TheGuardian
Sunday, April 6, 2014 53
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Conscience, Nurtured by Truth
Opinion Is There A Conspiracy Against Nigeria? I MAGINE a world in which, one morning, the United States and the United Kingdom announced a visa and travel ban on…let’s say 1000 members of Nigeria’s political class and their families. Imagine if they were defined as people who have enjoyed political power at any point in…let’s say the past 30 years, in connection with stolen public funds. Imagine also, if the ban included the freezing of the assets of those individuals and their families. Now, if you have followed the crisis in Ukraine, you probably heard the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, say the following of his country on March 5: “We have already taken some important steps in terms of the Ukrainian corrupt oligarchs and making sure their assets are properly dealt with here in the U.K if that’s the case…and I’ll be speaking to President (Barack) Obama this afternoon and meeting with Chancellor (Angela) Merkel and President Hollande before the European Council tomorrow – agree with them what further steps should be taken as well…” Making a similar announcement on the other side of the Atlantic the following day, U.S President Barack Obama said: “This morning, I signed an executive order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine or for stealing the assets of Ukrainian people. According to my guidance, the State Department has also put in place restrictions on the travels of certain individuals and officials…We took these steps in cooperation with our European allies…” In the weeks that followed, the entire world has seen how seriously the U.S and the U.K have taken the situation in Crimea, including inflicting direct sanctions on several Russian officials. Do sanctions work? Sanctions always do, the real issue is: who do they hurt? The answer concealed in the unfolding policy of the U.S and the U.K in Ukraine is that the sanctions must be targeted at specific people and sec-
tors. In this particular conflict, the U.S, the U.K and other members of the international community are upholding the principles of international law, and that is how it should be. Those principles seek to regulate the relations between nations, and to guarantee peace and security. My concern is that for a country such as Nigeria, the definition of what constitutes peace and security and what can guarantee it have been lost in the rhetoric. The principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of States are of great importance, but the time has come when the principles of good and responsible governance of States must receive the same attention, which is what the Millennium Declaration (2000) sought to accomplish. If this re-focussing does not happen, there may not be much oxygen left for peace and security to flourish. This is what is at stake in some increasingly volatile spots of the world. Think about it: in the era of globalization and the Internet, large populations in poverty, and large populations of the unemployed are an incongruous and dangerous picture. It is no longer possible to hide the ugly image of wealth and poverty side by side, nor the hypocrisy that sustains rather than respond to it. This is where the U.S and the U.K, as leaders of the theory of a better world, come in. These powerful countries are forever talking about what it would take for Nigeria to move forward and emerge as a powerful economy. The question is not whether they know the answer, but whether they really mean it when they advocate Nigeria’s advancement. In their response to the situation in Ukraine, these countries struck early and decisive blows at the heart of specific persons in the Ukrainian and Russian political and economic machines, aiming to paralyze. The U.S specifically cited persons “stealing the assets of the Ukrainian people”. More than anyone else, these countries know exactly what is behind the atrocious gover-
nance in Nigeria, and why we find it difficult to develop. Mr. Obama has for this reason refused to visit Nigeria. To be clear, these powerful countries routinely provide aid to Nigeria. Put in a little research and it is amazing how much they have done in this regard in the past 15 years alone. But it is curious that none of them has advocated, let alone implemented a policy of identifying, let alone grounding the legion of thieves who make Nigeria impossible to govern. Worse still, they “aid” Nigeria knowing full well that the country’s powerful kleptocrats, present and voting, are certain to gobble it up mercilessly. That is not democracy working for the people. The key problem is that much of the funds being fleeced from Nigeria’s public purse are warmly welcomed, or perhaps even encouraged, in the U.S and the U.K. For instance, Nigerian governors are known for their love of property in the U.K, which is where a few of them have run into trouble in recent times. Beyond those officials, all three of them, it is simply untrue that the U.K is unaware of the legion of former officials who have bought choice properties with stolen funds in the past 15 years alone. When the U.S recently announced the freezing of $458 million new funds looted by Sani Abacha and his accomplices, I argued that the interests of the Nigerian people are best served through new policies that would ensure that resources actually go into the development process. “The place to begin is to help identify, while they live, those who have looted blind the poor people of Nigeria, and to freeze their assets, and deny them travel visas and opportunities,” I said in a published comment. The U.S claims to be interested in whether Africa lives or dies, but it is yet lift a finger to expose African thieves who are openly hiding their fortunes and families in the country, notably in the Washington DC and Maryland areas. Let me go back to the Millennium
Private Jets And Public Swindles By Chuks Iloegbunam GUY studied in the United States. Upon returning to Nigeria, he didn’t let people forget for one minute where he had sojourned. He spoke like an American. He walked with the kind of swagger usually associated with the young of that country. His hair was “permed”. His clothes were designer classics. Of course, he cruised on the streets in a sports car – a Porsche no less. He was a toff. Those were the sins he committed. Other than that, he acquitted himself creditably in the office. Friends and close associates confessed that he was generous, even to a fault. But a good work ethic and a kind heart did not constitute extenuating circumstances. One day it occurred to the young man to take a stroll. The day was far spent and the evening breeze was cool. There was nothing wrong with his hitting the corner shop, buying a soda, exchanging a few pleasantries with the folks around, and then heading home to watch a late game of the English Premier League. The young man hadn’t reckoned with the down side of being successful in Nigeria. He didn’t know that, of the large number that hailed him each time he passed by, there were some who thought he deserved to die – for being more successful