In anti-graft fight, no sacred cows

It is a known fact that, corruption has been Nigeria’s bane for a very long time. It is responsible for many problems, militating against the development of this country. it is the cause of Nigeria’s poor image, in the eyes of other countries. The huge amount of money that some few kleptomaniacs, misappropriated in order […]

It is a known fact that, corruption has been Nigeria’s bane for a very long time. It is responsible for many problems, militating against the development of this country. it is the cause of Nigeria’s poor image, in the eyes of other countries. The huge amount of money that some few kleptomaniacs, misappropriated in order to enrich themselves is despicable. Before the present administration came on stream, embezzling government money for personal aggrandizement was not a crime. The magnitude of the theft was unimaginable. There are people who held sway in various positions and siphoned public funds, which are meant to better the lots of many people. It is incredible to see government officials, stole the amount of money that they cannot exhaust, even if they will lived for one thousand years. It is difficult to understand what informed such unwholesome practice, which short-changed and deprived Nigeria’s downtrodden of the chance to savour the dividends of democracy. Those people that we defied rain and sun in order to vote them into power are those that turned around and subjected us to inhumane treatment.  The impunity with which looting of country’s treasury was perpetrated is sad and disappointing. The huge amount of money that was siphoned by those who served under the immediate past administration is what triggered the current financial crisis. It is a pity that Nigeria had to borrow, in order to pay salaries. It is the unbridled treasury looting that almost brought Nigeria to its knees. Shortly before the last administration handed over, our foreign reserve and our excess crude account were at their lowest, because Nigeria’s self-serving politicians saw nothing wrong in helping themselves to
what is not theirs. Given the state of our economy, Buhari cannot fulfil the promise he made to the electorates, without enough money. Buhari cannot afford to let Nigerians down. That is why I call on him, to leave no stone unturned, in order to bring back the money that was pillaged. PMB should not spare anybody that committed this heinous crime. He should not give the impression that the crusade is selective and vindictive. However, he managed to allayed the fear of Nigerians by saying that, even his party men would face the wrath of law, if found guilty of corruption.
The claim by some people that the current war against corruption is witch-hunting is baseless and unfounded. If a person did not loot public fund, he has nothing to be afraid of, because there must be investigation before a person is pronounced as guilty. It is good that, Mr President promised to prosecute the culprits soon. Nigerians are waiting eagerly  For this war on corruption to succeed and gain the needed legitimacy, those whose culpability is established must pay the price of their dishonesty, no matter how highly placed and connected to Buhari they may be. But if those who are corrupt and instrumental to the success of APC are not included, it will give the members of the opposition party the ground to rubbish the anti-corruption crusade. We hope the effort will spread to state governments, as corruption exists not only at the centre but also at state levels.
Mukhtar Usaini Alasan, Bayero University, Kano<[email protected]>