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Where is the Jerry Rawling of
Nigeria
?
By
Dr. Phil Tam-Al Alalibo
There is no Nigerian alive today that would not reckon the rot in the Nigerian society, the avarice, greed and wanton corruption that behold the fabric of our society. Indeed, if Nigerian corruption were an earthquake, it would register a ten on the richter scale. On my recent trip to
Nigeria
just a few months ago; this sordid attitude of the Nigerian was on full and uncompromised display upon arrival in
Lagos
. The smell of corruption was high and palpable in the roasting Nigerian air, presenting a sharp contrast to the
Americas
I left behind. I should have known better for I was traveling to the world’s hub of corruption and assorted vices. At the airport, I watched in awe as the worthless and ignoble members of the various arms of the Nigerian Aviation swooped on hapless travelers, collecting bribes and gifts from them arbitrarily.
One gentleman from
Korea
was the most hit by these unrepentant vultures of the Nigerian humanity. Unable to understand their coded language of bribery and corruption, he was wantonly subjected to a needless search in hopes that he would get the idea and part with some dollars. First, they searched his bags, his carry-on and then his person. When he opened his carry-on and the rapacious vultures in uniform saw his laptop, they asked that it be removed for further inspection. What could they possibly inspect in his laptop? What would they be looking for, classified documents? These were uneducated ingrates that cannot operate a laptop to save their lives asking to inspect it.
I continued to watch in painful distress as the helpless foreigner complied unaware that it might be the last time he would see his laptop that I am sure contained vital work-related documents that would be difficult to replace. I tried to whisper to him to resist their request, but the poor man understood very little English (I wondered what he was doing in
Nigeria
) making communication extremely difficult. Seeing his helplessness in a foreign land, I was forced, out of sheer compassion, to intervene and the following conversation ensued with the grow-fat and do-nothing bribe-taking Custom officers of the great nation of
Nigeria
;
“Why do you need to inspect his laptop, officer,” I inquired angrily damning the consequences that may come my way.
“Are you with him?” asked another official that appeared to have already planned how he would sell the laptop and spend the proceeds.
“Does it matter if I am with him or not? Is it because he has not given you money that you are subjecting him to this search? Why are you not searching others? Let him go or I will be forced to call the Minister who is a personal friend,” I said emphatically as I reached for my mobile phone in my inner suit pocket and pretended I was searching for the minister’s number.
It worked.
Upon seeing this action, the bribe-takers changed their tone and assumed the posture of alter boys –
“Sorry sir,” said the ring leader. “Welcome to
Nigeria
” he said to the Korean visitor as he returned his laptop and waved him on. With that, he waved me on as well and wished me well.
There was more of this shenanigan to come in
Lagos
with the numerous road side checks mounted by the police and army. At each stop, I saw drivers handing out N20 bills. At one stop, the police officer simply held out his hand as drivers slowed down and slapped it with N20 bill and sped off. What then was the purpose of the road check? When it came to our vehicle, I instructed the driver who was preparing his N20 bill to put it away. He protested vehemently that they would detain and engage us needlessly, and he was right. At the check point, when the police officer noticed that we had broken the trend, he ordered our vehicle to pull aside and one of his colleagues approached us while he resumed the trend.
“Where are you going,” he asked with an air of authority as though that were any business of his. His looks were awful for an officer of the Nigerian Police Force. His shirt un-iron and his boot was worn out and torn in several places. Even the ragtag police of war-torn
Somalia
had a more professional appearance than members of the police force of the 8th largest oil producer in the world.
“Lekki” the driver responded. At this juncture, he gazed at me in the back and smiled.
“So Oga, you dey go Lekki?”
“Yes, is that a crime in the books?”
“No sir, but it means you have plenty to give us.” At this moment, my mobile phone rang and I announced to the officer that it was a very senior police officer who was calling. In fact, this was the father of a colleague in the
US
who had given me some funds to pass on to his father; his rank was higher than a commissioner. Prior to my departure, I had contacted the senior officer (with the assistance of his son) and advised him of my arrival schedule. He, (the senior officer) suspecting that we were delayed by the various check points, decided to call to ensure all was well.
“We are detained by one of your men,” I announced to the senior officer proudly assured that the worthless nincompoop will be dealt with.
“Which station,” he asked thinking we had been taken to one of the stations in
Lagos
. But I informed him we were being interrogated on the road side.
“Put him on the phone immediately,” he ordered and I handed the phone to the officer who was still expecting his share of my hard-earned money. No sooner I had handed the phone that I heard the bribe-taking officer screaming endlessly in an ‘attention’ position.
“Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir. My batch number is ……” Soon after, in the true Nigerian fashion, we were escorted with siren blaring all the way to Lekki with full and complimentary salutations by officers at other check points. I used the opportunity to lecture the officers in what it means to be dutiful.
The problem with
Nigeria
is simple; it is a society that it is awash in too much corruption. It has come to the point that even born again Christians, those who preached fire and brimstone in the many Scripture Union (SU) services, those who moved
Mt.
Everest
with their tongues in the days of high school, have now become bribe-givers out of necessity. I was bold to ask one of them what happened and his response was disheartening as it was revealing of the decadence of our times – “That is the only way we can survive in this country.”
