“IF my people ,who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will heal their land ” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
The above passage from the bible confirms the claim of a nation coming down with sickness (s) like mere mortals. A nation sickness takes place when the economic, political, social, and spiritual fabrics have broken down irretrievably, that it begins to look like an open sore .
Still staying with the holy Bible, we are told in the book of Genesis of how God destroyed the tenth generation after Adam ,with the exception of Noah with great flood ,for reasons of corruption and violence. The sickness of the earth that was destroyed became that of corruption and violence, which the Creator of the universe, decided to cure with extermination.
Discussing about sick nations ,the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as mentioned in Genesis 19:24 of the holy Bible also becomes a case study . The two cities took sexual immorality and anti social behaviours to a dizzying degree that equally incured the wrath of the one that sits on the throne in heaven . God had to send his two Angels to the two cities, who destroyed them with brimstone and fire.
As medical books are replete with name of sicknesses, so can one safely say that the sickness of Nigeria are myriad that God would be looking with fury . A very talented Musician, Eedris Abdulkareem ,once drove home the sickness of this nation in his song “Nigeria Jaga Jaga ,everything scatter Scatter ” Eedris was even insulted by a former president for having the impetus and audacity to speaking truth to power .
When a nation is sick it reflects on the level of looting of the commonwealth that takes place . Who did not hear how David Cameron ,a former British prime minister, once described Nigeria as being “fantastically corrupt” at a time then president Muhammad Buhari was attending an anti corruption conference in London ? Some Nigerians like Herodias daughter in the holy Bible had to demand his head on a platter of gold ,as Herodias daughter desperately wanted John the baptist head. To those on the side of truth no matter who’s ox is gored ,Cameron was spot on in his fitting description.
With the opening of the Pandora’s box ,after the administration of former president Buhari had gone full circle ,the Camerons comment had come to hunt his administration like the spirit of Banquo in Macbeth ,William Shakespeare. With startling revelations from the private investigator, Jim Obazee ,David Cameron needs to be apologised to by Nigerians that vilified and cursed him without end for making the “fantastically corrupt ” statement as some characters given to primitive accumulation of wealth (apologies to late professor Claude Ake) gave more life and vitality to the statement of David Cameron.
The size of sleaze leaves one in a state of melancholy and the writer presents what can be described as a tip of the iceberg. The Punch Newspaper of 24 December 2023 had a troubling headline ‘ EFCC uncovers N37 bn fraud in humanitarian ministry, indicts Buharis ,minister, Contractor” The money was said to have been laundered in the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs under the watch of former minister, Sadiya Farouk . The humanitarian ministry was conceived and established to provide succour to the less vulnerable in the society but it turned out to have made the less vulnerable bitter with the government of the day.
Under the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari ,a former accountant general of the federation ,Ahmed Idris was investigated by the anti corruption agency,Economic and financial crime commission (EFCC )for alleged N109 billion naira fraud. The writer like every other Nigeria believes that the case will die a natural death with time ,as such has become the trend .
The special investigator ,Jim Obazee appointed by president Bola Ahmed Tinubu ,from reports that are in several newspapers in the country came out to tell the nation that it discovered 593 bank accounts located in the United States, United Kingdom and China in which the Central Bank of Nigeria under the watch of Godwin Emefiele kept Nigerian funds without authorisation by the board and investment committee of the bank. The special investigator also revealed how billions of naira were allegedly taken from the CBN accounts including a fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million -about N2.9 billion at the then official exchange rate of N461 to a dollar.
The sickness of corruption cuts across governments ,as under the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo,a senate president was impeached by his colleagues on allegation of corruption. A serving governor had to disguise like a woman to escape from being tried of corruption charges in the United Kingdom. There was equally allegations of billions of dollars meant for power generation, ended up in few pockets .
Under the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan the sickness of corruption was seen by many. EFFC is still investigating the minister of petroleum, Dieazani Allison Madueke for sickening sleaze . Another female minister, under that administration was probed for purchasing bullet proof jeeps without approval at a huge cost to the aviation ministry.
