By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: May 16, 2009
Most Nigerian leaders on assumption of office make the fight against corruption the “epicentre” of their regimes. The incumbent President, Umaru Yar’Adua, is not left out.
When his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo was first sworn in on May 29, 1999, he also made such a great fuss of his “determination” to fight corruption. Many who had come to see the cankerworm of sleaze as the bane of Nigeria’s socio-economic and political development heaved a sigh of relief. As a battle tested soldier, who loves flaunting his war exploits, it was taken for granted that he would triumph. Ten years after that solemn promise, the jury is still out as to whether he conquered corruption or indeed the reverse was the case. President Yar’Adua, wittingly or unwittingly, is sailing in the same self-deception boat.
Why do Nigerian leaders fail woefully in this self-assigned job? The simple answer is that it takes more than rhetoric to fight graft. They fail because they have no sense of shame. A man with neither sense of shame nor remorse cannot wage a successful war against corruption.
Recent events in two countries will illustrate this point.
On Saturday, former South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, hurled himself off a 100-foot high cliff. He died instantly, aged 62. In a country where life expectancy for men is 75, the former President cut his own life short by at least 13 years.
Why?
Because the man who occupied Seoul’s Presidential Blue House for five years was embroiled in a corruption scandal and was horror stricken that his hard-won reputation was about to be thrown to the dogs. His family was alleged to have taken $6 million in bribes from a wealthy businessman, Park Yeon-cha, who was earlier indicted on separate bribery and tax evasion charges.
The former President denied the allegations. Though he admitted his wife and relative received the money in question from the disgraced businessman, he did not see it as bribe. His wife, he said, was given $1 million to help her settle a debt, while the $5 million to a relative was an investment. None of the money came to him directly. It was not proved that he used his family members as fronts in illicit deals.
Nevertheless, he apologized. “I feel ashamed before my fellow citizens. I am sorry for disappointing you,” he told his supporters on April 30.
For a man who came to power in 2003 promising to make a clean break from his country’s graft-ridden political past, he could not bear the emotional burden of having his reputation tainted. For him, death was preferred to a soiled name.
He said that much in his suicide note. “Too many people are suffering because of me … What is left for me for the rest of my life is just to be a burden to others. Don’t be too sad. Aren’t life and death both part of nature? Don’t feel sorry. Don’t blame anybody. It is destiny,” he wrote.
Can anybody imagine a Nigerian President’s wife owing $1 million? Impossible! Not even his mistress would suffer the “indignity” of owing such a paltry sum. Yet, here is the wife of South Korean President, a country with the third largest economy in Asia and 13th in the world, being in debt with the husband not being able to help. Can anybody imagine a former Nigerian President turning himself in for interrogation over money loaned his wife by a businessman? Impossible!
Lawmakers in the British House of Commons have been in the news in the past couple of weeks over a damning expenses scandal. And what is it about? In a country where lawmakers must religiously keep in touch with their constituents, most have to live in two places – in their constituencies and in London where they attend Parliament. They are, therefore, allowed to claim expenses to cover the cost of running a second home in London. Details of these claims were leaked to the media and Britons are mad that their representatives in Parliament have not only been making outrageous claims but also avoiding tax on home sales. This has led to the charge of extravagance and heads are rolling politically.
Many of the Parliamentarians are aborting their political careers. The House of Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, whose crime is the perception by some that he was the driving force behind efforts to stop details of the scandal coming out, has resigned.
Justice Minister, Shahid Malik, has stepped down pending an inquiry into whether his failure to declare a preferential rent deal on his constituency home broke the ministerial code. Former Agriculture Minister, Elliot Morley, and backbencher, David Chaytor, have been suspended by their party – Labour Party. Both of them reportedly claimed for mortgage interest months after the mortgages had been paid off. Mr. Morley also lost his job as Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s climate change envoy.
Andrew MacKay, a Parliamentary aide to Conservative leader, David Cameron, has also quit his post after the party ruled his second home claims were “unacceptable”. He has also decided not to seek re-election. “I understand why people are angry. I hope my decision to step down goes some way to showing my constituents how sorry I am about my own situation,” he said while announcing his decision.
He is not alone. The former Conservative Minister, Douglas Hogg, has said he will not seek re-election; Sir Peter Viggers is also to retire “at the direct request of David Cameron;” another lawmaker, Anthony Steen, said to have claimed more than £87,000 over four years for his country home, is also standing down at the next election. Most of them have paid back the money.
British media report that “there is genuine concern among members of Parliament that the legislature has never been held in lower regard by members of the public. Even MPs who have done nothing wrong are reported to be considering quitting as they are considered “crooks” by the public. Some fear Parliament may take years to recover from the furore.”
Gordon Brown has warned that any “Labour MP who ‘defied’ the rules will not be able to stand again.” Cameron has set up his own scrutiny panel and warned that any Tory lawmaker refusing to return money excessively claimed could be sacked. The Liberal Democrats say no lawmaker should be able to make a profit on the sale of a home which was subsidised by the taxpayer.
Cast your mind back home. Two weeks ago, President Umaru Yar’Adua’s Adviser on Petroleum, Emmanuel Egbogah, alleged that Federal Lawmakers were colluding with oil companies to work against the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) pending in the National Assembly. The multinational oil companies they were supposed to checkmate ferried them to Ghana for a retreat which sole aim was to devise means of shooting down the Bill. Senate President, David mark, said it was a blackmail from the Presidency, even when the members of the Senate Committees on Gas, Environment, Petroleum Resources and Finance have owned up to the trip.
There is no outrage. Nobody feels it is morally reprehensible to collude with foreigners to work against the interest of fellow citizens in exchange for filthy lucre. None of the legislators has returned the estacode. None of the political parties has sanctioned its members that went on the trip.
The leadership of the House of Representatives survived the car purchase scandal even when there was glaring evidence that Nigerians were shortchanged in the deal.
The N6 billion rural electricity scam currently rocking the National Assembly will soon be forgotten. The accused lawmakers will return to their seats as soon as they are granted bail as if nothing happened. There is no sense of shame and the people have the capacity for outrage.
Little wonder corruption easily wins the war against Nigeria and its leaders.
