The Positive Side of Corruption in Nigeria

Ecological Fund: An Epicentre of Corruption

Recently, I had the privilege to honor a befitting dinner hosted by a friend for a family friend’s promotion to the management board of a leading upstream oil and gas company based in Port Harcourt. The event at the Toki Hotel and Resort, along slaughter, was peopled by friends and friends of friends- captains of industry and business moguls, including of course, members of the political class and top security personnel; some I was meeting for the very first time since creation. With cocktail served, the talks, as usual, amongst the invitees at the pre-dinner chamber where we were served aperitifs, were about the state of the nation. The discussions were largely centred on the economy, security, poor electricity supply and, unabated corruption in the land.
The host introduced me as a straight-shooter and kick-started the discussion when he asked if I still belong to the Marxist school of thought and if I still have the time to write. Of course, I still write and still belong to the Marxist school of thought but with slight modifications to accommodate my religious belief.
More than half of the thirty-five or so guests at the dinner thought that Nigeria is a lost case; that was the gist. I did not agree with their opinion, if it can be defined as such. I told them emphatically that Nigeria is too a corrupt nation for break up. Most of them were stunned, but within few minutes or so, and on second thought of my opinion, they unanimously agreed with me. To me, at this time in our nation’s history, this is the positive side of the cankerworm called corruption- the glue that holds us together by default. We have, as a people, done everything in the books of sanity to precipitate- a disintegration of the country but we remain pretentiously united.the endemic corruption that has soaked the Nigerian society from the top to the roots is what is really sustaining the apparent unity that we enjoy gleefully.
In one of my published articles sometimes in 2007 at the heat of the Yuguda Gubernatorial Campaign in Bauchi State, I wrote that “corruption in Nigeria is a function of utilitarianism” – an 18th century theory by Jeremy Bentham that the value of a thing or action is determined by its utility. It is the ethical theory that all actions should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, unwittingly, our deep-seated corruption is saving the nation from disintegration, unwittingly if you are so inclined. Settling a few Judas and sadists in the society, is what is ordinarily needed to scuttle a negative or opposition movement that could cumulate into a break-up of a great country like ours.
Now you can see clearly why it is difficult and near impossible to tackle corruption head-on in Nigeria; it has become a national drive that is wielding up the cracks that manifest in our unpatriotic life. I will still borrow from Jeremy Bentham in his “ideas of the useful and the good”. Jeremy concluded that, “Nature has placed mankind under the influence of two sovereign masters – pain and pleasure……they govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think; every effort we can make to throw off this suggestion, will only serve but to demonstrate and confirm it”.
Corruption has become the only vehicle to prosperity in our Nigeria of today. Shamelessly, all the corrupt ones are believers in the existence of God, they believe in the existence of hell fire and they believe that there is nemesis, the law of nature. Yet, they sustain corruption to flourish and pauperize the hopeless and the weak.
Corruption has its attendant recognition that honors consistently the very corrupt elements-both by state and the ordinary people on the streets. The only caution is “thou shalt not be caught,” which is the 11th Commandment.
No amount of agencies, except being seen to do something, will put a dent in corrupt practices in our drowning Nigeria. With the level of corruption on display confidently, the “key performance indicator” to show that we are serious about fighting corruption should have been a high number of high profile personalities behind bars (sent to goal for a long sentence). Alas, nobody is behind except few unfortunate ones that could not grease some palms; instead they rule our lives-complicating an already complicated hopeless life.
When I was growing up in my then sleepy village, now a local government headquarters lacking all the basic amenities of life including security structure, we used to tiptoe in front of visiting personalities to our town as if we they could make us rich. Today, these anti-socials rule the streets and their residences guarded by heavily armed state security – that’s the might of the state. While the system secures the lives of outlaws, the law abiding and loyal citizens are laid bare-bereft of any form of security. They are thrown to the bandits, insurgents, armed robbers and kidnappers courtesy of the pen robbers and their hardened collaborators on the political turf occupying exalted political positions with poor education, morals and exposure.
We have seen the bad side of corruption; I have enumerated the good side, even if it’s by default. We have deployed too much energy trying to fight and defeat corruption but it appears that we cannot ever win the war even with Mr. Honesty President Buhari leading the war. There in the presidency, there is monumental corruption going on unabated.
There are at least two schools of thought:- do we impoverish, further, the already poor to fight corruption, or do we better the lives of the poor to fight and defeat corruption. What I believe is that the masses are the foot soldiers in any corrupt practice, and conversely, they could be the foot soldiers in the merciless war against corruption anywhere and any day. The state, however, would need to provide an enabling environment for the wretched on planet earth to have easy access to the basics of life- food, clothing and shelter. With these things, the society would have won the masses onto the side of the war against corruption. The poor regard this basic standard of living as gold and can die while preserving them. The less privileged would always be on the side of who provides them these basic necessities of life- the government or the outlaws.
The dinner and the discussion were exhilarating; the food was tasty and good. I did have a swell time, but then the grumbling continues: when I got to my hotel, there was no electricity and the standby generator had developed mechanical fault- that’s why. Well, well…… what else can I say? While I laid on bed in the dark, my mind loomed to some incredible dimension on what we are being subjected as citizens by those our leaders. What a life! What does it take to dig us out of this quagmire we found ourselves artificially created by our leaders? Somebody had said that, may be, it’s corruption that would be used to fight corruption at the long ran. But, with such an opinion, was he campaigning or suggesting the legalizing of corruption as an acceptable way of life in Nigeria? After all, there are some societies that legalized the use of cannabis (marijuana). Some have legalized gay marriage while others have legalized prostitution. I don’t really know what that means, and I am not trying to understand for any benefit. If corruption has any value, what is in it for me is not to be corrupt or support corrupt practice? I prefer to team up with bloody revolutionaries than to stand in the row of the corrupt. But with time on our side, within the next decade, the Nigeria of today will be a changed Nigeria through a well coordinated revolution coming soon. The system needs complete sanitization from top to bottom. The guilty must be posted to their ancestors wherever they may be. Nigeria must move forward as a united and progressive nation with happy and contended people. All machineries of governance must be oiled for the task of nation building. Time shall tell. I come in peace!
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues

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