OPINION: Politicians, Kindly Deliver Nigerians From The Bondage Of Corruption-induced Hardship

By Isaac Asabor

Dear politicians, I find it difficult to identify a communication genre that can be employed, and serve as a dais of discourse on how you people are from one political dispensation to the other ripping-off the masses in the guise of serving the nation. I must confess that I am sanguine that this memo would suffice to let you all know that if there is any African proverb that aptly demonstrates the fact that Nigerian masses are bearing the cost of corruption they never bargained for, it is the one that says, “Though, the head does not fart but it is the one that usually receives the knock”.  Against the foregoing backdrop, there is no denying the fact that it is the masses that have been paying the cost of endemic corruption that most of you leaders are known to be perpetrating from each passing political dispensation to another; instead of you the perpetrators bearing the cost. To put it aptly, it is unarguably unfair.

Without any smidgen of amplification, the level of corruption you people have been perpetrating; even when you assured Nigerians during the campaign that there would be a change, has remained unprecedented. For instance, the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International ranked Nigeria as the 146 least corrupt nation out of 180 countries.

To put it clearly to you politicians, the Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories and their leaders as they are being seen to be corrupt.  Therefore, a country or territory’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index.

Without any scintilla of hyperbole, the media has over the years in its reportage been exposing the appalling corruption scandals which some of you are unrepentantly involved in since Nigeria embraced democratic politics, and in most cases, some of you that are considered to be top ranking politicians have being incriminated in corrupt practices.

Regrettably enough, some of you that have been treading the ignorable and retrogressive path of leadership erroneously think that that is the way it should be. To put it bluntly to you, things cannot continue this way. Thank God we all witnessed how EndSARS started and ended leaving on its trail, tears of blood and unprecedented level of destruction of public property.

Against the foregoing backdrop, I trust most of you listened to Comrade Peter Igbifa, the president of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) when he, in a trending video, said what happened during the EnDSARS “Na play” if leaders affiliated to the Niger Delta region continue to play retrogressive politics. Without mincing words, his warning should not be waved aside as inconsequential by leaders from the region.

Let me say in this memo that those that bear the cost of corruption which you people have seemingly institutionalized are unarguably the masses, and not some of you that might have allegedly stolen what would last your generations for decades; even years after you have left this world.

At this juncture, it is germane to ask you all, “Why are you politicians making the Nigerian masses to bear the cost of corruption? The answer to the foregoing question cannot be farfetched as corrupt practices and other hues of abuse of office have continuously been depriving the people the right to quality education, healthcare services, good roads, potable water, and you name it. The reason for the deprivation is because taxpayers’ money that are meant to be put in critical areas of infrastructure are what you people have been siphoning thereby making public policies less effective and fair.

Worst of all, while it is enough to say that the monies you people are wasting are important, the cost is about much more. Corruption corrodes the government’s ability to help grow the economy in a way that benefits all citizens.

To this end, there is no denying the fact that the unabated corrupt tendencies of you politicians are eroding the strength of the economy. Again, it is not out of place to say that the masses are today faced with the challenge of what economics describe as technical recession with concomitant spiralling rate of youth unemployment, a saddening housing crisis, a failing public healthcare system and harrowing poverty. It is not an incongruity to say that the money squandered by you politicians through corruption over the years could easily have prevented some, if not all, of these woes.

Still in the same nexus, it is germane to say that so many accidents that have being recorded on our roads could have been prevented if the roads were adequately maintained by you people. The same applied to ill-equipped hospitals that are daily contributing to avoidable deaths.

In the same vein, most of the youths that are ignobly called “Area boys”, and who you politicians usually recruit to do dirty-jobs for you, particularly during electioneering while you shield your children in fenced houses and schools in overseas could not have found themselves in their present situation if they had access to quality education, and secured profitable employment; either in public or private sector of the economy. They could have been better people like you guys, so to say.  Without doubt, corruption in Nigeria is by each passing day retarding the nation’s economic growth and development, even as it is eroding public confidence in governments, and threatening state security. Regrettably, despite the establishments of security agencies, such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), political corruption problems been caused by you politicians appear to be worsening in the country.

Wait a minute! Have you guys not realized that corruption in the country is no doubt robbing the masses their collective economic potential? This means less money to feed their families, send their children to school, buy medicine, or start a business.

Dear politicians, I guess as you read this that you are all unanimous with the question, “How can we get it right?”

To my view, there is no other way of getting it right than for you all, as politicians, to always apply the elements of good governance in the course carrying out leadership activities at the corridors of power. The elements are transparency, accountability, rule of law and responsiveness. There is no doubt that you are quite abreast of these elements; even better than this writer, except that the erroneous belief that to be a politician is an opportunity of making “good money”  has beclouded the collective sense of you all in delivering good governance for the people.

Without much ado, I must confess that the reason why I am addressing this memo to you politicians, and even openly, is to appeal that you deliver the Nigerian masses from the bondage of corruption-induced hardship. I am literarily on my knees begging on behalf of other Nigerians that you guys should help us. We have suffered enough under the bad leadership and unfulfilled promises which you all have been exhibiting from each passing political dispensation. “How can I deliver you people when I am not a deliverance minister?” One of you may have asked the foregoing question. Oga, it is not about God, it is about doing the right thing when in political position. Thank you for taking your time to read this memo which I believe will prick your conscience, and consequently resolve to turn a new leaf.