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Still On Political Corruption

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13 years ago

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Continue from last week.

The Abacha administration (1993-98) seemed to have turned  Nigeria into a private family business in which every member of the family is a share holder. The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was answerable to the family. He was obliged to present any amount demanded by the family members of Abacha without agitation. The sudden death of General Sani Abacha revealed the incredible level of graft. French investigations of bribes paid to government officials to ease the award of gas plant construction in Nigeria revealed the global level of official graft in the country. Igbikiowubo  aptly discloses that “the investigations led to the freezing of accounts containing about 100 million United States dollars”.

In the year 2000, two years after the demise of Sani Abacha, a Swiss Bank Commission report indicted Swiss banks for failing to follow due process in allowing family and friends of Abacha access to amounts and depositing amounts totalling 600 million US dollars into the accounts. As succinctly put it” in the same year, a total of more than 1 billion US dollars was found in various accounts throughout Europe”.

General Abdusalami Abubakar who succeeded Abacha was busied with how to redeem the battered image of Nigeria both home and abroad. At the verge of handing over, he never learnt the lesson of vanity from his predecessor as he hurriedly awarded contracts, and granted oil bunkering liences to his close associates. The Christopher Kolade led  inquiry panel set up by President Obasanjo indicted the Abubakar Administration. The panel revealed that contracts awarded and the financial transactions involved were hastily made between June 1998 and May 1999.

Any discerning individual that goes through the political archives of these political leaders, would find one thing very clear, which is that the tone and tenor of their actions and speeches are identical. The same rationale was given for pillaging the country: To sanitise the political system through the provision of effective leadership. The Military political leaders decimated our national ethos with their incessant coups that catapulted the prime movers or supporters to bank executives. For example, Akinnola R.   itemises them to include “Major-General Mohammed Shuwa (Rtd), who became Chairman of International Merchant Bank, late Air Commodore Emeka Omeruah (Rtd). Board Member United Bank of Africa  and later Nigeria Merchant Bank. Major-General David Jemibewon (Rtd), Vice Chairman of Ivory Merchant Bank, Air Vice Marshal Muktar Mohammed (Rtd) chairman of Group Merchant Bank, Ltd.

General David M.l. Wushishi (Rtd) Chairman, Chartered Bank, Col. Sani Bello (Rtd), Chairman Broad Bank, Late Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Alfa (Rtd), Chairman of Highland Bank, Air Vice Marshal John Yisa  Doko Rtd, Chairman of Intercity Bank, and so on”.

As noted earlier, the negative,  implications of corruption  and its effects on sustainable development are legion.

Nigeria was tipped to be one of the industrial nations of the world, the fifteen to twenty years had elapsed and Nigeria is still groping in the dark. Industrialisation remained a hue- cry. This is principally due to one main factor, corruption.

The consequences of corruption for economic development are detrimental. It reduces the impact of development assistance and further depletes our environmental assets. Our various Nigerian leaders either voted into power or not, had stolen from the public treasury. The Nigeria’s Corruption Busters has “estimated that more than $400 billion was looted between 1960 and 1999 in Nigeria”. Lending credence to this, the pioneer Chairman of the Economic/ and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu asserted that “Nigerian leaders have stolen about $500 billion (N85 trillion) within the past forty years” (This Day, 2007). On his own part, Retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) declared that “Nigeria has lost more than $3000 billion to corrupt leaders since independence”. (The Tide 2010:2). It is obvious that no true sustainable national development can take place when our national wealth is being depleted and siphoned to private purse. And not until this is addressed, sustainable development in Nigeria will be a sham.

Economically too, corruption is often responsible for the channelling of public resources to corruption prone sector or uneconomic white elephant projects, such ‘as dams, power plants, pipelines and refineries at the expense of less spectacular but more necessary infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads or supply of power and water to rural areas. Not to talk of giving the needed attention to areas where this wealth (oil) are being generated.

