Sad but true: Nigerians are fantastically relaxed about corruption

Over the past two weeks, Nigerians have read or heard almost ad nauseam the British prime minister’s description of Nigeria: “fantastically corrupt”. My concern is, however, different from what has dominated the public space on the saga. So, allow me to give my take.

Predictably, the reactions in Nigeria and in Britain couldn’t be more different. For the British media, their main concern was the diplomatic faux pas. It’s impolitic to insult a country when you are just about to meet its president. But virtually none of the British press and commentators felt that the gaffe should mask the accuracy of the prime minister’s remarks. As one writer put it, “Surely, David Cameron was just stating the blindingly obvious.” But the media also pointed to Western hypocrisy. For instance, The Times editorialised: “Certainly, the West must address more firmly the motes in their own eyes”, referring, in particular, to Britain’s welcoming attitudes towards oligarchs and dubious characters who buy high-end London properties.

By contrast, reactions in Nigeria were hysterical! Commentators seized on the remarks to lampoon Cameron and the West, the former for his effrontery, the latter for its hypocrisy and arrogance. But what about the underlying issues: corruption and the local and global actions needed to tackle it? Well, they were lost in a dense thicket of intemperate reactions. Of course, Cameron was wrong to rank Nigeria among “the two most corrupt countries in the world” when it is, in fact, a mere 136^th(!) out of 168 most corrupt, according to the Transparency International. He was also wrong to ignore the anti-corruption efforts of the Buhari government, which prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a friend of Nigeria, who was present when Cameron made the remarks, to intervene, saying: “But this particular president (i.e. Buhari) is not corrupt … he is trying very hard”. So, Cameron’s comments were not completely unassailable, but that could not eclipse the real issues.

Forget the hysterics, let’s consider the issues. Is Nigeria fantastically corrupt? Absolutely! Is the West complicit in this by welcoming those who looted Nigeria’s commonwealth? Of course! Is the Nigerian government doing enough institutionally to tackle this scourge head-on? Surely not! Do we need global cooperation and agreements to deal with what is a global problem? Of course, we do! These are the issues that should concentrate the minds of all Nigerians. To be fair, a handful of commentators swam against the current, but, on the whole, the public space was dominated by a frenzy of rage over Cameron’s truthful gaffe.

Let’s be honest: Nigeria is not only fantastically corrupt; Nigerians are fantastically relaxed about it! Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, once asked: “If corruption is so evil, how come we are so much at peace with it?”Indeed, Nigerians are truly at peace with corruption, which is sad because public indifference is the accomplice of the corrupt. But as I wrote in an article titled “Buhari’s war on corruption and the power of incentives” (BusinessDay, 7 September 2015), corruption is rife in Nigeria because there are no moral constraints on it. Most Nigerians, in my view, see corruption as a victimless crime that has no identifiable direct victim. Since most Nigerians don’t pay taxes, the idea of corruption being seen as stealing taxpayers’ money, a serious crime in most countries, doesn’t arise. As a result, there is a lot of cynicism about allegations of corruption in this country, which, of course, is not helped by the politicisation and ethnicisation of the issue.

Recently, the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, described the kind of corruption in Nigeria as “a crime against humanity”, saying that some individuals stole $15 billion, half of the country’s foreign reserves. And Nuru Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) once said: “When I look around, I see a lot of investment done with dirty money”. Yet, despite the clear evidence of horrendous levels of corruption, some snigger. “There is no such thing, it’s all politics”, they say! But whether or not Nigerians believe that this country is “fantastically corrupt”, the truth, sadly, is that the world believes it is, which is damaging Nigeria’s reputation internationally, not to mention its economy.

This is why we must tackle corruption head-on at home and work with other nations to deny it any international roots or outlets. And that’s also why it’s disappointing that Nigerians allowed overreaction to Cameron’s comments to trump proper discussions about the London anti-corruption summit, the first of its kind. At the summit, Nigeria and 40 other countries signed the Global Declaration Against Corruption. Central to the agreement is the creation of public registers of beneficial ownership which would disclose who owns what in any of the signatory countries. The idea is that if you don’t know who owns what, you can’t stop people stealing and hiding the stolen wealth in foreign countries. Then, there is the asset recovery commitment, backed with the creation of the Global Forum for Asset Recovery. The first meeting of the Forum will take place in the US next year and focus on returning assets to Nigeria and a few other countries. There is certainly political will and momentum behind the global anti-corruption drive. Indeed, as Prime Minister Cameron said, “This summit will not be a single one-off moment”, adding, “We are building a global movement against corruption.”

For me, it’s really difficult to over-emphasise the significance of the first ever global anti-corruption agreement that involves key Western countries, such as the US, the UK, Germany, France and Switzerland. Surely, commitments by Western countries where much of Nigeria’s stolen wealth is hidden to create public registers of beneficial ownership, to recover and return stolen assets to Nigeria and to introduce stringent measures to deny corrupt Nigerians safe harbours should excite every Nigerian who is concerned about corruption in this country and its international dimensions.

But corruption must primarily be tackled at home. To be sure, most world leaders respect President Buhari’s integrity and his anti-corruption efforts. Indeed, he enthusiastically signed up to the global declaration and its key agreements. Yet tackling corruption will be challenging. For instance, can Buhari get stringent anti-corruption legislation through the National Assembly? How soon can he deliver on that? Can Nigeria ensure, as Vice President Osinbajo promised, that past and present public officers account for their wealth? The UK is introducing Unexplained Wealth Orders, for instance. What about the rentier economy that David Pilling, Africa editor of the Financial Times, said, in a powerful article in March this year, is the root cause of corruption in Nigeria? Then, public attitude to corruption. There is a lot cynicism and apathy about President Buhari’s war against corruption. So far, the president appears to be on a one-man mission, but he can’t tackle corruption alone. He must engage and dialogue with Nigerians, and change public perceptions about corruption. Sadly, Nigeria will remain fantastically corrupt as long as Nigerians are fantastically relaxed about it. But for the sake of this country, that must change!

 

Olu Fasan