Beyond prosecuting the corrupt

Also published in Daily Trust

For the ongoing anti-corruption drive in Nigeria to achieve maximum and sustainable results, it must not stop at retrieving the staggering amounts of public funds stolen over the years by many government officials, and/or even jailing them, for that matter. The federal government should, in addition to these, take all necessary measures to disgrace the convicts lest they take advantage of their influence to bounce back.

They should, for instance, be stripped of their national honours, which they actually never deserved in the first place. Their names should also be removed from public properties, facilities and other government-owned landmarks, lest future generations of Nigerians mistake them for role models.

This is quite necessary, after all, it’s perhaps only in Nigeria that those responsible for the country’s socio-political and economic failure are ironically the most respected individuals in the country, while the society looks down at, and in fact, practically stigmatizes the honest and hardworking individuals especially who have had a chance to illegally get rich yet restrained themselves.

Justice for wrongful detention

Also published in Daily Trust

Now that the federal government has begun to address the underlying factors that affected the combat morale of its troops fighting Boko Haram terrorists and resulted in their failure to contain, let alone defeat the terrorists, there is a dramatic improvement in the performance of the troops on the battleground.

Obviously, this would greatly contribute towards defeating the insurgents especially as it also comes while the federal government is taking measures to update its military arsenal and improve its military capabilities in its fight against the insurgents. Besides, the three-month ultimatum given to the military by President Buhari to defeat the terrorists further confirms his seriousness and commitment to do whatever it takes in order end this lingering crisis as soon as possible.

Also, though, realistically speaking, it won’t be that easy for the military to defeat the insurgents within this period, after all, yet it’s quite achievable anyway as long as the combat strategies and the other relevant measures being taken in this regard are sustained.

Lest the federating states hinder Buhari’s reforms

Also published in Daily Trust

Though the ongoing anti-corruption measures and economic reforms pursued by President Buhari will certainly take some time to gather enough momentum to check the deep-rooted culture of corruption, impunity and mediocrity, which have been effectively institutionalized in the country over the decades, the rate at which various federal government ministries, departments and agencies fall in line with the new reform policies is pretty encouraging.

After all, these reform policies and measures, which continue to slowly but steadily take root, are apparently designed to gradually erode the accumulated mess in the country, in a measured but sustained manner to eventually eradicate it and establish a sustainable culture of transparency in the country’s public and private agencies and establishments.

Taming the kleptomaniacs

Also published in Daily Trust

Though just two months into its promising tenure, the Muhammadu Buhari-led government has discovered some relatively few but extremely shocking instances of systematic plunder of public funds involving massive amounts of money that are staggering enough to be described as malala gashin tinkiya, as we, when we were kids, used to innocently describe any amount of money beyond our limited comprehension.

After all, obviously there are several millions of Nigerian adults who equally can’t fully comprehend the concepts of billions and trillions often attached to the outrageous amounts of public funds being stolen from the public treasury, hence they equally find the stolen amounts simply incalculable and, of course, confusing, even if they don’t say it.

Beyond the diplomatic honeymoon

Also published in Daily Trust

In addition to the nationwide euphoria that trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s historic election victory, the immediate and remarkable improvement of Nigeria’s global approval rating marked the beginning of his diplomatic honeymoon even before he actually assumed the presidency.

This particularly explains the diplomatic warmth between Nigeria and the major world powers ever since his inauguration almost two months ago.

Obviously, this is largely due to the relatively transparent hence the most credible presidential election ever conducted in the country, which he meritoriously won, and, of course, his personal reputation as a man of exceptional integrity, which has earned him special recognition within the country and beyond.