Nigeria

Peddling Corruption

/ Adeola / 1 Comment
    By Adeola Aderounmu

Why Nigeria May Be Named As The Most Corrupt Nation in 2009

Nigerian politics thrives on lies, deceit and shamelessness. In 2009 Nigeria will probably be named as the most corrupt country in the world. The chances are high and the risk ever present.

Nigerians have been named in the Halliburton bribe scandals and the so called Attorney General of Nigeria Mr. Aondoakaa is still beating about the bush on a matter that is before the entire world. Such a silly attitude reveals a lot about nonentities in power in Nigeria.

Abacha is not alive and therefore cannot answer to any bribery accusation. What about Abdulsalami and Obasanjo? Non-invisible NNPC officials have also been named. The truth is none of these men will suffer under the short arm of the Nigerian law. They are free, untouchables and unaccountable. It doesn’t matter what has happened to Halliburton in the US, Germany or Switzerland. We are talking about Nigeria and “nothing dey happen”! “No shakings”!

Nothing will happen because in Nigeria there is no rule of law and corruption is a way of life. In Nigeria corruption is fought with mouth and on the pages of newspaper. Those who suffer from the consequences of corruption in Nigeria can go to hell! They are the over 70m people who cannot afford a single decent meal under a 24 hour period. They probably also include an additional 20-30 percent who are living one less than 2 dollars per day.

Aondoakaa cannot prosecute Obasanjo or Abdusalami or any other corrupt Nigerian politician for that matter. He cannot, because he was brought in by one of the most corrupt processes ever to have taken place in Nigeria. He was rewarded with his position because Ibori his master invariably took over the running of Nigeria when Obasanjo was disgraced out of power. Elsewhere, I have stated that this illegal regime in Nigeria lacks the morality to pursue the rule of law. I think that I have been justified.

The EFCC also cannot prosecute Obasanjo or the other corrupt people involve in the scandal. Farida is the second stooge for Ibori. I felt so sorry for those men discussing democratic license on AIT on 5th April 2009 because though they spoke the truth, they could not hit the nail with the correct hammer. They, like millions of Nigerians, wanted the Nigerian government to do the right thing but they refused to say why the government will not do anything. I have also stated that in Nigeria only the masses and defenceless like me suffer from the hands of the law

An illegal government borne of corruption cannot fight corruption. One of the guys on the AIT program named Mr. Memedu Andrew of ACTIONAID mentioned though that in 48 years of Nigeria’s existence, more than 64 trillion naira has disappeared into thin air. This according to him is equivalent to the stealing of Nigeria’s Federal Budget for 20 years!!! Then I knew I was right all along when I wrote 48 years of waste at the end of 2008

What kind of indices are used to measure corruption? I have looked macroscopically on a global level and I cannot find a nation more corrupt than Dora’s Nigeria. Sincerely, the microscopic details need to be made clearer. In a country where more than 90m of the citizens are deliberately deprived of their dignity and human rights I found no other competitor for the most devastating effect of corruption perpetrated by a clique.

Halliburton and the corrupt non-Nigerian officials have been prosecuted and made to face the music in other countries but nothing has happened in Nigeria. Yes America is corrupt, UK is corrupt, Sweden is corrupt but corruption with a face is punished in these countries. In Nigeria corruption with faces are rewarded.

If Aondoakka or Farida dare to prosecute Obasanjo or Abdulsalami the event will trigger a chain reaction that will probably lead to that cleansing that Nigeria has been longing for. It is a process that is vital to branding of Nigeria and the eradication of mass poverty. But these beneficiaries of corruption (that is Aondoakaaa and Farida) will not dare to start a process that will consume them in the end. This is part of the biggest problems we face in this country. We have no heroes!

We need heroes, we need a reaction and a system that will throw corrupt people where they really belong-JAIL. With the current perception of the Nigerian government, this is most unlikely. Therefore when the results for corrupt nations will be announced in 2009 Nigeria will make a lucky escape if she does not sit tight at the bottom of the ladder. If this Halliburton case is aligned with the Siemens Scandal, the Power Probe in the Senate and the hundreds of other probes that have been swept under the carpet, I do not see any reason why anyone should raise an eyebrow if Nigeria has no competitor for the bottom spot as the most corrupt country in the world.

I was shocked to my bone marrow when Umaru was lamenting the absence of Nigeria from the G-20 meeting that took place in London recently. I was shocked because the meeting did not say C-20 which would have meant top 20 most Corrupt Nation. I would have been surprised if that type of invitation was not extended to Nigeria. Even the hosting would have been billed for Abuja-the cradle of corruption. Really, is Nigeria a part of the global village? How could anyone one miss the purpose of that meeting in London? Did they mention Ghana-must-go bags or illegal oil rigs? Did they mention money laundering or kick backs?