Corruption, which has become endemic and debilitating in Nigeria, has not spared agriculture. The various agricultural programmes embarked upon by the Nigerian leaders such as the “Farm Settlement Schemes”, “Operation Feed the Nation”, “Green Revolution”, “Back to Land Programme”, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure”, River Basin Development Authorities”, among others have over the years, been dripping with corruption. The net product has been the “modernisation of hunger”. As Okorobia sadly observes, “across the country, dubious mechanisms for acquiring individual rights to communal lands were instituted by some wealthy land speculators, serving and retired top civil servants as well as military officers. The situation was further aggravated by the “Operation Feed the Nation” (OFN) and the “Green Revolution” programmes in which some government functionaries, after laying the foundation of their future ambition of becoming big-time farmers, retired to become the main beneficiaries of these schemes, while the poor Peasants they claimed to be serving were pushed to the background. In this connection, it is enlightening to note that  both General Olusegun Obasanjo during whose reign the “Operation Feed the Nation” scheme and the Land Use Decree were introduced, former President Alhaji Shehu Shagari who launched the “Green Revolution” programme, and several other members of their respective administrations are now the proprietors of large mechanised farms. These, they have been able to accomplish by cleverly pursuing agricultural policies that would serve their interest when they were out of office”. How can Nigeria develop when the majority of its citizens are hungry? Besides, it promotes inequality and erodes macroeconomic and fiscal stability in the system. It hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring foreign investment. With all these in place, development is not in sight for the next decade to come in Nigeria.

Worse still, a cursory look at the resources lost to waste and leakages in the past years under review is convincing enough that free quality education at all levels is realisable in Nigeria. Education which is the heartbeat of the nation’s development is virtually neglected in Nigeria. Education since independence continued to suffer low budgetary allocation and lack of  commitment on the part of these leaders.  A scholar notes that “other countries have done much better: for example, Botswana 19%% Swaziland 24.6%, Lesotho 17%, South Africa 25.8%%, Cote d’Ivoire 30%, Burkina Faso 16.7%, Ghana 30%, Kenya 23%, Uganda 27%, Tunisia 17% and Morocco 17.7% as at 2008. Nigeria since 1999, has only once allocated the highest budget to Education that was in 2010 with N249.08 billion representing about 12 percent.

Samuel resides in Port Harcourt.

To be Continued.

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Opinion

Kudos  Gov Fubara

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6 days ago

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January 2, 2026

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Please permit me to use this medium to appreciate our able governor, Siminalayi Fubara for the inauguration of the 14.2-kilometre Obodhi–Ozochi Road in Ahoada-East Local Government Area.  This inauguration marks a significant milestone in the history of our communities and deserves commendation. We, the people of Ozochi, are particularly happy because this project has brought long-awaited relief after years of isolation and hardship.
The expression of our traditional ruler, His Royal Highness, Eze Prince Ike Ehie, JP, during the inauguration captured the joy of our people.  He said, “our isolation is over.”  That reflects the profound impact of this road on daily life, economic activities, and social integration of the people of Ozochi and other neighbouring communities. The road will no doubt ease transportation, improve access to markets and healthcare, and strengthen links between Ahoada, Omoku, and other parts of Rivers State.
The people of Ahoada, Omoku, and indeed Rivers State as a whole are grateful to our dear governor for this laudable achievement and wish him many more successful years in office. We pray that God endows him with more wisdom and strength to continue to pilot the affairs of the state for the benefit of all. As citizens, we should rally behind the governor and support his development agenda. Our politicians and stakeholders should embrace peace and cooperation, as no meaningful progress can be achieved in an atmosphere of conflict. Sustainable development in the state can only thrive where peace prevails.
Samuel Ebiye
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Opinion

