TI, Nigeria And Corruption

The recent damning verdict on Nigeria by Transparency International in terms of the current corruption status of the country has, indeed, punctured the much-vaunted war against corruption of the present administration.
That the global anti-corruption watchdog placed Nigeria a distant 148th position out of 180 countries that were neck deep in corruption in 2017 leaves much to be desired.
It is regrettable that corruption, going by TI’s evaluation, is still endemic and rife in Nigeria, the much-acclaimed giant of Africa.
The Tide recalls that in 2014, during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria was ranked 136th, thus, dropping 12 points when compared to the present ranking.
From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that Nigeria has not made any appreciable progress in her corruption performance index under the present administration despite the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
The current TI ranking simply confirms the fears by several Nigerians that the anti-graft crusade of the Muhammadu Buhari administration is lopsided and politically driven, as it is merely targeted at real and perceived political opponents of the government.
This is very unfortunate, to say the least, because it merely proves the point that the Federal Government has not mustered sufficient political will, sincerity, transparency and commitment to tackle the corruption scourge head on.
It is against this backdrop that we advise that the current verdict by Transparency International should be taken for what it is; devoid of political and other primordial considerations. We say so because the corruption scourge is today taking a serious toll on the average Nigerian who daily battles for survival in the face of hyper inflationary trends and unemployment.
It, therefore, behooves the Federal Government, as a matter of policy, to take a bold step to fix the economy now, so that people are not encouraged to resort to corruption or possibly short-change the system for selfish ends, on account of hardship.
Indeed, the TI index should be seen as a wake-up call for the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to do the needful by not only targeting political opponents in its anti-graft war but also embarking on self cleansing, in such a manner that all APC chieftains and stalwarts indicted of corruption by various panels of inquiry are made to face justice. This is the only way the anti-corruption campaign of the present administration would yield the envisaged dividends.
Furthermore, there is no gain emphasising the fact that media trials of corruption suspects are also rubbing off negatively on the Federal Government’s anti-graft crusade. This practice, no doubt, has the capacity of stifling and strangulating the anti-graft war itself.
We, therefore, suggest that the Federal Government should empower its anti-graft agencies in such a way that they are armed with incontrovertible evidence to prosecute corruption-related cases at all times.
Better still, if the fight against corruption must succeed, public institutions like the military, police, judiciary, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the public service, among others, must be strengthened to purge them of corrupt tendencies. Beaming the anti-corruption searchlight on them would go a long way in sanitising and making them more result-oriented.
Like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently said, corruption is endemic in the country, and as such, it must be fought to its knees.