It appears the recent series of clampdown by men of the Department of State Security, DSS on highly-placed judicial officers, will continue to dominate discussions in all fora, and the dust they had raised will take quite a while to settle. From whatever perspective the swoop down on judges residences were considered, they may continue to be relevant in the persistent and determined fight against corruption. That has really gone a long way to assure doubting Thomases within and outside the country that the promised war against corruption is in the works, and progressing satisfactorily. The spirit and the zeal with which the war is being prosecuted is an ample proof that the change agenda –as far as graft was concerned –was still on course and cruising smoothly.
Nigerians are quite happy with the new story line involving tough sleuths of security operatives and some of the decadent judges in a rotten judiciary, and everyone wishes to witness reformation of courts into citadels of hope for the hopeless. In fact, the corruption in the Nigerian Judiciary is more prevalent than in other sectors of Nigerian life and is even more grievous than was represented by the arrest of few misguided judicial officers. It is even suggested that if the president should be more serious about sanitizing the country various security operatives should cast their dragnets wider than they have done in the judiciary.
What these events involving the judiciary have gone to show was that Nigeria was a fertile ground on which distinct cases of various types of unlawful acts by public functionaries thrive. In fact the issue of corruption has been the prime concern of every individual throughout the country for quite some time, with politicians and government functionaries promising to eradicate it for good. The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari has almost over flogged that issue during his past presidential campaigns, stressing that he will terminate the evil by probing the military and other institutions whose reputation has been terribly soiled by corrupt practices. Everyone was happy with that development because corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian society and apparently everybody is partaking in it with unrestrained relish.
Corrupt practices have become rampant in the society and the institutions set up ostensibly to curtail them were unable to do so, especially as those administering them have also been totally wrapped up in that unwholesome deed. Now, with Muhammadu Buhari, an avowed anti-corruption crusader at the helms, it is expected that massive activities aimed at curtailing corrupt practices and catching up with their perpetrators would soon commence in earnest in all the three tiers of government. He must now extent the battle to those dishonest and contaminated officials in his administration who were known to have skeletons in their cupboards.
For President Buhari to pass the first acid test in eradicating corruption he must act swiftly in dealing with established cases of corruption which involved many officials, either working directly under him or his close associates, with whom he mixes generally. One area where President Buhari is expected to direct his attention with a view to reveal or uncover the monumental corruption is the Petroleum Industry. Undoubtedly, Nigerians and the international community are eager to know what necessary steps the government of President Buhari would be taking to cleanse the pervading rot in the country’s milk-pot.
It is significant and commendable to note how President Buhari intends to differ substantially in his leadership style from that of his predecessors and his cohorts who were accused of indulging in self-enrichment ventures, often squandering the riches of their countries to improve their selfish status. It was on record that President Jonathan had ever proclaimed that stealing public funds in Nigeria was not corruption. That was why he was totally unable to tame the corruption monster, allowing his people to partake in it with reckless abandon, until it had totally consumed all of them.
The multi-facetted corruption in Nigeria is also defined in many colors, some of which majority of Nigerians cannot comprehend; yet everyone now wants to know the pigment added to give a slightly different color to the trillions of Naira budgeted annually in addition to the several hundred million dollars realized from the crude oil sales in the federal government’s coffers in the past but were hopelessly squandered. In that regard, therefore, the main thrust of Buhari’s anti-corruption war should adequately address the allegations of corruption against the serving legislators apart from determining how vital national resources were applied or misapplied in the quest to develop the nation in the last six years. In fact, the anti-corruption warfare should not end with the judiciary.
