Two Nigerians were sentenced to prison terms yesterday. One, a former Local Government Chairman, who was accused of stealing the council’s N7 million, bagged six months. The other, a 22-year-old, bagged 17 years for stealing a Nokia phone worth N13,000.
A former Local Government Chairman, who was accused of stealing council’s N7 million, bagged six months jail term while a 22-year-old, bagged 17 years for stealing a Nokia phone worth N13,000.
Travesty easily comes to mind when the distance between the two courts, though miles apart in Kogi and Lagos States respectively, is collapsed and the rulings are compared side-by-side. However, the 17-year jail term seems justified, not in terms of what was stolen but in terms of the crime’s name – the boy was charged with attempted murder, armed robbery and five other counts and he pleaded guilty to them all.
But the same justification could not be extended to the six-month jail term. The money was meant to drill boreholes in some rural communities, meaning that hundreds, perhaps, thousands, have been deprived of potable water supply. That 22-year-old man will forever bemoan his fate, and if he hears of the Kogi ruling, will easily take up arm against this country, thinking he is fighting injustice.
If anything troubles the soul of Nigeria today, it is injustice that manifests itself in social, economic, and political form, ensuring that the search of true nationhood remains elusive.
After 66 years, the statement that Nigeria is not a country remains true in every sense. It appears that statement is now assuming the status of a law – like the law of gravity – that remains unchanged irrespective of place and time.
In his 1947 book, Path to Nigerian Freedom, late Obafemi Awolowo said Nigeria is a mere geographical expression. “There are no ‘Nigerians’ in the same sense as there are ‘English,’ ‘Welsh,’ or ‘French.’ The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria and those who do not,” he said.
Political scientists have modified that statement. They say Nigeria is a state-nation that is being run like a nation-state and this effectively makes the evolution of a national character almost impossible. In essence, holding apex power in Nigeria means anyone from the president’s ethnic nation and its affiliates is a saint irrespective of what they do.
The politics of “it’s our turn” is daily endorsed in Nigeria and will pass the test of plebiscite without the need to campaign. All ethnic nations that constitute the state-nation called Nigeria are guilty of this posture, being perpetually suspicious of each other where trust needed for the soul of a country to develop should be built.
This politics of ethnic suspicion is always the fault line that determines where a politician belongs, whether in the ruling party or opposition. Dreaming of when a political party will win presidential election solely based on its manifesto for nationalistic objectives is akin to finding water in desert. It will be refreshing if indeed it happens.
Even the youths who mouth good governance and activists that carry anti-corruption placards are not spared of this daredevil politicking, as could be observed in the unfolding (rested?) case of profligacy in the aviation ministry, which flouted significant national statutory laws to procure two armoured cars.
Instead of using this case to restore Nigeria to the right path in search of national character, it has quickly assumed ethnic colouration. Groups sympathetic to the minister are claiming she is being witch-hunted; anti-minister groups are saying she is corrupt, like others from her ethnic nation. Some hinged their support for the corrupt act on gender representation, claiming the minister is being harassed by the male-dominated aviation overlords because she is female. Some others said Yorubas have always seen Nigeria’s aviation sector as their birthright and are therefore plotting to remove the Igbo minister.
Indeed, there was a country!
“There are no ‘Nigerians’ in the same sense as there are ‘English,’ ‘Welsh,’ or ‘French.’ The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria and those who do not”
In his recent lecture titled “Boda Nigeria, bros naija and soul tinz,” Professor Pius Adesanmi argued that Nigeria has failed to forge a national soul or a defining ethos which will not only unite all citizens but also imbue a sense of committed patriotism in them.
Adesanmi told of privileges that other nations provide their citizens, which made them preferred destinations of emigrating Nigerians. A child born in the US today has privileges – American privileges – that the baby’s parents didn’t work for.
But the professor did not tell us how those nations deal with anyone caught trying to personalise what is meant for the nation. Well, he doesn’t really need to tell us. We know how such offenders are ruthlessly dealt with; some caught pants down will even resign voluntarily if their act is antithetic to progressive culture of the country.
Indeed, corruption has no ethnic colouration and it is in this context of forging a national soul that Oduahgate should be situated. The question begging for answer is: Who says the Yoruba man heading agriculture ministry will come clean if similar investigative searchlight is beamed on how much of monies allocated in Aso Rock and disbursed by finance ministry actually get to the farmlands?
As recently stated by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) in a press statement: “To mindlessly concentrate on the Oduah issue without externalising the inquiry [to other MDAs] would only short-change the country and our search for probity.”
Recurrent expenditures have always taken more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s annual budgets – 2014 won’t be different. This is where the bulk of the money goes but National Assembly is mindlessly focused on investigating and conducting oversight functions on capital projects.
Therefore, instead of calling for the minster’s head, what the nation needs is a thorough investigation into cost of governance in all agencies of government, including the presidency and legislature, with a view to engender prohibitive reforms.
Even if the aviation minister is sacked, does anyone really think we will not be down this road again? We have been there before. Remember the N100 billion police pension scam, the N1.6 trillion subsidy fraud and many others? People have escaped with far worse crimes. Similarly people have been duly punished for far less crimes – Professors Fabian Osuji and Adenike Grange.
Nigerians must stop looking at national issues from ethnic binoculars. Anyone that defrauds the Nigerian State is an enemy of the state and must be treated as such.
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