Introduction
There is a new wind in the air.
It is a hopeful air. This type of air is refreshing and has always being around
but mostly underground and trampled upon for nearly 2 generations until
recently. Whether this air will take-off, consolidate and sustain in the medium
term is open to debate since the contours of its execution is unclear.
Nevertheless there is an incentive to chase this air, the anti-corruption air,
towards greater appreciations of the contradictions rather an unwarranted
criticism.
The Signpost
Nigeria has been in existence for
over a century mostly in a truncated form for the majority. This truncation
continues to expand in complexity despite all political engineering and social reconfigurations.
For most citizens in the last generation, one thing is very clear; Nigeria is
not working. Why? One word, corruption! It is the elephant in the room, so
mighty and untouchable, difficult to define and easy to identify. Unlike other
colourless gases, its smell is essentially high -scent cutting across every
nested geography, every space, every discussion and every process hence
contaminating everything in its sway. Corruption became comfortable, relaxed
and consolidated that any reference to its cancerous nature is dismissed in
distasteful reversal of value. The word ‘probe’ is anathema!
Political Elite vs. Commons
The commons consists all citizens
of Nigeria across all ethnic nations, states and local governments in the land
including all religious persuasions and none. This special majority has been on
the receiving end of corruption emanating from machination eviscerating
national resources, public services and infrastructure. These are the innocent
people and their families who are repeatedly raped of resources, their rights,
their privileges and their expectations. Every justification is projected as
excuse, while they are noxiously fed with subterfuge under ethnic politics,
religious misadventure, geographical mash-up and comprehensive dehumanisation.
Their afflictions, denials and abuse are innumerable and incalculable. They
hopefully settle in the no-man’s land of ‘suffering and smiling’.
The political elite and their
acolytes in their absolute minority have innovatively hoodwinked time to
blindness and assured inaction of the commons and or alternative forces with
potential to upset and challenge their divine right of valorisation. Like all
masters of wealth accumulation, there is an unabashed display of regressive
processes and association of immorality within and beyond the shores.
They have
even disavowed their own codes of conduct, have lost track of their
accumulation and continue to defy law of history that things will remain quiet
ad infinitum. They are careless and do not care less! These are men and women
who elevated into privilege, arrogant politicians/non-politicians, with good
formal education, international (western) exposure, brainwashed sense of
history and confidence that they are the state.
One can safely map the constellation
of National Peace Committee select members that recently paid an ill-fated
visit to the President as political elite per excellence.
Real vs. Imagined
Since there is near-absence of
investigation and successful prosecution of alleged corruption agents in
Nigeria bar 1983 – 1985, the current air of anti-corruption seem surreal. This
is driven in the commons by simple facts which have not produced any difference
from the erstwhile face of anti-corruption. The template goes thus; softening
up the commons with media noise, then selective arrests by anti-corruption
agencies, media-blazed detention/interrogation and finally glorious bailout and
non-prosecution.
The new administration has
commenced similar pattern with a combination of dismissals, loading the media
with numbers, minimum arrests and suggestion of bigger things to come. What
they are doing no one knows, but there is a clear emergence of the Presidency
as the pivot of reversals. The legislature and judiciary seem not be in tandem and
this is foreboding. A current search for uncontaminated members of the judiciary
towards prosecution of allegation is poignant. Even judges are in the act!
Will it happen? Only time will
tell, the commons will continue to watch the scene from a safe contextual
distance. Anti-corruption is a huge project and the commons hope the benefits of
governance will final reach them while the dividends of anti-corruption
especially successful prosecution become reality.
Implosion of Party Political
Given the style of the current
administration and what constitutes selective ambiguity, a soft landing may be
speculated. It is also clear that the presidency is moving towards a powerful
isolated institution far higher in pedigree. This development doesn’t hide
emerging bulge of contradictions in both praxis and delivery. The implication
is obvious if the speculated anti-corruption transforms into a potent
corrective force. Such powerful corrective force will surely target alleged
corrupt regardless of party affiliation.
Such development is foreboding
for senior members of APC. While they are currently on the sunny side of
electoral success, the cameo of being the ruling party will evaporate when an
equipped anti-corruption engine comes home. As the stalwarts (not all of them)
are gradually indicted, prosecuted and jailed, the political landscape for
party realpolitik is bound to change even though the degree is unclear. There is no point making references to PDP
since it is currently depleted by self-victimhood and persecution complex.
Godfathers, godmothers and
political irokos across the board may move steps ahead by changing the rule of
the game through machination by proxy like underground operation of mafia. This
will be successful to the extent that the rule of law on political party
activities is abused rather than observed. The interesting part of the
narrative is that based on natural decrease and over-reach, most of the current
political heavyweights of PDP & APC are on their way out.
Finally..More than Mere Voter
It will be disingenuous to assume that the
commons are getting carried away in so far as suggestion of anti-corruption is
sufficient. Such is position is similar to the ongoing purchase by
generation-long corrupters. In any case the commons are far more nuanced to
understand the complexity of any serious undertaking and its success as a
correlate of time including the glaring contradictions of the presidency.
One
will conclude that the presidency is aware of the common’s prying eyes on her every
move, shake, compromise, subterfuge and retreat while awaiting the hammer of successful
prosecution. If the presidency fails to live up to the commons billing, the
head will surely face the boiling vitriol borne with inter-generational pain.
How the vitriol will be delivered is beyond the knowledge and comprehension of
this writing.