… And It Came To Pass

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6 days ago

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January 2, 2026

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Quote:“Leadership is not measured by how hard one strikes back, but by how steady one remains under provocation.”
Tell it  in Rivers State, publish it  in the streets of Port Harcourt, so  the daughters of the State could rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph and know that Fubara is not vindictive”. And it came to pass that Rivers State emerged from one of the most delicate chapters in its political journey, the period of emergency rule that spanned from March 18 to September 18, 2025. It was a season that tested institutions, strained loyalties, and exposed the fragile balance between power and principle. During that time, the suspended Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara DSSRS, was widely believed to have suffered not only political setbacks but personal betrayal, allegedly from some top civil servants within the state apparatus. These were individuals expected to uphold neutrality and professionalism, yet were accused in public opinion of taking sides against the very government they served.
As the emergency rule ended and Governor Fubara resumed office, expectations were shaped less by policy and more by emotion. Many assumed that revenge would quietly find expression through governance. The loudest suspicion centered on the 2025 Christmas bonus of ?100,000 traditionally paid to each worker. The thinking was simple and cynical: a wounded governor would surely withhold goodwill. Some voices even mocked workers  openly hoping that the governor would refuse to pay the bonus. To them, denial of the bonus would serve as proof of political strength and justified retaliation. In reality, such thinking revealed a troubling desire to see governance reduced to personal vendetta. Yet,  it came to pass, the governor chose a path that confounded suspicion. Against all expectations, the 2025 Christmas bonus was paid.
That single decision quietly but firmly reframed the narrative. It showed a leader focused on governance rather than grudges, on institutional continuity rather than emotional satisfaction. The payment was not a favor, nor was it a concession; it was a statement that public administration must rise above personal injury. By honoring the bonus, Governor Fubara demonstrated that leadership is not measured by how hard one strikes back, but by how steady one remains under provocation. He made it clear that workers’ welfare would not become collateral damage in political disagreements. This action also served as a moral rebuke to those who celebrated division and hoped for punishment. Governance is not validated by the suffering of workers, nor is leadership strengthened by withholding entitlements. At the same time, the issue of alleged sycophancy and betrayal within the civil service cannot be brushed aside. If proven, such conduct deserves firm, lawful, and institutional correction. Civil servants are bound by duty to the state, not to political conspiracies or shifting loyalties.
However, justice must never be confused with revenge. The strength of governance lies in correcting wrongs without destroying the system itself. Governor Fubara’s restraint suggested an understanding that the future of Rivers State mattered more than settling scores. For workers, this moment carried an important lesson. Celebration should be rooted in good governance, not in the expectation of another’s downfall. Rejoicing in rumors of denial or punishment undermines the very stability that protects workers’ welfare. Public service thrives where professionalism, mutual respect, and accountability are upheld. Pettiness, gossip, and political scheming only weaken institutions and erode trust. History often remembers leaders not for the crises they inherit, but for the character they display in response. In paying the 2025 Christmas bonus, Governor Fubara chose legacy over impulse, maturity over malice.
And so, it came to pass that focus defeated revenge, governance triumphed over bitterness, and Rivers State was reminded that true leadership is proven when restraint is expected least but delivered most. Beyond the symbolism of the Christmas bonus lies a deeper question about the kind of political culture Rivers State intends to cultivate in the years ahead. Periods of emergency rule, anywhere in the world, often leave behind residues of suspicion, fear, and silent realignments. Institutions do not emerge untouched; individuals recalibrate loyalties, some out of conviction, others out of self-preservation. What distinguishes stable democracies from fragile ones is not the absence of such moments, but the discipline with which leadership manages their aftermath. River.
King Onunwor
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Opinion

