Nigeria: Government Appointments And The Roots of Corruption

The recent appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari have generated reactions across the spectrum of Nigeria's political thought and groups. Surprisingly, even confessed Buharists have urged caution and admonished the president to be more circumspect in making appointments in a complex polity such as Nigeria. Probably in answer to the deluge of negativity that followed the so-called lopsided nature of recent and not so recent political appointments by the current Nigerian leader, his spokesperson and party chairman have promised that the next slew of appointments would be sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of the Nigerian socio-political reality. 

The current leadership promised Nigerians genuine change in political direction from one of ineptitude and directionlessness to one of probity, transparency and lofty nationalistic ideas. Presently, the expectation of Nigerians are being somewhat dampened by the almost somnambulistic knee-jerk approach to governance as exhibited by the government. There appears to be nothing in place or in the process of enunciation to ameliorate the rather unfortunate conditions of the average Nigerian. Too much time is spent on what is wrong instead making things right.  A government-in-waiting for over a decade has been too deliberate in formulating policies that could change the tide in favour of ordinary citizens. Some key government posts were announced a few days ago while we await a full cabinet announcement in September - about four months after the presidential inauguration. These are not the signs of confidence but tentativeness.  Political commentators have voiced their displeasure concerning the president's appointments to date because it appears to favour a particular geopolitical group - the north.  Southern politicians tend to pretend or act naïve when it comes to the question of who holds real power in Nigeria. The northern political establishment has never left anyone in doubt that northern interests trump any other interest in the country. Buhari is a product of the military arm of the northern political establishment and after his "95/5%" statement in the United States; you wonder why anyone is miffed by his present antics. For one, the Nigerian president is constitutionally one of the most powerful head of state in the world and northern politicians or militicians tend to exercise this authority without fear. 

The present government has vowed to be intolerant of corruption and at every opportunity reminds Nigerians of its anticorruption stance. The issue of corruption in Nigeria is not new. But the government is acting as if corruption is the exclusive badge of the Jonathan administration. I have made the suggestion elsewhere that Nigerians do not hate corruption, only its consequences.  Corruption cannot be fought by the simplistic act of making outlandish claims of missing money to the press and blaming it on members of the Jonathan administration. I hold no sympathies for any government but the suffering masses of Nigeria. If members of the former government have misappropriated funds belonging to the Nigerian state, the best thing to do is to charge them, and let the law take its course.  

Corruption is the natural reaction that is common in a nation that renders its citizens desperate without a way out of their desperation. In Nigeria, you must participate, condone [or pretend] or be depressed by corruption. The average Nigerian is dominated by the thought of survival in a heartless system where we have a minority wondering what to do with what they have and a majority wondering if they would ever have any. The middle class has been rendered insolvent by the weight of having to provide essential things that makes life easier.  The average Nigerian has to provide shelter, electricity, water, transportation, healthcare and schooling for his or her children.  While it may be rightly argued that the individual is responsible for all the above, the Nigerian state is supposed to make it easy to attain by timely and sufficient worker remunerations, efficient public transport systems, free and well equipped public schools [primary to secondary] with a Nigeria-focused philosophy, affordable healthcare and efficient public utilities.  For example, how do you expect a Professor to perform his duties efficiently as a researcher and teacher without research funds, while saddled with providing for his children's school fees and car tires at the same time? Do you really expect such a fellow not to take short cuts when he sees the sacrifice of genius for the satisfaction of knaves and the recurrent success of the power mad? The same argument can be made for most Nigerian federal workers and when it comes to the state level the story is even more pathetic.  Workers are owed salaries for most of the year while the governor buys a sleek chopper to help fight crimes - crimes he helped create! 

Without dealing with the structural inequities that have their roots in a faulty federation which spawned a parasitic leadership, jailing Jonathan [or any other previous leader] and his entire cabinet [which may be justified] is mere window dressing. Nigerians must decide what 'Nigerian' means; what is expected of them, and what they should expect from the presently nebulous concept called Nigeria. A starting point should probably include the redacting of our current inane constitution and the creation of a new one that guarantees that Nigerians live like men with power to democratize their existence instead of slinking along in contented slavery.  

Joseph can be reached at jrotimibgood@gmail.com