Which other government in the world emphasises so much on the rule of law and due process without taking definite steps towards actualising the slogans? Obviously none! It is better to keep quiet and do something than to make so much noise and do nothing. In 2009 Nigeria, the best rebranding that can be done is to prosecute and jail all the corrupt people that we now know by names.

The next step towards a successful rebranding will be to count our votes as soon as possible. Those fake rebranding jingles being sounded across the country are actually contributing to poverty and impoverishment and any partaker in such operations is a pure enemy of Nigeria. If the money being wasted on this worthless project is used to deliver bore holes to some communities, innocent children and the fragile elderly will be saved from water-borne diseases and untimely deaths. Such people like Dora and her gang who are busy rebranding corruption can only do so because of the insanity of our political culture. For now they can carry on with their mad acts under one of the most corrupt governments known to man.

The Nigerian government will not raise a finger about these cases going by the recent declaration of Aondoakaa at the recent FEC meeting in Abuja. Even Dora appeared during the week saying Nigeria will prosecute the Nigerians mentioned in the Halliburton scandal. What a propaganda machine? These people don’t care about the image of Nigeria. They only care about the personal wealth they amass. They are in a war of “who is the richest” through looting. They care about these perishable earthly things more than the decency and dignity of their fellow country men. They don’t give a damn about the situation of the over 90m Nigerians living desperately below the poverty level.

Finally, I do not look forward to any Nigerian official denying or even crying when the international reports that may confirm Nigeria as the most corrupt country in the world in 2009. The Halliburton and the Siemens scandal, among several others are there for all to see.

If we (the ordinary masses) cannot do anything about it and we let our government take us for a ride one more time, then we must be ready to live with all those unpalatable national and international stigmas that plainly reveal the stupidity of rebranding.

Corruption Rebranded

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu.

On March 17 the project to rebrand Nigeria was launched in Abuja. At the occasion where Yar Adua was represented by Goodluck Jonathan, Dora Akunyili likened her pet project to WAI of the military era. It is shocking that this launching became a reality less than one week after Dora was sweating and lamenting at the National assembly where she was summoned to defend the funding for the project.

At that hearing she lied when she said that the rebranding is by Nigerians and for Nigerians. Which Nigerians was she talking about- mama Risi who is selling rice on the street or Papa Victor who does not know how to get to work tomorrow? Could she be talking about the loads of unemployed Nigerians?

Prior to this launching which would have gulped millions or billions of naira on its own, I have read with dismay the call to rebrand Nigeria. It is one of the most inappropriate calls I’ve heard in recent time which unfortunately and tragically has now been realized.

If Dora Akunyili and the pro-branders are not aware, then may I humbly tell them that Nigeria cannot be rebranded? The obvious brand-able things in Nigeria since 1959 are corruption, underdevelopment and massive looting.

It is true that some countries go for branding in order to promote their national businesses and trade. But at this point Dora and her protagonists (especially those seeking political favours) must be told that branding or rebranding as being loosely tagged in this case is not the same as tourism promotion.It is also absolutely not the same as Idiagbon’s WAI.

Malaysia-truly Asia is one of the most popular tourism promotion slogans on CNN. That is not branding. To bring people to Malaysia for tourism, the country has done a lot of work to raise the country from being under-developed to a growing world economy. Malaysia boasts one of south-east Asia’s most vibrant economies, the fruit of decades of industrial growth and political stability-(BBC)

Nigeria does not need rebranding. This project will amount to another white elephant project that will drain the treasury. Even the lazy lawmakers in Abuja were shocked as they do not even know where the money for the project would be coming from. Their fears cannot be described as genuine anyway because as political jobbers/opportunists, they will not let any amount of money fly in their faces without their own cuts. But after Dora’s visit the deal was sealed and delivered!

Dora should have diverted her “informative” energy inwards. She should be informing the concerned authorities about the urgent need to provide this country with constant electricity, good roads, security of lives and property, good schools for all, employment opportunities, sense of belonging, human dignity, respect, voting rights, rewards for labour, and dividends of (true democracy).

The Nigerian leadership has an obligation to ensure transparency in governance, prosecutions of corrupt people in both public and private offices and preservation of the institutions on which the unity of the country resides. After doing these things and much more to improve the standard and quality of lives, the branding is then complete.

