In this concluding interview, Ray Ekpu, a retired Chief Executive Officer, Newswatch Communications Limited, posited that corruption has also reached the military which used to be considered a much disciplined force.
EXCERPTS:
Are you satisfied with the way the Federal Government is fighting corruption?
There is no perfect way of waging corruption. Corruption has been with us since the birth of this country as an independent country. During the first coup, Nzeogu Chuwkwuma, the leader of that coup in his speech, talked about 10 per centers- that he was going to deal with 10 per centers. He was talking about people who were taking 10 per cent as corruption for awarding contracts, for doing things and so on. Since then, corruption has grown in a spectacular fashion. When the late General Murtala Mohammed came and overthrew Gowon’s government, out of the 12 governors, only two were considered corruption-free. Ten were convicted of corruption. So, you can say 12 were called, but only two were chosen. Since then, corruption has multiplied because as the oil money increased, corruption also increased in a spectacular fashion to meet the level of money that was available. That is the way corruption works, and we moved from talking about a few hundred pounds to millions of naira and now to billions. I think we are even talking about trillions. So, we cannot go on like this. It was a good idea for the APC government and for President Buhari in particular to sell his idea to dealing with this terrible problem, and it is a problem hasn’t been tackled in very impressive manner.
The problem is gargantuan, and for me, it needs to be handled in two phases. One, it shows that corruption does not occur. Two, if it occurs, it is limited. There is a lot of corruption in the civil service and people think it is because of the longevity of tenure- that security in the civil service is no longer there. People think they can be thrown out of the civil service and they will okay ‘I don’t know whether I will be sacked tomorrow, so let me make quick money so that I can live happily after with this looted money’. So, something has to be done about returning the civil service to those days and paying them a living wage. And the contract process has to be reformed and strengthened, and people of integrity have to be put in important places where large sums of money have to be disbursed whether it is contract or as salaries and so on. You will even find those workers everywhere, in the local government, in the state public service and in the federal government. Corruption has also reached the military which used to be considered a much disciplined force. You have generals in the army being dragged before the court for corruption and so on.
The task is daunting, but is not a problem that can be solved in one day or by one government. Buhari has done well, he instilled the fear of courts into them; but it has to be a collaborative effort. The lawyers have to be working with the government; the judges have to work with the government, the prosecutors, and the citizens. The best thing that the government has done in tackling corruption is this whistle-blower facility. If you give them information, and it leads to the discovery of money or property, you are rewarded. I think that is a master-stroke. But a lot of work still needs to be done because a lot of the people, the high profile allegedly corrupt people, have stolen enough to buy the pope if they need to buy the pope, if the pope is the judge. What they now do is to use the money and take care of people in the system. They hire 30 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, put them in their corner, the lawyers on the other side, they try to take care of them. So, the prosecutor begins to punch holes in the cases and also work on, and the case fails. If it doesn’t fail, they have enough money to tempt the judges with it, and get judgment. That is part of the problem. It’s not that the Buhari government is not doing its best, but under that system, his best cannot be good enough. But he has to keep trying, and subsequent governments must use the citizens to support the fight against corruption. I remember when one of the former governors was taken before a judge in one of the states. The people rented a crowd who went there. The man was charged with corruption, the crowd went and said, ‘’leave our man, he is not guilty and so on’’. That happened in various parts of the country, and the man went abroad, was arrested and jailed there. Do you know how many of such high-profile people are in a jail today? We can give account on the fingers of one hand. So, there are obvious problems in getting these people convicted and it becomes a Nigerian problem with peculiar Nigerian attribute that is affecting the efficacious implementation of policies that can help to reduce corruption. But, it is not a problem that can be solved in one day. So, we just need to keep trying.
What are your suggestions on the country’s economic recovery?
I am not an economist. Anyway in the Nigerian context, I think our best bet is to pay attention to agriculture- solid minerals and, of course, oil is still there. People have said in the next 10 years or so, oil will not be an important factor. Electric cars are being manufactured in developed countries. That will reduce the need to a large extent of oil and gas, but it is not going to vanish completely. Coal is still being manufactured in Newcastle. We use to hear that you can carry coal to Newcastle- that you can’t carry oil to Saudi Arabia, but oil is not going to vanish. It will continue to be one of the components, an important part of the energy mix. But, it does not mean that we should not look at other things.