That Withdrawal of Police   Orderlies  From VIPs

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6 days ago

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January 2, 2026

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Quote:”Balancing VIP security with public safety remains a tightrope walk in a country where the majority of citizens are still under-protected.”
The Presidential announcement on the removal of police orderlies from persons in authority and their relations  ( Very Important Persons ) last month came as a relief to many Nigerians who felt deprived    of one major  role of government ; security of lives and property.The higher  population of Nigerians  missed needed security because the VIPs and the VVIPs kept  retinue of Police Officers  totalling over 100 ,000 to  themselves and their family members as if they are all that matter  while some  communities under attack of terrorists  have no single unit of  police station located there in. While many hailed the announcement , some said perhaps the government has just woken up to her major responsibility of securing the lives and property of all  citizens while many expressed indifference on the note that it may be one of those pronouncements which come only in words but no action .Many keep their fingers crossed watching how it will play out , how Mr President  will  go about the implementation of the seemingly dicey  policy .
Benjamin Franklin  said “well said is better than well done ”  It is sufficient today to say that many Nigerians including me are still waiting and watching to see  how well  and how long this  return  of the Police service to the ordinary people will go . Wishing hopes will not be crashed ,  It  is note worthy, that  the recent complaints by the VIPs of being exposed to attacks  may in a way affect the action on implementation. Recently, at Senate plenary , another worrisome  angle came up as Senator Abdul Ningi  coming through a motion    disclosed that he had only one police officer attached to him ( his office ) and that  the officer was recalled the week before following  Mr President’s directive  . Senator Ningi said the withdrawal exposed him to high risks but underscored the angle that while his orderly  was recalled , many other politicians , men  and women in authority, business concerns   foreigners  and even children of some  VIPs are still enjoying retinue of police protection ( officially attached to them ).
 It’s note  worthy also that the Deputy Senate President , Distinguished Senator Jibrin Barau,  who presided  over  the session revealed that the  leadership of both chambers are already in discussion with President Tinubu on the need  to exempt  the law makers  from the new policy .  Senator Ningi may not be  wrong . After all he emphasized he is okay  provided that the removal of the Police Orderlies be done across board . Senator Barau noted that talks are on  over the issue of law makers’    in line with international practice . Further details from the Presidency  noted  that   Presiding officers  will retain their  police officers ,  others would have Civil Defense  officers ( NSCDC) as orderlies while  any other VIP who feels he or she deserves personal police protection should get clearance from  his office . In the midst of all  issues weighing in on the proper implementation , it becomes necessary  to bear in mind that  the decision  hinges on  the realization that Nigeria has peculiar security issues (of kidnappings, banditry, and terrorism.) and that  majority of Nigerians   are under protected.
More so, that if well  implemented, Police officers will focus on core duties; even as 30,000 new police officers are to  recruited to enhance security .That implementation  must be made in a  way that leaves no room.for selective  treatment loss of confidence  and  controversies.  Looking at previous attempts of  implementation  of this policy  gives faint hope  as several  attempts consistently failed . Former  IGPs like Tafa Balogun (2003), Ogbonnaya Onovo (2009), and Ibrahim Idris (2018) tried  the policy but all  failed due to political resistance from various angles. All the failed attempts  were tied to lack of political will  mostly due to the fact that the directives came from police chiefs, not the president. Selective Enforcement was another killer to the policy  as  partial implementation  met  resistance   and   later  reversal . Egbetokun (2023) and Adamu (2020) saw minimal impact.
Further more entrenched corruption in the system saw  Politicians and VIPs quietly regain police escorts due to ‘transactional economics”and pressure. Worse still the mindset of the  police officers  withdrawn didn’t help the policy Underpaid police prioritize VIP duties for extra benefits. Many wish President Tinubu’s move can  break this cycle.  As at today, he  still  insists the move is non-negotiable while stressing collaboration with states to upgrade training facilities. As citizens look forward to  success of the policy  without undue exposure of both sides, balancing VIP security with public safety remains a tightrope walk. Talk fades ; action echoes.  How the Presidency  implements this policy.  has  much to tell on the governments stand on national / community  security , choice of priority and the ability to   stand uncomprised . The known  goal is clear:  The outcome is  not yet certain.  Fingers crossed , we await . Definitely , time will tell.
By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi.
s State stood at such a crossroads in September 2025. The temptation to rule with a long memory and a heavy hand was real. Yet, the choice made signaled a preference for healing over hardening. Leadership after crisis demands more than administrative competence; it requires moral clarity.
 Governor Fubara’s decision reminded the state that authority is not best exercised through silent punishment or selective generosity. Rather, it is strengthened when rules remain rules, irrespective of personal injury. By keeping faith with workers, the government preserved an essential firewall between politics and public service. That firewall, once breached, turns governance into a battlefield where livelihoods become weapons. Rivers State narrowly avoided that descent. In doing so, it affirmed that institutions must outlive tempers, and governance must not mirror the bitterness of political seasons. This moment also invites sober introspection within the civil service itself. Allegations of partisanship, if left unresolved, corrode professionalism and weaken public confidence. A civil service that drifts into political camps loses its moral authority and operational effectiveness.
Therefore, reform, where necessary, should be guided by due process, transparency, and institutional review—not whispers, witch-hunts, or mob verdicts. Accountability strengthens systems when it is fair; it destroys them when it is arbitrary. The restraint shown by the executive places a corresponding burden on administrative leadership to restore discipline, neutrality, and pride in public service. For the wider political class and the commentariat, the episode serves as a caution against normalizing cruelty as strategy. The eagerness with which some anticipated workers’ suffering revealed a dangerous appetite for scorched-earth politics. When governance becomes a spectator sport where pain is cheered and deprivation is weaponized, society inches toward moral exhaustion. Rivers State has seen enough turbulence to know that stability is not sustained by triumphalism, but by restraint.
The lesson is simple yet profound: power is fleeting, but institutions endure; leaders pass, but precedents remain. In the end, the payment of the 2025 Christmas bonus was more than a fiscal act—it was a civic statement. It told workers they were not expendable. It told political actors that revenge would not be policy. And it told the state that maturity in leadership is not weakness, but strength under control. In a climate where many expected fire, restraint prevailed; where bitterness was predicted, balance emerged. Thus, Rivers State was offered a rare reminder that governance, at its best, is an act of discipline, and leadership, at its highest, is the courage to rise above provocation.
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