Between Democracy Dividends And Corruption

Democracy
translates to change and development or what is largely described in this clime as democratic dividends or what can be termed as ‘demo-profit’-but what we experience is more of official brigandage and brazen looting of public funds by public office holders and politicians.
Ordinarily, politicians should be people who should be more interested in working for the improvement and enhancement of the overall good of the general populace. Instead they have proved to be very selfish, self seeking, self central and always interested in pillaging their pockets and siphoning government public funds.
How can we explain that over 25 per cent of Nigeria’s annual budget is expended on the political class. A situation where about seventy five per cent of the overall budget is expended on the rest ninety eight per cent, is nothing but a disappointment and a shame to the entire process-democracy.
The federal government need to initiate change, progress and development in every facet of life particularly on roads, education, health, good housing, proper sanitation, enhanced welfare of living, improved agriculture, reduction in unemployment and enhanced or better economic empowerment for all.
Massive corruption and embezzlement in this clime and dispensation could be said to be at its highest level. Our main export earner crude oil sold for more than a 100 dollars per barrel most parts of that period. It is estimated that the country from 1999 to 2007 or thereabout made more money in its coffers than any other period after independence, yet there’s nothing tangible to show for all these quantum of revenue.
Interestingly, it is generally believed that democratic rule engenders transparency, probity and accountability. Yet government has perpetrated some of the worst cases of profligacy and looting. How can we explain the loss of 16 billion US dollars said to be missing from the government coffers under the watch of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government who was said to be fighting corruption with ICPC and EFCC. Still under that same government, there was the power scam of about 14 billion US dollars with many of the projects yet uncompleted years after. There was the Halliburton scam and Siemens scam that indicted so many ex-heads of government without any investigation up till now.
Then the worst case scenario on looting that’s unimaginable was the supposed satellite launch by that administration from Surrey-London China and Russia which was estimated to be about three trillion Naira. Be that as it may there was no recorded account of it, being debated on the floor of the National Assembly or on the various media. One wonders what kind of democratic government we are practicing with the so called checks and balances of the different arms, where was the national assembly. For large sum of money to have moved from the government coffers without due recourse to laid down procedure smacks of no respect for rule of law and brazen looting of public funds. Really there’s need for governments to be transparent.
Corrupt practices and impeachable offences committed by the various democratic governments would have been avoidable. For instance over three billion dollars was unaccounted for by the Musa Shehu Yar’adua administration. Also, under the present administration it is estimated that over four (4) billion dollars can not be accounted for. One begins to wonder and this sends signals to the wrong quarters and this sends signals to the wrong quarters of what kind of anti-corruption campaign this administration is pursuing taking into cognizance the aforementioned.
Good governance, as it were, should be the watchword for any democratic government and the press as watch- dog of the society is expected to always lead the people to hold the government accountable and responsible at all times. The citizenry expects its hopes and aspirations to be met by the government in power through its representatives like finding out why your child was not admitted in school or why your pension has not been paid etc. Need I say more?
Ayooso is a public policy analyst.

Samson Ayooso