24 Sep 2006 |
|
The Potency of Deterrence In the wee hours of the morning, they were tied to the stakes in a nondescript firing range and, one after the other, the executioners took aim and silenced the three men within minutes. The staccato of rapid gun fire ripped through the early morning silence, birds scampering about and chirping away in the distance. Against international pleas for mercy, then Head of State, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings calmly announced to the world that Generals Afriye, Achampong and Akufo, all former Heads of State of Ghana had been executed. He acused them of massive corruption, self aggrandizement and betraying the trust of Ghanaians among other crimes. These acts against their sacred leadership roles, collectively, brought Ghana to the brink of total collapse, he explained. Rawlings therefore felt that it was imperative to do something about the cankerworm of executive corruption, greed and official malefeasence that seemed to afflict a broad spectrum of the country’s political leadership at the time. Today, many years later, Ghana is one of the most stable economies, peaceful and thriving democracies in the sub-region, if not in the whole of Africa. We can not and must not ignore the fact that the potency of deterrence had something to do with it. Many have argued that Ghana is not Nigeria. That the politics of the latter is far more complicated than those of the former. Yet, all agree that the ramifications of logic-defying greed, corruption and executive malefeasence amongst Nigerian politicians and public office holders, past and present, is one of the most debilitating hailments of the country. What is more worrisome at this point is the lack or absence of any coherent strategy of deterrence to combat it by the current political dispensation. While it is noteworthy that the EFCC is doing its best to stem the tide, it comes at a time when we need to be more proactive than retroactive. Besides, the seemingly selective fight by the EFCC has only fueled the perception that it is Obasanjo’s political tool against those with whom he has an ax to grind. If not, why are some of the known corrupt leaders in the country outside the reach of the EFCC operatives? Why are all the president’s men in the PDP known to have embezzled billions of naira still walking free as saints? Why is the notorious evil genius and retired General Ibrahim Babangida still talking in Minna despite the empirical evidence of his greed ,corruption and propensity to cause more harm to the country? In more advanced countries, Babangida and all his accomplices would have been prosecuted, locked away for good in a place where the images of sunrise and sunset would become pure luxuries over time! In disecting Nigeria’s intractable cancer of corruption, one thing amazingly becomes clear. It is our growing fascination with the leaders we know are corrupt. How we hero-worship them, uplift them and generally put them in the status of celebrities and rock-stars. It would not be out of the norm for disgraced former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tofa Balogun to go back to his village and community as a thorough-bred hero. It would not be uncommon for his people to throw him a welcome party, a week-long bash culminating in his award of the highest chieftaincy title in the land. Thus, buttressing the acclaim that Nigeria is now the honorary degree and chieftaincy award capital of the world. We have become a nation bereft of any value system and a nation without a soul.
If Alamieyeseigha did not have the misfortune of over- reaching his luck, at the end the day, the former governor would have bagged several honorary degrees and chieftaincy titles. While the people of the state of Bayelsa would be struggling hard to construct new titles to befit his heroics while in power. What a shame! If our vulgar and grotesque sense of values do not make you puke, consider this. Obasanjo has just been conferred with the title: “the father, founder and leader of modern Nigeria” by the National Executive Congress of the PDP! Now you wonder if the PDP is a political party or a secret cult. You wonder if the men and women of the party really live in Nigeria. It seems to me an elixir is reacting with their bloated egos, blinding them to see the mainstream and reality that is life in Nigeria. The title of “the father, founder and leader of modern Nigeria” is as misleading as it is downright disingenuous. What is so modern about a country whose larger population has no electricity, clean water, jobs, a rapidly decaying socio-economic infrastructure and people mired in the abyss of despicable poverty? Take also the fact that Nigeria is now ranked 146th in the global economic chart by leading economic and financial institutions of the world. It is imperative to drum the point home. There is nothing modern about a country where: hopelessness is as abundant as the crude-oil oozing out of the land and waters of the Niger-delta. political assassinations are proving to be a cottage industry. men of the police force and armed robbers have signed a secret pact of lasting friendship! multi-billionaires are springing up faster than companies and factories are closing down. politics is less about ideas and more about contracts and money bags. There is nothing modern about a country where the ideals of democracy is being severely emasculated and the rule of Law has clearly become an ass. Please, welcome to modern Nigeria! As instructive and inspiring as it shows, can the Rawlings doctrine work in Nigeria? Yes, you bet it can. But not until a real leader with a fist full of courage shows up. A leader who can finally confront the Babangidas, the Umaru Dikkkos, the Bode Georges, the Obasanjos, the Anenihs, the untouchable Chris Ubas and a host of others and make them account for their past, their present and their wealth. The only way that Nigeria can be on the path of real and sustainable development and progress over time (like Ghana) is to have a proactive deterrence strategy that will make public office holders, politicians and what have you, think not only twice but multiple times about death and the chance of a long, long prison sentence before they award that bogus contract, divert public funds, buy up all Transcorp shares and other financial shenanigans. A situation where Tofa Balogun embezzles billions of naira and goes to jail for only six months does not cut it. We can do better at reinventing ourselves.
“When a man does not stand for something, he will fall for anything.’’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.