The question of Transparency

The 2009 Corruption Perception Index released last week by Transparency International, placed this country at 130 out of a ranking of 180 countries.

Nigeria has dropped down by nine places compared to our ranking last year, leaving us 50 points from the bottom of the list. We are graded as having a Corruption Perception Index score of 2.5 (out of 10) and confidence range of 2.2-2.7 (out of 10). This verdict, without doubt, is not cheery, especially to those in the corridors of power who like to believe, or perhaps make us think that the present administration has done something substantial to fight graft since it assumed power.

The Minister of Information and Communication, Dora Akunyili, and her Justice Ministry counterpart, Michael Aondoakaa, have both come out valiantly to pooh-pooh the report. But there is enough cynicism around to believe that most Nigerians will dismiss such protestations coming from these ministers, especially when it comes to the issue of fighting corruption. Mr. Aondoakaa’s latest reaction to the report is that the government will go ahead to prosecute corrupt bank officials who, in his estimation, are responsible for Nigeria’s lowered ranking on Transparency International’s report. In the minister’s eye, it was the last audit of the banking sector which led to the sack of some bank chiefs that brought this rather damning verdict on the country.

We wish to tell the minister that figuratively speaking, he is fussing around treating a rash while the patient is being consumed by a virulent cancer. The Transparency International report is not based on an event; it is the result of a long term observations and documentation of trends in the countries reported on. Mr. Aondoakaa should, therefore, save his breath and energy to focus on the much larger picture; corruption is almost single-handedly the primary reason why Nigeria’s oil wealth has not translated into higher standard of living in healthcare, education and social development, which includes infrastructure, for the generality of its people.

Our own president cannot even rely on Nigeria’s hospitals to give him a routine check up. As head of our Justice Ministry the attorney general does not need to continue pushing the case of the bank chiefs to convince the populace this government is serious about fighting the corruption monster. Action is what is needed and not mere platitudes and sound bites. The question is: what has the current administration done prior to the advent of the new Central Bank governor about taking on what has become a systemic problem? We have had a series of reactions to allegations and charges and probes that have disappeared down a rabbit hole; witness the response to the Halliburton Bribery Scandal, to name just one.

This is after all an administration that began by throwing obstacles and missiles at those who were bent on reining in the monster. Remember Mr. Nuhu Ribadu and how he was hounded out of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission? If the government were really serious would he have been thrown out of the police force even after removing him from the anti-graft agency? What signal does that send? Does it portray us as being serious as we claim?

The fight against corruption, we want Mr Aondoakaaa to know, is beyond just striking a feeble blow once in a while at the monster and thinking you are going to overcome it. The war has to be systematic and coordinated, not an exercise of fleeting responses to occasional indictments of corruption.

Rather, a purposeful resolve to eschew corrupt practices from the top down, block all the means of corruption from the highest quarters, and publicly demonstrate this by prosecuting all those earlier indicted for economic crimes and illegal practices. Anything short of this is unacceptable and we don’t need Transparency International and its bureaucrats to tell us that.