We
have succeeded in establishing the fact that the foundation for
corruption in this country was in the beginning, through the
falsification of records and distortions in geographical mapping,
coupled with rigged census and elections.
It was the
foundation for white collar criminality- one committed through the pen
and books- and white collar criminality is the most dangerous to a
nation. It stunts growth and development. It is not openly manifested
but deadly as worm eaten houses.
Forget all the
noise about the British bureaucracy and rhetorics: they are the
foundation for corruption in this country and they replicated it in
several parts of the world.
Check out the following British
former colonies: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and
many others, all of them rank very highly in the corruption index. The
case of India is very perplexing: With all the strides they have made in
medicine, engineering and ICT, the DNA of corruption refuses to be
expunged from their system. It has now become a pathological case and
the people have learnt to live with it.
Such is the situation in
Nigeria but in India, they have been able to combine theirs with
development. They have isolated their science and technology from the
murky politicians and their world of corruption.
In Nigeria, the
more we learn to live with corruption, the more it is choking and
threatening to destroy us as a nation. Are we going to let it destroy
this country?
Incidentally, we are having new generations of
Nigerians who are not well informed and have been made to grow up with
tainted accounts of the country’s history.
Unfortunately,
history, we are told, has been removed from our educational curricula.
How we intend to learn from the failures of our past is beyond my
imagination, as we cannot move forward, without a proper grounding on
our past.
Almost all of our founding leaders- except a very
negligible few like Aminu Kano- developed acquisitive tendencies of the
ultra- capitalist cadres and were prone to their ethnic and regional
interests.
There is, therefore, no single role model in the form
of Mahatma Ghandi of India or Nelson Mandela of South Africa. As a
politician with acquisitive tendencies, there is no way you will
practise your trade without compromising on your integrity and the spill
over effects can be seen in our present day politics.
Corruption everywhere
The
new generation would have been better placed to sort this out, as they
were not part of the rotten foundation. Unfortunately, they are also
learning very fast. So, how do we tackle the challenges of corruption in
this country?
Again it is a matter that requires our collective
efforts. It must be accepted by all that corruption is killing this
country. The way everyone sees the deadly Ebola virus, same should be
the case of corruption. An emergency should be declared and it must
start from the head – I mean the presidency.
In their thoughts,
actions and body language, it must be clear to all that they are ready
to put this corruption issue to rest. Corruption cannot be eliminated
from this country without good leadership examples.
As corrupt as
the Indians are portrayed, they are never compromised by issues that
affect the common progress of the country. For example, you cannot
import just anything into the country when it is placed on the
prohibition list.
In Nigeria, the reverse is the case; that is
when waivers are granted and smuggling intensified; that is why the
policies on rice and imported vehicles will not work.
Everyone of
our policies are deliberately contrived to make some people rich at the
expense of the generality of the citizens. Unless our leadership at all
levels accept to set positive examples, we will not eliminate
corruption.
We need a Nigeria of integrated, detribalised
amalgamation of tribes where the interest of both the majority and
minorities are factored in and institutionalised. We all need to come
out clean in this country; there should be no need for falsification of
population and election figures.
Let us have men that are ready
to use their education correctly for the advancement of this country.
The Indians have just launched a successful space mission to planet
Mars, with a budget as low as $73-74million, ten times cheaper than what
the US would have expended.
This is made possible by the focus
of the intellectual class. They have concentrated on their researches
and achieved ground breaking feats in various endeavours.
Because
of their peculiar circumstances- the average Indian is relatively poor-
they have always churned out products that the ordinary man can afford
through frugal technologies.
That is the story of India; that
despite the corruptive tendencies of the politicians and their like,the
intellectuals/researchers are pushing the country ahead to the top of
global forums. Why can’t our intellectuals do same?
It is not all
about money but passion and interest. Our intellectuals must set the
examples and the Ministry of Science and Technology must be involved in
this drive. That Ministry is too passive, as it is now.
The
shackles of corruption can be broken in this country, we need leaders
who are ready. Are we ready to break this barrier? Who will bell the
cat?
Photo Credit: Obilonu
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