There is no greater branding than the quality of lives that the people have. If Dora Akunyili is representing Nigeria at a global fair say in Canada for example, how would she rebrand Nigeria to the business community? Should they start their businesses in Nigeria and import electricity from Europe or America? I have no doubts in my mind that rebranding is the making of a shallow non-creative mind.

Elusive Electoral Reform

Probably the most important proposal on the recommendations of the Electoral Committee set up by Umaru Yar Adua was overturned by Yar Adua himself and his co-travelers. The ideology behind the FEC decision is to promote dictatorship rather than preserving the constitutional roles of a president. Nigerian politicians in their myopism do not always see the need for positive changes and progress.

Nigerians should insist as they have done now on the retention of all the recommendations of the Electoral Committee. Total expunging of the operations of the present Electoral Commission is one of the several useful steps towards building a true democracy for Nigeria. We are yet to democratize Nigeria and the longer we wait, the lower our standard of living drops. All forms of dictatorial tendencies should be vehemently resisted.

The electoral committee gave a landmark proposition in suggesting that laid down procedures should be followed in the appointment of an Independent Electoral Commission chairman. My interpretation of the procedures is that the process should rest on an institution and not on a person.

That institutions, and not persons, do function is paramount to building a successful society or nation. Many institutions in Nigeria including the office of the presidency have failed because they depend on people rather than viable blueprints and guidelines.

What is about to be taken away from Nigerians yet again by Yar Adua and the FEC is the golden opportunity to build one of the outstanding pillars on which the survival of this nation should rest upon. For as long as our elections do not work because of our malformed behaviours and absence of credible electoral institutions, then hardly will anything work out well.

The temporal man in charge of Nigeria learned too quickly the national mentality of Nigerians and obviously he is riding high on that belief that Nigerians have short memory-they forget how things should be done the right way. Perhaps they don’t even know how things should be done because since their colonial master left in 1960, they have not put one right step forward, democratically. Goodluck Jonathan was right; rebranding Nigeria will not work like Big Bang. However, only a Big Bang can put Nigeria on the world 20 by 2020.

Nigeria: An Elusive Electoral Reform

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

After spending weeks and months touring the country in search of a genuine and workable electoral process, the electoral reform committee had their most important proposal overturn by the FEC-Federal Executive Committee.

A sitting president in Nigeria wants to keep the constitutional right to appoint the head of the Electoral committee. This overturn is not actually to suit Yar Adua. It is meant to suit anyone who finds himself in that maximum position.

Nigeria is ruled by a cabal and they are the ones that have actually rejected that proposal. They are making it clear that an incumbent (legally or illegally bundled into power) should hold on to the most viable source of self-perpetration.

True, it is the constitutional right of the president but who says that the constitutional cannot be amended? And what is even wrong for once to abandon such an ego-boosting function and allow a free flowing form of democracy? Everything is wrong with that in my country where the winners of political offices are the men and women with most money to spend and much more to loot.

And after listening to the views of some political gladiators I know that democracy is far from Nigeria. Nigerian politicians are ever selfish and those controlling the instrument of governance are the least people in search of change.

There is nothing wrong, to hand over the process leading to the emergence of the electoral chairman, to the National Judiciary Commission. If the NJC is controlled by the presidency, then the control should be removed. Nigeria and Nigerians must allow institutions to work.

Nigeria will not work until the institutions start to function. We must eliminate the reliance on people and leaders-they have all failed and that is why probably 40% of Nigerians are unemployed and more than 90m people are living desperately on less than 1 dollar per day.

Atiku Abubakar Needs Help

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Once out of power, many individuals cannot handle the situation. They get so illusioned about the realities of life that they start to do (sometimes) crazy things and express (quite often) unbelievable expressions.

Atiku Abubakar is the former vice president of Nigeria. He occupied that position for 8 years (1999-2007).

Now, Atiku says that Nigeria’s problem is leadership.

This is what I don’t understand about Nigerian Politicians. When did he realise that leadership was our problem? What did he do about it as the VP for 8 years? He mentioned that Obasanjo was not prepared to be a leader?

Why would any sane person be the vice president for a leader whom you know is not ready for such a position.

The other day, Atiku went to Otta to reconcile with Obasanjo.

If we put this statement side-by-side with the visit to Otta, it means he is telling us that he is ready to be our next president.

I hope that dream never comes true.

Atiku belongs to the group of politicians who have milked Nigeria dry. He stole, and stole and stole. This is the same with Obasanjo. They both stole as much as they could and we remember very well, the bitter war that they fought over the third term agenda of Obasanjo.

If Atiku is forgetful, someone should show him the way to his favourite clinic-The London Hospital. He needs a checkup before his senility surpasses that of that man in East Africa.

