Michaela Wrong on corruption and ethnicity in Africa

It was the turn of the Nigerian audience to hear from award-winning British journalist and author Michela Wrong on a promotional tour for her book ‘It's Our Turn to Eat.'

As part of the tour organised by Idowu Akinlade and Adeola Adewunmi of Bookworm, a Lagos-based bookstore, Wrong was in Nigeria between February 27 and March 5 to read in Lagos and Abuja.

Wrong's other published books are ‘In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz', a PEN prize-winning narrative about the former head of state of Zaire (now DR Congo), Mobutu Sese Seko; and ‘I didn't do it For You,' which resulted in her being declared persona non grata in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

According to Wrong, what prompted her coming visit to Nigeria was a string of e-mails, many from Nigeria, that said the scenarios in her books reminded them of issues in their own countries. "People can learn something about their own societies by reading about people in other societies," she said.

Click here to watch an interview with Michaela Wrong.

Reading first at the The Jazzhole in Lagos, Wrong (who has covered Africa for Reuters, BBC and the Financial Times) read from ‘It's Our Turn To Eat', a book about anti-whistleblower John Githongo; and the war against corruption in Kenya under President Mwai Kibaki's government.

Githongo had the full backing of the Kibaki government to clean up corruption in public office, but he soon discovered that things weren't as they seemed; it was more of business as usual than a call to action. "Millions of dollars of contracts were being signed off without government approval. They were very inflated. Money was being paid up front and not much if anything was being paid back in return," said Wrong. The scandals became known as the Anglo-Leasing scandals, after one of the companies involved.

However for Githongo, the battle had begun and should be rightfully won. He took on daring means to make sure he got all the evidence needed to bring the corrupt officers to book. With some of the officials telling him that they were the ones involved but expecting no rebuttal, Githongo began attaching a hidden microphone to his clothing for such meetings. Interestingly, on one of such occasions, the recorder malfunctioned and the prerecorded information started to relay itself. however Githongo managed a seemingly miraculous escape with his ‘informants' being none the wiser.

Investigating ‘his own'

Part of the problem for Githongo was the involvement of many of his fellow Gikuyu, who felt it was wrong for him to investigate his ‘own' especially since they were the ones in power, hence the coinage ‘It's our turn to eat', a form of Nigeria's ‘National Cake' theory.

"Writing the book made me explore the issue of ethnicity. There were young people saying this doesn't matter, but the old people didn't feel the same way and were using it for political reasons," said the author. Apparently, corruption and your sense of identity were supposed to be linked.

"Another theme I tried to explore in this book is generational change. This debate is taking place because people have been so shocked by the violence that followed the elections. 70 per cent of Kenyans are under the age of 40; the John Githongo generation who do not endorse what's going on in the country," she said.

Taking questions from the audience, Wrong bashed the hypocritical West for encouraging corruption in Africa. "Donor countries in the West seem to think ‘Corruption is distasteful, but trivial.' For all sorts of cynical reasons, for strategic reasons, there's a tendency to turn a blind eye; they didn't want to hear what (Githongo) had to say. They have augmented the problem by ignoring it. All of these scams have a sponsor in the West. There's no close hypocrisy on the sides of Western governments."

Human rights activist, Ayo Obe, in her comments said African leaders should talk less about addressing corruption in public service and focus on "more tangible issues like electricity, healthcare."

Also blaming the middle class for its inaction against poor governance, Lagos State Magistrate Olufolake Oshin said, "There is an individual competitive division, when we amongst ourselves create the machinery and go ahead to destroy (it) by egos and presumptive decisions."

The ethnic card

On the complacency of the middle-class and playing the ethnic card in societies like Nigeria and Kenya, Obe said, "In Nigeria, the corruption pretends to wear an ethnic face, but they come from all ethnic groups and have their noses in the trough."

"The ‘It's our turn to eat' argument is false, because many amongst the Gikuyu are poor and under-privileged," Wrong agreed, describing the philosophy as "a great camouflage."

She expressed the same sentiment at Quintessence, also in Lagos, on Tuesday, March 2. Without a case for ethnicity, "There are an awful lot of Kenyans who would still have over-admiration for the big guys, who are polluting the state because they see them as their patrons and their benefactors. That people are admired for being big thieves as much as they are criticised." She however agreed that corruption is a phase that will pass away in Africa, especially considering that those being denied service by government will eventually fight back.

The John Githongo story

Author Chimamanda Adichie, in the audience, asked about Githongo's view of the book. Wrong replied: "I had to put a gun to his head to read it."

She'd been planning to write a novel when Githongo turned up at her doorstep after fleeing Kenya. Both had become friends when Wrong was in Kenya working for the Financial Times. From Wrong's flat, Githongo would later take time out at Oxford University's St. Anthony's College, which currently hosts Nigeria's former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu, who also had to seek exile to save his life. It was during this hibernation that Githongo decided to blow the whistle on the Kenyan corruption scandal.

To protect people's identities and jobs, Githongo asked Wrong to take out some names in the book. The book, however, is officially not on sale in Kenya. The writer relayed her surprise at the success of the bootleg versions with passages of the book drawing comparisons with sections of the Bible.

There were questions as to where Wrong's allegiance was. "I do end up giving quite campaigning speeches now because the John Githongo story dictates that. But I don't want to take sides," she said.

Praising fiction-writing in Nigeria as "flowering and flourishing". she denied any presuppositions in her approach to Africa, Wrong justified her writing, saying the countries she writes about aren't effectively equipped or prepared to tell their stories.

Another reason for writing is quite simple. "I'm a journalist and I like to describe things that I see which I find interesting and I like to describe them in more depth than I'm never able to do in journalism and that results in books. I'm interested in human behaviour and why people do certain things."

Referring to the recurring themes of corruption and national sovereignty tackled in her work, Wrong said, "I guess they are just certain things I've become interested, in covering Africa."

In the line of her work, Wrong has done consultancy work with spy thriller author John le Carre, who speaks glowingly of her work. She has also managed to make enemies for herself in the World Bank and is currently working on a fictional book, taking a break from the politically intense non-fiction she is becoming popular for.

Interestingly, Wrong has never been arrested.