corruption. What is destroying this country is that people are corrupt and nothing is done about it. That is impunity.”
Many are those who have identified impunity as Enemy Number One in Nigeria. A coalition, Stop Impunity Nigeria (S.I.N.) is a collaborative campaign by a multi-stakeholder group of civil society organizations, religious bodies and a Federal Government agency, aimed at re-orienting Nigerians and promoting new ethical values to free the country from the debilitating effects of impunity, a cancer that has stunted Nigeria’s social, economic and political development as well as the progress of its people. Using a robust website, http://stopimpunitynigeria.org, the coalition brings to the fore the ills that beset this nation arising from impunity.
The campaign, S.I.N. continues to say, is borne out of a realization that Nigeria’s development challenges are in a large measure the direct result of a culture of impunity which has gradually taken root in all sectors of the society over the last several decades.  Impunity continues to fuel corruption by both government officials and ordinary citizens while diminishing the capacity of the government to govern.
An endless string of examples demonstrate convincingly that those entrusted with power abuse such powers for private gain, without fear of punishment or any form of accountability. Although impunity has become pervasive and entrenched in Nigeria, the campaign seeks to attack it in four critical thematic areas, namely Public Finance Management; Rule of law; Electoral Process; and Patriotism, Ethics and Civic Responsibility, by highlighting instances of impunity and its consequences in each of these areas.
Stop Impunity in Nigeria’s Campaign Objectives include: to raise public awareness about the phenomenon of impunity in Nigeria and make it a national issue; change the public’s attitude and behavior towards issues that contribute to impunity; put the issue of impunity on the political and public agenda, including by constantly highlighting specific cases and examples of impunity and demanding that appropriate action by taken; influence decision-makers and opinion leaders on the need to tackle impunity as a way of stamping out corruption and other social vices; and shape policies and programs as well as enhance the capacity of private and public sector agencies, including civil society groups, to fight corruption in Nigeria through the adoption of policies and programs that will roll back impunity.
The Thematic Focus of the Campaign is on Public Finance Management; Rule of Law; the Electoral Process; and Patriotism, Ethical and Civic Responsibility.
At the Daily Trust Dialogue Thursday, the newspaper was called upon to dedicate a page, calling it perhaps IMPUNITY WATCH, to further the gains of this very important 2014 discourse.
“Yes Sir! I now know who you are!”