Saturday, 2 April 2016

What if Zuma had been President of Nigeria?

Ibrahim Magu EFCC chairman
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa is in soup. The highest court in his country has ruled that he violated the constitution when he failed to repay government money spent on his private home.
An anti-corruption body, known as the Public Protector, had ruled in 2014 that the president spent $15 million on his rural home in Nkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
In a unanimous judgment on behalf of the Constitutional Court's 11 judges, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said the “the president failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution.”
The president. Not a former president. Not a presidential candidate. The incumbent president. Found guilty by the court.
President Zuma, whose term in government has been marred by allegations of corruption and cronyism, has apologized and promised to honour the court verdict. However, the opposition, smelling blood, said they would push for his impeachment.
The first thing that came to my mind is if this could happen in Nigeria. The answer is a resounding NO. Not even with all the noise we make about fighting corruption.
In Nigeria the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – the body created to fight the kind of thing Zuma was found guilty of – is just an extension of the presidency. So the agency, in its wildest dreams, can never attempt to investigate the sitting president of any financial crime.
In fact, the EFCC is simply a tool of whoever is in power. When he was president, Chief Obasanjo once threatened to send the agency after someone. That shows the crime fighting organization was just acting a script against those who failed to fall in line.
Financial crimes supposedly soared under Jonathan, because he was perceived as weak and tolerant. And now we say President Buhari’s “body language” has made the EFCC sit up.
Herein lies the problem. Why can’t the EFCC fight corruption doggedly, no matter who is president? Why does it have to watch out for “body language”?
What happens when Buhari leaves? If his successor is not as committed as he is we will go back to the status quo, that’s what.
Such an institution needs to be strengthened and made independent so it can go after anyone suspected of stealing, misusing or misapplying public funds – including an incumbent president. The same thing the public protector did to Zuma in South Africa.
The war against graft will never be won when the government keeps shifting goalposts and using agencies like the EFCC to target perceived or real enemies. This is the reason many public officers show unalloyed support for an incumbent government. Immediately that government leaves, they turn their tentacles on the next one. They shamelessly sing the same songs of praise and worship to the next government. All they need to do is change the name of the person they praise. The song remains the same.
But we, the people, also have a huge chunk of the blame. In Nigeria it is seen as normal for public office holders to convert public funds for private use. Nigerians actually expect them to do that.
Even local government chairmen live like emperors. A few months after getting into office, they erect fabulous mansions that can put Bill Gates to shame. The EFCC never sees anything wrong with this – until they step on oga’s toes.
Woe betide any minister, governor or president who doesn’t “help” his family and friends while in office. Everyone will deride him. His people will never forgive him if his village is not turned into a mecca of sorts. That means he just wasted his time in office.
On festive days like Christmas and Sallah, he is expected to throw extravagant parties to mammoth crowds. And he is expected to donate huge sums of money at any function he attends – weddings, funerals, birthdays and even child naming ceremonies. If he doesn’t, he is seen as stingy. He is called araldite or super glue.
Justice Mogoeng said South Africa’s public officials ignored the constitution at their peril. He warned that the rule of law was the “sharp and mighty sword that stands ready to chop the ugly head of impunity from its stiffened neck.”
That is the kind of message Nigeria’s public officials need to hear. But what is happening to Zuma may never happen in Nigeria. That is why corruption will always thrive here.

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