“Bread and circuses”, is how Juvenal described the art of distraction that the emperors of Rome practiced to keep citizens complacent and politically inert.
Fighting corruption is Nigeria’s circus. Our national, sometimes bloody, most times bloodless sport; corruption is the raison d’etre for coups and a well-used we-mean-business prop for incoming administrations. Despite astronomical social, political and economic costs of corruption, including most recently destroying the value of subsidies on petrol, Nigerians are content with pretending to fight it.
In the early days of the Tinubu administration, after the summary suspensions and arrests of Emefiele (Central Bank of Nigeria), and Bawa (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission – EFCC), a video of former House of Representatives member, Gudaji Kazaure made the rounds. He called for the immediate arrests of a list of government officials, recommending that they be held in dark, underground rooms and deprived of phone calls to ensure their cooperation in revealing their part. It was impossible to escape the glee of the Berekete radio audience that he performed for.
Kazaure’s Advice To The President
First, there is no political will to end the corruption that greases the wheels of politics and elections and is firmly intertwined with poor governance. It is through corruption that politicians can afford and survive political party processes and win elections at polls or in legislative houses. We are familiar with the rodeo. Dasuki, Diezani and Dudafa were once the headlines, subjects of bays for blood. Today, they are more or less free and the systems that made their abuse possible are still intact.
One of the people Kazaure recommends for arrest has since been appointed a special adviser to the president and the Senate President and his fiercest rival for the position have the required corruption rap sheets. While a few on Kazaure’s list i.e., Deputy Governors, Bashir Jamoh have since been suspended or are being questioned, too many of the 45 ministers have proven or serious allegations of corruption against them.
For the record, unlike his predecessor, President Tinubu did not campaign on an anti-corruption agenda. He has faced allegations of corruption for decades – as far back as 2006 from Nuhu Ribadu, then Chair of EFCC, now his National Security Adviser and was recently investigated by Bawa between 2020 and 2021. He probably appreciates the irony of flying that tattered kite.
Second, fighting corruption is an industry, worth hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropic programming and government structures. Despite provisions of the Criminal Code criminalising corruption, there are at least six other related legal frameworks including the Anti-Corruption Act (2000) and Whistle Blower Policy (2016). There are five agencies, including the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and EFCC, dedicated to fighting corruption. The EFCC has between 2200 or 10,000 employees depending on who is counting and a budget of N41B. ICPC has under 1000 employees and a budget of N14B, 74% of which is for personnel costs.
Corruption As A Norm
Third, corruption is the norm and not exclusive to government employees. Norms are formed from practice and rules of behaviour that we follow because we believe others follow them too and that we perceive others expect us to follow. In that way, being corrupt has become a self-fulfilling but personally unrecognizable prophecy. The employee with his personal point of sale machine is smart, the parent who bribes a teacher; practical but policemen who extort are crooked. The past administration recognized this and tried, with the ‘change begins with you’ campaign but it fell flat because no one in visible leadership could lead by example.
For anti-corruption crusaders, early signals from this administration are not encouraging. The antecedents of President Tinubu do not lend themselves to positive perceptions about his ability or willingness to curb corruption. A few recent developments indicate that the sacred cows of APC and the Buhari clique will make a mockery of the current sitcom involving Emefiele who is now being held on fire arm charges. The recent judgement of the presidential election petition tribunal (PEPT) will deepen a well-earned distrust of the judiciary who have been indicted by the ICPC in a report that said – N9.4 billion ($26 million) was exchanged in bribes for election judgements between 2018 and 2020 alone. It is unfortunate that it is from an institution suffering from a poor reputation for integrity that the death knell to the future integrity of elections has been announced. By the PEPT ruling that electronic transmission of results is not mandatory – discounting the billions invested in it, its use in previous elections, the well documented promises of Mahmud Yakubu to deploy it and its use in the National Assembly elections which took place the same day as the presidential election, the judges continue to strengthen the impression that when it comes to elections, they will be found far away from logic and the spirit of law.
What Will Come First?
Will citizens become uncompromising about corruption, or will government officials accept that corruption is unsustainable and plug the holes?
According to polls, corruption was the third main concern for Nigerians before the 2023 elections, after insecurity and the economy. The fascination with corruption presents an opportunity to forge a different national relationship with it but it will take collaboration of citizens and government to reimagine and commit to higher standards of behavior from everyone, with those in public office bearing the weight of inspiring responsibility by modelling it.
As discontent and economic inequality grows, making security of life and property increasingly precarious, quality of life for the majority must improve. This requires more actual, not budgeted, spending on public goods and this speaks to the political economy of political parties, winning elections and being in government.
Political reforms, including alternative funding models for political parties will be driven by citizens demands and political insiders trying to contain each other.
Building Citizens’ Trust And Confidence
Professionalising the judiciary and police to address white and blue-collar crimes more efficiently is priority for deterrence and building citizens trust and confidence. We need to streamline and reform agencies tasked with anti-corruption and do the same across board with federal and state agencies duplicating efforts and working at cross purposes. Finally, an integrated population identification management is critical for security and accountability.
The corruption circus is complimented with other shows about palliatives and cash transfers and it is all entertaining and distracting. Corruption is more than stealing public funds – it is compromising processes for undue advantage, but that is what our society rewards. Anyone who has tried to get a passport booklet will understand – you can do the right thing and wait interminably, or do as adviced and get on with life. Not sure we still need the circus…it could free us up to do other things with precious time and meagre public resources including maybe more free bread.
