- Corruption is so ingrained and widespread that every new act of impropriety has a different dimension and scale from the previous one
Many Nigerians by now must have become numb and desensitised to corruption and malfeasance among public officers. The tales of these grand larcenies are stranger than fiction. From a snake swallowing N36 million at the Joint Admission Matriculation Board office in Benue to a Monkey swallowing N70 million at a farm of a northern senator, Nigerians have heard it. Corruption is so ingrained and widespread that every new act of impropriety has a different dimension and scale from the previous one. Many of these corrupt practices border treason. Yes! Treason.
The recovery of 753 units of homes in Abuja belonging to former Central Bank of Nigeria governor Godwin Emefiele did not come as a surprise to many Nigerians. To them, it is another episode of unconscionable and nefarious action by a civil servant. It is another example of how corruption has seeped through every pore of our being and how the managers of our affairs have turned over scarce resources and common patrimony into their personal properties. In most cases, it is not the indulgence in these sharp practices that confounds one but the inability to find a logical explanation for them. Take for example, what does one man need 753 units of duplexes for?
When it comes to getting caught on the wrong side of the law, this is not the first rodeo. In 2022, while he was still at the helm of the CBN, he violated the CBN acts. He picked the expression of interest forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election. This action was considered an aberration by any head of Nigeria’s apex bank and was against the dictates of the Central Bank Act, which provides that the occupant of the governor’s position must remain apolitical and independent at all times to preserve the non-partisan posture of the bank.
His actions are surprising but not unusual in a country where most public servants see public offices as their golden ticket to acquire questionable wealth and divert public funds to private pockets. He has only suffered the misfortune of being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His ordeal underscores the rascality and impunity that pervades the Nigerian public sector. But one would have thought that a man in charge of a sensitive and critical institution would show a bit of restraint in his pursuit of wealth.
The recovered duplexes have since been handed over to the federal government for onward sale to the public. But the issue here is not just about Emefiele alone, it goes beyond an individual. It is the system that allows a man to steal enough to embark on such massive property development. It is the system that folded its arms and watched as he used his position to corruptly enrich himself. Even more worrisome is the fact the recovered properties are the outcome of many corruption allegations levelled against him, some of which he’s being prosecuted for.
There are many more Emefieles in our civil service. We need to build strong institutions to check their greed and corrupt tendencies. But this may sound like asking for the impossible because the government of the day has not shown that it is ready to tackle and reduce corruption to the barest minimum. If anything, its body language seems to condone corruption and malfeasance.
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