than they ever thought possible. Whereas some of his detractors managed a shirt a week, he sometimes sported two in a single day. He wore Brazilian and Italian shoes while folks, some of whom were much older than he was, frequented the shoemaker’s shop to patch-up leaking soles and scruffy leather. He jetted about, while multitudes made do with the Foot-Wagen. Yet, he thought things were normal. Wrong. As he left the corner shop and strolled back home, he suddenly heard the shouts and screams of “Ole!”, “Ole!” He looked around him, wondering who the thief was that the cacophony was drawing attention to. The body hears better than the ears, so says a proverb often heard in some parts of the country. A mob materialised. A huge piece of rock hit him on the head, instantly drawing blood. Other missiles homed in with merciless precision. He got a few very hard slaps and punches. Soon he was feeling like the blows were not raining on him. His clothes turned crimson; he was all gashes and gore. Down, out and unconscious, disused tyres were pulled together to complete the rout. A bonfire was made or, more appropriately, a
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funeral pyre. The innocent young man got lynched, together with his dreams, his professionalism, his generosity, his all – simply because there were characters in the neighborhood who didn’t like his face. You would think that we have got to a point in this country where circumspection would give way to irrationality. But the lynching of suspects continues unabated. A variant of this lynch mentality has taken centre stage in the nation’s political arena. Without any iota of proof, fellow Nigerians are tarred with all sorts of guilt and pronounced guilty without any form of investigation, let alone trial. And yet, we are all devout Christians and Muslims. A cardinal principle of law is that no one is guilty until so pronounced by some competent authority, especially the law court. Not in Nigeria. Not in this country because political partisanship operates with the guiding principle that all is fair in war. A Federal Minister, whatever his or her portfolio, is already guilty of monumental fraud and graft because they are in President Jonathan’s Cabinet. If there be people who are other than in the ruling political party, they are a priori epitomes of intrinsic virtue and impeccable moral rectitude. That is why Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources, is in the dock of partisan opinion today. But we must start from the beginning. Vast volumes of nonsense started being written about this woman from when she was nominated for a ministerial appointment. Of course, she is guilty for being a woman. She is also guilty for coming from a minority ethnic group. And her guilt is compounded by the fact that she happens to be in the administration of someone not qualified by opposition thinking to direct the affairs of this nation. The fact that Mrs. Alison-Madueke is doubly qualified to hold down the oil portfolio does not count in the court of her traducers. The fact that a good deal of the oil in question, the mainstay of the national economy, comes from around her father’s compound does not matter either. The added fact that she has achieved specific results, as Oil Minister – growth in local content, indigenous companies participating at par with international players, the generation of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) – cannot be registered in her credit. What they are saying instead is that she flies about in pri-
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Declaration, which the U.S and the U.K championed in 2000, and in which Heads of State and Government focused on the demands of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. “We recognize…we have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level,” they said. “As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world’s people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs.” They identified certain fundamental values to be essential to international relations in the 21stcentury, including freedom: “Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression or injustice.” Specifically, the world leaders pledged “to support the consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist Africans in their struggle for lasting peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development, thereby bringing Africa into the mainstream of the world economy.” Fifteen years on, these appear to be simply politically-correct words. Now, imagine if millions of hungry, unemployed, and disillusioned citizens were to empty into the streets of States where a couple of looters are richer than the entire commonwealth, and across borders into States of fragile territorial integrity…
vate jets! A broad section of the media took this up and branded it a scandal. How can an uninvestigated allegation conceivably be a scandal? Champions of this witch-hunt in the House of Representatives branded it a scandal. Yet, no one has yet described as a scandal the allegation that the National Assembly - a body of less than 500 politicians -eats up something in the neighborhood of 30 percent of the annual national budget! The NNPC put out a press statement to the effect that they have no private jets. But hardly anyone wants to listen to such a statement in Nigeria. The NNPC stated that they hire jets for executive functions because it is cheaper than owning aircraft. Why, really, should the NNPC not hire airplanes? Why should the Oil Minister not fly in chartered aircraft? As Oil minister in this country not too long ago, Rilwan Lukman flew in chartered aircraft in the course of his official functions. Yet the heavens didn’t fall because he comes from the right flank of the country. Since the inception of the Jonathan administration, partisan politicians and sectional media (including the social media) have homed in on three women – Ngozi OkonjoIweala, Diezani Allison-Madueke and Stella Adaeze Oduah – doing nothing but mud-raking and witch-hunting. The three women must be incessantly and mordantly lampooned and lambasted for reasons that are not altruistic, for reasons that are partisan, and for the sole purpose of destabilising the Jonathan administration. The three women are repeatedly found guilty in kangaroo courts because of their gender, their origins and the person they work for. This trend is clearly beyond toleration because it is nothing to do with democracy. It is not democracy to brand and crucify public functionaries simply because the instruments of open and clandestine journalism are readily available. It is not politic to level accusations without the intention of lending credence to them. It is eternally backward to propose that an Oil minister is in breach of any law for flying in hired aircraft when the act establishing their range of responsibilities justifies such usage. It is a national swindle to employ the “Ole!”, “Ole!!” or lynch mentality in the course of playing politics. It is time for Nigerians to hold their ground and declare that enough is enough. Iloegbunam is a commentator on national issues.