Even with the coming of the present administration of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the hydra-headed monster of corruption continues to show its ugly face ,as the minister of humanitarian affairs, Dr Beta Edu ,was suspended by the president on the allegation of paying the sum of 585 million naira meant for vulnerable groups into a private account.
About 15 years ago at the public presentation of the the book “Circle of Corruption ” at the Merit House Abuja ,the writer, who authored the book was asked on how the hydra -headed monster of corruption can been dealt with by pressman present ,and ones answer was that we needed to try the “Chinese treatment ” ,which was and still is dispatching anyone culpable of corruption to the other world. In making such an extreme suggestion ,one was mindful of the saying that a “terrible disease needs a terrible medication for its treatment ” . A situation whereby the sin of a corrupt person is forgiven for joining a political party as once espoused by a former chairman of the ruling party and a sitting Senator ,curbing corruption becomes a mirage.
In Nigeria ,it is not only the political class that are corrupt, as the civil servants also drink from the cup of corruption. In Abuja for example, most estates and mansions are owned by serving directors in the civil service ,who have made corruption a way of life . Most of them are even richer than the the ministers who superindent over their ministries or agencies .
Faith based leaders who are supposed to preach against the evil of corruption ,are equally immersed in the rivers of corruption that one is left in quandary as to who is free from corruption in Nigeria . The language widely spoken is corruption, which is why Transparency International and other anti -corruption agencies have always used us a reference point when discussing issues of corruption.
Another sickness that plagues this nation is bad leadership. This was why Chinua Achebe in his highly seminal work “The trouble with Nigeria ” pointed out the failure of leadership of being at the heart of Nigeria problem. Leaders that emerge in this country are not the ones that think and behave like Late Dr Julius Nyerenre of Tazania ,Dr Nelson Mandela , Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Paul Kagama of Rwanda ,etc . The leaders that emerge here are those that have chosen Mobutu Sese Sekou , Idi Amin ,Robert Mugabe and others that have booked a place in the hall of infamy as role models . With bad leadership, how can a country be moved from third world to first world ,as was experienced by the Singaporeans under the excellent leadership of Lee Kuan Yew?
We saw a situation when the Nigerian senate under the leadership of Ahmed Lawan was nicknamed “rubber stamp senate ” during president Mohammed Buharis administration. Nothing coming from the executive was subjected to legislative scrutiny. Nominees to executive offices were given “the take a bow” treatment even when they have skeletons on their cupboards. Such absurdity is what we are still seeing with the Senator Godswill Akpabio led Senate under President Ahmed Bola Tinubu administration. The senate president, is good at visiting the villa to get instructions from the president on how to run the senate. Who has forgotten his “prayers to the mail box ‘ of Senators? Whatever that means ,is left to many to conjecture .
Governors in the states receives security votes ,but security remains at the lowest ebb in most states across the nation . Coming to Abuja to collect monthly allocation becomes a fascination to most of them ,as they are not interested in wearing their thinking caps to organise their states in such a manner that ,it will be the central government in Abuja that will be coming to them for assistance.
Ministers are busy moving their personal ministries to the permanent site ,than the ministry assigned. It was in this country that a former minister of interior under president Olusegun Obasanjo, accused the former Attorney General of the federation, and a fellow minister, Chief Bola Ige ,of not being grateful to a government that invited him in his word to “Come and eat”. You should be wondering whether it was Egusi or Ewedu Soup that the late assassinated minister was asked to come and eat. Your guess of what the eating is all about is as good as mine. The writer ,had to title his book of poems “Come and Eat ” to document how government officials fail to raise the bar of good leadership in Nigeria.
The major sicknesses plaguing the nation are corruption and bad leadership, which if taken care of ,will take care of other social maladies and to get the two sicknesses out of the way ,the fight against corruption must be taken seriously by government in power and stringent punishment meted to those found culpable of corruption. A slap on the wrist for people caught in the act of corruption should not be the way to go. It is also left for the followership to take care of bad leadership, by ensuring that those that occupy political offices are those ready to conduct themselves with the canons of civilised behaviour ,and not characters that make political leadership looks like a no -go- area for Puritans.
Dr Uche Akunebu is the Head of poets of the world (poets del Mundo) in Nigeria and Editor of African book series of the international human rights arts Festival based in New York.
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