AND can someone nearby tell Atiku to shut-up!

He is making a fool of himself with his actions and utterances. He must stop insulting our collective intelligence.

8 years of Atiku-Obasanjo must NEVER be allowed to re-surface in Nigeria under any guise, not even as Atiku as president.

I hope the people will be allowed to vote for once in their life time whenever the next election is schedule to hold. I hope Nigeria gets out of the stagnation of 49 years!!!

With someone like Atiku thinking of leading Nigeria: No greater hopelessness!!!

1960-2008: Nigeria has wasted 2 generations and 48 years

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu.

Not everyone will agree that 2008 was another wasted year but in actual fact, it was wasted. To those who have managed to climb up and away from the poverty zone, it is a year of accomplishment. To those who have succeeded through hardwork and a little bit of luck, it is a wonderful year.

However, more than 90m Nigerians are still below the poverty level. Many of them living desperately on less than 2 USD per day. To be sure, there are some people in Nigeria who do not have any money or material comfort. These people are neither covered by any form of social security nor consoled by the any type of social amenity. They lack the basic things of life: water, food and good accommodation. In general, their standard of living is below acceptable human conditions.

Several millions of Nigerians will start 2009 just the way they started 2008-poor and facing extreme hopelessness. They will start a new year without electricity in their homes. Nigeria is currently generating less than 3000 MW of electricity! Power supply in the last quarter of 2008 is one of the worst in the history of Nigeria. There are many days of absolute power cut and (sometimes) intermittent supply of about 30min in 2 days. Is Nigeria really a country?

Yet Nigerians are addressing Yar Adua as president. What has he successfully presided over since he was illegally bundled into power by Obasanjo and Iwu? Nigerians know that they are being held as captives but they don’t know how to release themselves from the bondage.

No one can deny that the Nigerian masses are being held as captives by a clique of tropical gangsters who have “bought” the country and turned it to their paradise and our hell. It is so unbelievable that these monsters have held swayed for most part of the 48 years of Nigerian independence. It is also remarkable how they re-group and recruit new accomplices in order to ensure that evil and terror are perpetually unleashed on the common man.

For instance Yar Adua’s fake government is oiled by corruption just like the others before it. How long shall we repeat this? Everytime I hear Yar Adua condemning corruption, I get stomach pains. How can you condemn something that you are enmeshed in, something you are doing almost nothing about in the interest of the public even though you have the transient or stolen power to do so?

Can Yar Adua tell Nigerians why Ibori is not facing prosecution? Why did Lucky Igbinedion pay just 3 million naira after looting for 8 years? Why are all the indicted governors and Ministers from 1999 to 2007 free people? Yar Adua should please save us the hypocrisy of his pseudo-leadership. It is not possible to fool all the people all the time.

It is now known to all and sundry that Ibori is the one controlling the EFCC nowadays. This would explain why Farida is his foot mat. Ibori has perfected the act of escaping prosecution. This guy stole Delta State to dryness and he is enjoying a post-governorship immunity simply because he donated more money than anyone else in sponsoring Yar Adua to the global centre of corruption aka Aso Rock.

Among the people who have contributed to the waste and hopelessness in Nigeria, one should never fail to mention Obasanjo. In Nigeria today, NEPA is generating less than 3000MW and the misdeeds of Obasanjo and his co-looters is a principal factor in this debacle. For 8 years, this man deceived all Nigerians and made us believed in vain. Nigerian are invariably in for another ride of deceit-waiting in vain for a declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector.

Maurice Iwu has joined the long list of the men holding Nigerians as captives. All the elections held even after the sham of April 2007 are still condemnable. The worst political comment in the world in 2008 was made by Iwu when he said that the US should learn from Nigeria when it comes to conducting election. The comments of senile Mugabe (“Zimbabwe is mine” and “no cholera in Zimbabwe”) are child’s play compared to Iwu’s venomous utterances. Nigeria is surely condemned when men without defined visions or missions are in control.

Anyone who has been following the proceedings of the Nigerian Senate under the leadership of the mega-looter called David Mark would really feel sorry for Nigeria. There is almost no room for intelligent discussions and Mark is usually way off the mark when he makes his comments. Nigerians have sacrificed intelligence for stupidity and looting games in the Nigerian Senate and House of Assembly.

David Mark has no business in the Senate anyway. After participating in the looting of Nigeria, it is quite easy to understand the negative contributions he brings with him to the senate. The war on corruption, if we had one, should have engulfed his likes.

