Nigeria will not win the war against
corruption under the current administration of President Goodluck
Jonathan. You can’t win a battle you don’t fight. In fact, based on the
administration’s parley with corruption, one should not be surprised
when the corruption statistics of Nigeria get compiled after the
Jonathan administration, based on all that has happened so far, it would
easily be the most corrupt government in the history of government in
Nigeria.
The numbers are glaring for all to see
and here we have on record a celebrated state pardon for one of the
country’s most renowned corruption symbol Diepriye Alamieyeseigha who
himself is being positioned to run for the Senate in 2015. Add that to
the unprecedented levels of oil theft, plus the state backed fuel
subsidy hemorrhage of 2011, you have a nation virtually on its knees as
corrupt people run the show. How can all this be if there is no tacit
support from the President? Indeed there is because at numerous fora the
president has denied corruption being an issue in Nigeria. He chose the
path of ignoring the truth because when looking at the truth reflects
your own guilt, you either look away or deny the truth in its entirety.
You only look on if you are ready and willing to take in that truth
hook, line and sinker.
Many Nigerians are not aware the British Government made a request to have Diepreye Alamieyesegha extradited to the United Kingdom
to face corruption charges he escaped from in 2005. The Nigerian
government has consistently blocked this. While being a powerful
resident of one of Abuja’s posh areas and living the life of a king in
Nigeria, Mr. Alamieyeseigha remains a fugitive of the laws of the United
Kingdom. His case reflects the reality of corruption in Nigeria and the
length which the Nigerian government is willing to go to protect its
own – its own not being that they are Nigerians but being that they are
Nigerians connected to the current government and with some level of
political capital to be used in the 2015 elections. There will be no
fight against corruption under this government. One reality sums it up;
the man burdened with the role of charging corrupt public officials to
court through the various anti-corruption agencies is himself embroiled
in several corruption cases, notably the Malabu Oil deal. Attorney
General, Mohammed Adoke is regarded as one of the most corrupt officials
in this administration. If this allegation is remotely true – and there
has been a lot for one to consider the allegations – then whoever
expects a serious fight against corruption might as well expect Nigeria
to win the 2010 World Cup. It is a lost cause.
The ASUU strike is now 100 days old.
There is no end in sight even today. 100 days is significant because
various Nigerian governments like to celebrate their successes in office
in the first 100 days. Never mind that most of what they celebrate are
mediocre efforts at getting things done. That the strike is now in its
100th day is not as mind troubling as the fact that there is no solution
in sight. The President has been very busy with other personal matters.
Top of which is his battle of power with the so-called New PDP. While
these oppressors of the Nigerian people settle their scores, it appears
Nigerians will have to wait for any meaningful governance. Nigerian
students must prepare to stay at home for even longer. Except of course
they disrupt the peace of the land one way or the other. They do not
matter because no one hears their silence. If you want to be heard in
Nigeria, silence is not your best shot.
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