But comparatively, in terms of agriculture, we have a beautiful climate, and we have people who can be utilized. I think we should draw our attention to agriculture. If they don’t go back to their lazy ways, and if they pay attention to agriculture, we will be out of the woods. We can’t keep importing, we should be able to also export. China with a population of 1.3 billion people is a net exporter of food. It feeds its own people, and exports food. So, there is no reason why Nigeria cannot be at that level. If we continue to pay attention to agriculture, and explore the solid minerals, we should be out of the woods; we should be smiling. That is if we have consistent policies, and we don’t have all these flips and flops in government policies- this one goes in this direction, this one comes and goes in a different direction. This has been one of the banes of the country’s policy flip-flops.
What is the way out of threats to the corporate existence of Nigeria by IPOB, Boko Haram, Niger Delta Avengers and others?
The corporate existence of Nigeria is threatened. It is left for the country, the President to pay more attention to the agitations of various parts of the country the people are coming up with. It is not enough for the President to say that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable; it’s indivisible and so on. That is in theory and not on paper. The agitations have begun to threaten, to cut the knot that links all these fabrics of Nigeria. So, you have to work at it. It is not a matter of just saying that Nigeria’s unity is indivisible. Past governments have tried to do things; they thought they would bring government nearer to the people. They created Federal Character Commission, so that people can be employed from various parts of the country, but federal character is not implemented in the manner it should be implemented, even by the Federal Government itself. Government created the NYSC programme, which was supposed to contribute to improving the knowledge of young graduates in Nigeria, and thus increasing the possibilities of the various parts of the country. These are efforts of improving the Nigerian unity and integration, but the government has to keep working at it. It’s not something you will rest. This is a very segregated country, so many ethnic groups, so many languages, different religions and so on. The disparity between North and South is huge in terms of education, in terms of approach in doing things, and in terms of culture, in terms of religion, in terms of everything. Ideally, initially, it should have been two different countries, but of course, since 1914 we have been together, and there is no reason why we cannot continue to stay together if we recognize these diversities, and turn the diversities into advantages, instead of exploiting these diversities and putting a knife through the fabric of the country. Nigeria is a walking progress. People at different leadership levels must be ready to do the hard work necessary to pull the country together.
Considering controversial decisions of President Donald Trump against some global bodies, is US still the leader of the world?
Yes, it is. It is the number country in the world in terms of economy. It is the number one economy in the world. In terms of development and technology, it is still number one. But, it’s unfortunate that the present President of the country seems to be working at cross purposes with its former partners: European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). During his campaigns, Donald Trump said that NATO is unworkable, that it is finished. But, when he became President, he said he was ready to work with NATO. He reverses himself so many times. Now, he is talking about climate change. He has refused to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change. A friend of mind was saying to me that the IRMA storm destroyed his ranch (Laughs). Maybe, Trump will begin to recognize climate change and his lack of experience in government shows very clearly. He’s never been in government, but even if he hasn’t been in government, if he is somebody ready to listen to advice, he has enough advisers around him.
But he is a spontaneous guy; he does what he wants to do. He is going to deal with North Korea with fire and fury that the world has never seen before. Everybody was alarmed. His Defence Chief had to travel round the world to say to them that the President didn’t mean that. The Vice President had to travel round to allay the fears of people around the world. So, he keeps making those statements that a President of the US, for that matter, shouldn’t make. And he leaves his minders, having to run around and do some trouble-shooting all over again. I believe he is a one-term President. I think US made a mistake. Elections do not necessarily roll up the best candidate, the best person, and that is an example of such a scenario. He keyed into many young people who were jobless and those who were frustrated, telling them what they wanted to hear. And there he is, unable to deliver, and he does things that people cannot understand. But that seems to diminish the reputation of USA in the eyes of the world. I believe that US has enough strong institutions to prevent a President who is crazy from turning the world upside down.
END
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