If the truth be told,
Nigeria
needs a true revolution to cleanse it of the cancer of corruption. We witness agonizingly how the corrupt politicians like Peter Odili, James Ibori, Joshua Dariye, Orji Kalu, so-called reverend Jolly Nyame and the like use the courts to avert and circumvent justice. The other day, a federal court in
Benin
ordered that Mr. James Ibori, former governor of
Delta
State
cannot be arrested and prosecuted for corruption. Not even in the civilized world can such an injunction be issued. There is a similar restraining order obtained by Peter Odili, the former governor of
Rivers
State
. And one is left to ask the obvious; if they have nothing to hide why seek such restraining order? It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?
While democracy is good and desirable all things being equal, I am afraid; it is not for Nigerians at this moment in our political existence.
Nigeria
has not achieved the level of maturity and discipline needed to practice democracy in its true form. What we have had in the last eight years has been nothing but “riggocracy” many thanks to Obasanjo and Iwu for their craftiness. In the second republic, we saw democracy denigrated by the politicians. We all remember the former Minister of Transport and son-in-law of President Shehu Shagari, Mr. Umaru Dikko of the
London
crate fame, who embezzled $2 billion in rice fund. We also remember Dr. Joseph Wayas, Senate President who retired with $800 million of the peoples’ money. What’s more? Corruption was rampant and in fact, the norm.
Even now, it has not abated and we have learned nothing from our mistakes. It was only a week ago that the disgraced Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh, resigned in the face of accusations of colossal wastage of public funds to the tune of $5 million for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy. How much did it cost to build the houses? As my Kenyan friends would say, it is not yet “Uhuru”.
As unpopular and uncouth as it may sound, what Nigerians need at the moment is an iron-fisted rule, someone to discipline, tame and put them in line not democracy which remains but a dream, a mirage of sorts yet to be attained. We had a taste of this discipline and forthrightness in the era of Gen. Murtala Ramat Muhammed and Maj.-Gen. Muhammedu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon when Nigerians lined up to board Molue, a hitherto an unimaginable occurrence. I saw civil servants at their desk by 7:30 a.m. and staying through to closing time. No one littered the streets as discipline, law and order were the norm. During this short period of sanity and civility, government services worked to the optimum, passports were issued within days with no bribe exchanging hands. Medications at the nation’s hospitals were plentiful as were books at the library, etc. Of course, both generals had their faults and palpable shortcomings (another day’s write-up).
In all these, the fact remains painfully obvious that
Nigeria
cannot reap the great dividends of democracy when it has not sowed the democratic seed, or learned its tenets. Allowing
Nigeria
to practice democracy is tantamount to allowing a young child to lead his life without the guidance, discipline and protective eyes of a parent. Every great society has had to pay a price for the rule of law to be entrenched, be it the
US
,
Britain
and what have you. The
US
whose democracy many of us enjoy had gone through an excruciating era of discipline and a most potent revolution. What we enjoy now is the outcome of that era.
Closer home, the case of
Ghana
serves as vivid reminder of what discipline does to a society and even the most pessimistic Nigerians would concur. Those who have been to
Ghana
of late can attest to the wonders of discipline which belies its economic and political stability and wont for progress and civility. Once noted for corruption perpetrated by seemingly endless and brutal military dictatorships headed by Generals Joseph Arthur Ankrah, Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and Federick Kwasi Akuffo, the type that makes
Nigeria
’s brand a child’s play,
Ghana
has since turned the corner and that, in every aspect. The proof is in the pudding and that proof is the exodus of Nigerians to
Ghana
for an assortment of reasons.
While many Ghanaians (and non-Ghanaians alike including yours truly) hold Jerry Rawlings in disdain for his alleged and utterly repugnant monstrosities against the Ghanaian humanity, whereas he began with good intentions and ended on the sordid path of ignominy, one fact cannot be negated even by his most ardent critics and enemies – that he brought a measure of stability and discipline to a once chaotic and aimless polity; a polity once at vicious conflict with itself and soused aplenty in avariciousness and scurrilous dubiety descending faster than a sinking rock into the abyss of hell. His bold action in 1979 of cleaning out the stable of corrupt heads of states noted above, the filth, cankerworms of the Ghanaian nation, if you will, has proven to be a pivotal and turning point in that nation’s hitherto checkered history.
In the same manner, what is dearly needed in
Nigeria
is a true beginning, a clean breakage with the past, discipline, reorientation and purposefulness. We need leaders of conscience, meaning and vision; those who will take the country to the mountain top. Is it acceptable to have military leaders who earned less than $15,000 per year while in office become billionaires overnight at the expenses of the masses? Is it acceptable to have governors, senators, presidents, vice presidents, special advisers, ministers, commissioners, etc, who earned even less become millionaires and billionaires upon assuming office while the masses continue to live in object squalor, unemployment, decadence and rot? Is this the
Nigeria
of your dreams with the preponderance of injustice wrath on the helpless citizens by a few? Indeed, where is the Jerry Rawlings of
Nigeria
when we most need him?
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Author can be reached at alalibo@gmail.com. This article also published at www.newnigerianpolitics.com
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 08.11.2007 23:24