Confessions and the question of conscience

Also published in Daily Trust

My column, titled ‘The politics of kayan aiki’ (Daily Trust, March 27, 2015) on the eve of the presidential election last year, dwelt on the flow of staggering amounts of kayan aiki (i.e. funds used to influence and manipulate election results) that literally flooded the country’s political scene during the campaign period. The sharing spree of kayan aiki at that time was simply too extravagant to elude even a casual observer. Also, due to the sheer amount of money involved, the beneficiaries ended up richer, of course according to the extent of their respective connections in the corridors of power and abilities to manipulate circumstances.  

Though election campaign in a capitalist-oriented political system e.g. Western-style democracy, necessarily, albeit unfortunately, entails spending huge amounts of money largely raised by individuals and vested interests, the situation in Nigeria is particularly unfortunate. Unlike elsewhere, election season in Nigeria is characterized by massive and systematic plundering of public treasury by the incumbent public office holders hell-bent on clinging to power at all cost. Their accomplices in the private sector also contribute individually and collectively to ensure the victory of their benefactors and partners in crime. For instance, the N23bn involved in the ongoing poll bribery scandal was part of such accomplices’ contributions from oil industry, to bribe Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) officials in order to tamper with the election result in favour of the incumbent president then. 

Besides, though scandals involving public figures including statesmen in serious corruption cases are very common in Nigeria in view of the pervasiveness of the culture of corruption, after all, not many Nigerians, including most of the critics of corrupt officials are actually innocent in this regard, the ongoing revelation about the scandalous plundering and sharing spree of funds earmarked for the procurement of weapons and other military equipment badly needed to crush Boko Haram terrorists when they were much more stronger, is particularly despicable.

Moreover, it simply confirms the dearth, or rather, the death of conscience in the society, as the plundering spree was systematically committed while the Nigerian soldiers on the warfronts were in desperate need for more weapon supplies to tackle the then increasingly audacious terrorists who were capitalizing on the their (soldiers) inadequate weapon supplies and lack of motivation due to poor welfare and incentive packages, to perpetrate their terror atrocities  across the north east and beyond where they would raid and invade cities, towns and villages, commit mass murder literally unhindered, and would even raid barracks, military units and security checkpoints. That was happening while the funds allocated for the execution of the war were being shared by the insensitive and kleptomaniac political and military elites, and while preventable loss of lives in large numbers and serious injuries among the poor soldiers on the warfronts were being recorded. Meanwhile, millions of abandoned and extremely impoverished internally displaced persons (IDPs) and many others across the borders in the neighbouring countries were languishing in anguish, misery and despair.

Though the heartbreaking leadership-inflicted affliction of Nigerians in general is equally due to the persistent systematic plundering of public funds over the decades, the plight of those among them who are also particularly and directly affected by the Boko Haram crisis, including the soldiers on the warfronts, is particularly touching. After all, while the survival chances of the directly affected communities depended (and indeed still depend) on the military’s ability to crush the terrorists as soon as possible, the then poorly-armed, ill-equipped and neglected Nigerian soldiers fighting the insurgents were actually struggling to survive the harsh condition they found themselves in, as the terrorists’ onslaughts on them was also getting increasingly overwhelming.  

Needless to say, those involved in the arms procurement scandal knew all these and more, yet they simply turned a blind eye and even kept pretending to appear committed and working hard to alleviate the suffering of the affected communities, while making empty promises to address the issues of soldiers’ welfare and weapons supplies. 

Now, as the ongoing probes into various serious financial frauds in the country (e.g. arms procurement fraud, poll bribery fraud etc) gather momentum gradually, and indeed continue to uncover serious scandals, those who have been exposed so far continue to individually confess collecting their respective shares of the booty, though with regard to arms procurement scandal in particular, they also claim ignorance about the source of the money and indeed seek to justify, albeit with flimsy excuses, why they collected it and how they ‘appropriately’ used it.

As mind-boggling frauds in all sectors of the economy continue to be unearthed and the thieves continue to be exposed, one can’t help but lament how a combination of the senses of sheer insensitivity and heartlessness has become so pervasive in the country, which also confirms the death of the conscience of the people involved, if they actually had it in the first place. After all, those who stereotype Nigerians as inherently and unrepentantly corrupt, e.g. the British Prime Minster, David Cameron who was recently caught on camera describing Nigeria as ‘fantastically corrupt, get and cling to their purported vindication from this unfortunate situation.