The reigning gangsters and looters in Nigeria are surely having a jolly ride with a man like Michael Aondoakaa in control of the legal system. He is not only shielding and defending the looters in Nigeria and abroad, his idea of rule of law is very instrumental in the spreading of poverty and deaths in Nigeria.

What these bad leaders don’t understand is that every little misdeed adds up to the misery of Nigerians. Why protect people who stole monies that they cannot spend in 10x their life span? Obviously he is gaining a lot in the process! One day na one day sha!

There is no way Babangida will not be on this parade. More than 12 billion dollars of Nigeria’s money alleged to be in his possession is enough to keep Nigeria in the doldrums for another decade or more. If 12 billion dollars is pumped into Nigeria’s scientific and medical research and development (R&D), almost all Nigerian scholars abroad will be heading home to contribute to the progress of the country.

We don’t need a prophecy to know that Nigerians will continue to suffer because of a few men in possession of the country’s wealth. If there is war on corruption in Nigeria, many of the people parading government houses in Nigeria today should be answering for corruption and crime against humanity.

There is no real anticorruption body in Nigeria and this is why politicians and government officials continue to steal. Obasanjo destroyed the EFCC by using it to crack down on all anti-third term groups and individuals. The rules have changed under Umaru-soft pedal for all and sundry. Slow and steady kill the case was the modification by Farida Waziri-a pure puppet.

If Nigeria has a proper anticorruption agency, it would be independent, open and sincere. The EFCC of today is a shield for the likes of Ibori and all the corrupt governors and politicians that served under Obasanjo. Those who served and lined their pockets before 1999 are not even moved. The only worried groups in Nigeria today are the yahoo-yahoo boys, cybercafé owners and of course the common man. EFCC has even dedicated a drama series to yahoo-yahoo boys on AIT. What a joke of an institution!

Forty-eight years of waste was solidify by the lukewarmness of the Nigerian judiciary. This organ of government has disappointed Nigerians over the years and more recently has produced highly questionable and contestable judgements. The court has made it possible for individuals who did not contest in elections to be winners. Serving convicts and ex-convicts contested and won elections in Nigeria. Imagine how many criminals are occupying political positions in Nigeria. The disposition of the Courts in Nigeria is one of the reasons that the police stations have been turned to firing squads. The Nigerian Police is a sick child on its own: a very sick child! When it mattered most, Nigerian law system usually becomes heavily compromised.

All of these evil acts that have confined Nigeria among the poorest nations in the world is actually the summation of the effects of a group fondly called “the cabal“. The cabal is the reason why sane and intelligent minds get to government houses and become stereotyped looting machines.

Even Nigerians who lived abroad before joining government have not been spared the initiation into the looting game. The cabal preaches a gospel of eat and go and don’t bug yourself with the status quo. This is why many nice people have become “new creatures” once they eat the forbidden fruits. It is because of the cabal that our elections have no values and are unworkable. The cabal is responsible for the annulment of the only free and fair election that took place in 1993.

The sins of the cabal are many but its prime approach is to promote fear and ignorance with the view of controlling the machinery of government forever. The newest approach being utilised by the cabal is the secrecy oath in the illegal presidency which is now being adopted across government institutions nationwide. What is secret about the illegality of the regime in Nigeria? What is the secret about the fact that they are all there to protect their personal interests and steal as much as they can just like the deceivers before them.

The problems in Nigeria are not going to be solved or ameliorated if we don’t take care of the stumbling blocks. Nigerians have been quiet for too long and everybody is after his or her own interests. It shouldn’t be like that. Some people have called for a revolution but Nigeria is a very complicated country and this complication is one of the weak points that the cabal and the corrupt leaders are using to oppress Nigerians more and more. Some people want the biblical call: To thy tent O’ Israel! The Niger Delta crisis, the threats of religious riots, tribal conflicts and secession bids are obvious indicators.

Rather than “every-man-to-himself” Nigerians should start thinking collectively of how rescue the over 90m people living hopelessly across the nation. We should come together and discuss whatever it will entail to capture this country back from the vultures who have been stealing and looting since 1960. If the outcome will send us back to our tents, so be it. Posterity should be the keyword.

After chasing Ghanaians out of Nigeria, they went home and built a formidable country that Nigerians are running to like rats. Ghana is now ranked as one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. The actions and leadership of one man changed Ghana forever. The lesson is that one man can make a difference. Enlightened Nigerians have the honour to take up this challenge and start building formidable forces and groups that will challenge the “status quo”.

We must do whatever it will take to break from this yoke. It’s too heavy a burden and one way or the other we all feel the effects. Let’s do what it takes to free our children and grandchildren from this burden.

Happy New Year!