On Corruption In A General Sense Particularly Political Corruption In Nigeria

By Gora Albehu Dauda

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: My own limited understanding of CORRUPTION as a phenomenon is any deliberate departure from that which is accepted to be right in preference of that also generally accepted to be wrong. Nigeria has become the theater of absurdity due to our penchant for doing the wrong things. There ought to be penalties for doing that which you know is wrong, in any sane society but it is becoming clearer by the day that Nigeria has since largely exited the domain of sane societies if she is examined from the way politics is played This short essay will examine some of the contradictions in how politics has been played from 2019 to date. The essay does not assume that elections anywhere on the globe are 100% devoid of some issues but that those given the mandate to lead must have earned the trust and confidence of the electorate via a credible, transparent and fair election.

There has generally been the make belief that the President of the Federation has not been tain.ted by the bug of corruption. I refuse to believe that falsehood and absolute nonsense. My understanding further is that corruption may not necessarily have to do with money changing hands with a view to twisting that which is true and straight. It may have been true that up till the 2019 General Elections it was difficult to prove a case of either political or other forms of corruption against the President as he is after all a mortal and not an Angel That is where we start. The reader will recall that in the 2019 Presidential contest, the results from Kano State became the instant game changer. The voters register had it at the time that there were over 4 million registered voters in Kano and that all the 4 million voted exclusively for the President to win a second term. It therefore meant that between the period of voter registration and election day, no voter, not even one passed away or relocated or may have decided not to vote altogether. This is the height of political alchemy and the same principal alchemist remains Prof Mahmoud Yakubu. That the President accepted that fraudulent outcome to be true in my humble view amounts to KWARAPTION.

Not withstanding the bogus lies that corruption was being fought in this country, even those of them in the theater of the supposed anti corruption war themselves have largely been similarly tainted Corruption has grown exponentially as to becoming a behemoth threatening to consume us all. I liken the Watergate political scandal for which President Richard Nixon had to resign his position to the allegation back in the 2011 General Elections to the purported invitation to Fulani armed herdsmen from across the West African region to come and help a particular political party win the Presidency. That dubious effort failed flat on its face and the would-be beneficiary was moved to declaring not to contest in any future election. That turned out not to be true. As it stands, Nigeria and Nigerians are still suffering the consequences of that treacherous blunder given the insecurity that is everywhere in the country. There can be no corruption greater than where a president with the primary responsibility of securing the country he leads very clearly abdicating that responsibility of securing and protecting the territorial integrity of that country whilst foreign armed men are operating freely killing, burning and maiming. Many villages have been supplanted and occupied by the foreign armed men in some States in the North including my own Kaduna State . The terrorists have gone further to levying and collecting taxes from bona fide Nigerians who are now living at their mercy. The president of the Federation pretends not knowing what is going on and therefore does nothing. If you do not see that gross failure as political corruption, what then will you in all fairness call it.,

Aside murder, is there any other offence in our law books greater than TREASON? If the conspiracy of importing foreign armed men to interfere in an election in any form or shape is proven to be true, is it not a treasonable offence, what then is treason? If not treason can we therefore agree that it amounts to an aspect of political corruption? If political corruption, is there no punishment prescribed in the law book? In 2019 Prof Mahmoud Yakubu as INEC Chair closed his professorial eyes to political corruption which he designed and executed so efficiently. I thought that the so-called over 4 million exclusive Kano State votes for Muhammadu Buhari ought to have been subjected to further judicial scrutiny but the outcome of that vote was not contested in court That egregious electoral fraud laid a concrete foundation for the monumental electoral heist orchestrated by the same Prof Mahmoud Yakubu. Nothing informed this state of affairs if not the culture of impunity. Nigeria is not an afflicted country but leadership at all levels is largely afflicted simply because “ WE” the people have not acquired the decency of holding our leadership to account for their actions or inaction when they held publicly c office

Prof Mahmoud Yakubu went on to drown himself in his own political swimming pool by organizing the most brazen electoral fraud as the 2023 General Elections. From the outcome of the sham Elections came forth the phrase “ Go to Court “. Those who crafted the phrase in my humble view need to have their heads examined by very senior and proven psychiatrists of note. I hold this viewpoint standing on very form grounds as the responsibility for deciding who our leaders are should come from the ballot box and not the utterly corrupt judicial processes which is the order of the day in Naija. Those who stole our votes are out there chest beating on account of their humongous and largely corruptly acquired wealth knowing that their wealth will perform the trick if such cases were to be decided in Nigerian courts. In the first instance, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu should have done the needful by throwing in the towel and apologizing for his massive failings. To expect Yakubu will tread that noble path of honour could be likened to waking up to finding the early morning sun rising from the West . Such does not happen in Nigeria as the parties under the microscope will rather that the roof collapses on their heads.

Nigerians had hoped that after 8 years of the very drab and uninspiring Buhari leadership the country will have a vibrant and focused leader that will repair the damage poor leadership had inflicted but the way things stand after the charade which passed for the 2023 SELECTION or did Prof Mahmoud Yakubu call it an election? What supposedly took place in the ballot boxes during the selection or election is now largely the subject of litigation in the equally very corrupt law courts. Until the cases are determined, the Prof Mahmoud’s Books are saying that a certain Ahmed Bola Tinubu is President elect. It is now almost very clear in the minds of Nigerians that the outcome of the 2023 Presidential vote was decided long before the actual vote took place. Right now, there is what passes for an election outcome but the issue is that the result is standing on a pair of crutches. Between the outgoing and the supposed incoming president the difference is only nuanced. Both are in the same age bracket if truth be told but does anybody tell the truth about their real ages including people in such high positions of leadership? Age has largely whittled down their capacity to perform any serious task including charting a roadmap for this stranded country. Both are in in poor health as has been obvious even to the naked eye. One of the President’s official Vuvuzelas , Femi Adesina just recently announced that ill heath took away 240 days of Buhari’s tenure as a result of ill health. If it does happen, it will then mean that one sick president is leaving and another obviously more sick president is coming. It is so sad that the Nigerian political structure has been calibrated to produce such individuals as our leaders which clearly explains why this country is where it is amongst the comity of focused countries and leaders

It will take only the grace of God Almighty to dredge this country from up from the bottom to which she has sunken as a result of poor leadership. No sensible person will put up any argument against the truth that Nigeria is in a convoluted state. The people’s Bishop in his Easter Homily captured it more succinctly by saying that since the election leadership at the highest level has been switched to HIBERNATION mode. The absence of leadership is palpable even as the Oga himself as well as the Vuvuzelas around him have been hyping or mouthing what success they believe he has recorded which WE, as ordinary people cannot see. In the meantime, Nigerians continue to be slaughtered in their numbers as the President Commander in Chief sleeps very comfortably.Had the Oga delivered on SECURING this country and the population alone, his other many sins or failings could have been forgiven but is anybody really secured in Nigeria today apart from them who have scores of armed security personnel around them around the clock when they should be protecting us? To God Be The Glory.