By Sheriffdeen Tella

Identifying the problems of Nigeria without mentioning corruption is corruption itself. Issues on corruption have served as a major plank for winning and losing elections in this country. The promise to eradicate corruption was sold by the All Progressives Congress and the President, Muhammadu Buhari to the electorate as the party to beat in 2015. This implies that Nigerians have always been aware of the immeasurable damage corruption has unleashed on their well-being, and have continued to look for a way out of the quagmire. The people were desperately in need of a solution to corruption and underdevelopment.

So, it was a well calculated propaganda by the party, and it had a sellable candidate with the required anti-corruption antecedent for that election. Voting for the APC then was not foolishness on the part of the people but patriotism. The belief was that Nigeria would be great again with reduced, if not eliminated, corruptive activities. Before the end of 2019, it became obvious that the APC sold a dummy to the people in 2015, and voting for it the second time was because the alternative available could not be regarded as better. Albeit, the situation for today is different from the past, which is to let the parties know that none of them should be bold enough to campaign on the basis of corruption. It would be hard to sell.

At the current level, a ‘Saint Honesty’ is not welcome in Nigeria. We’re now suspicious of one another. It is not that we do not have honest people amongst the citizens, but no one is going to believe whoever proclaims honesty. As it is, none of the leading candidates for the 2023 presidential election is claiming to be an angel. Nigerians would love to have an angel but they know it is difficult to believe politicians. The fear of the APC gimmick is the beginning of wisdom in this matter.

The concern in this write up is not to dwell on the past but to expand the scope of corruption activities presented in an earlier article on the same subject matter. More appropriately, it is to identify corruption in the public sector and the implications for the apparently low productivity in the sector. If the public sector of the Nigerian economy is working properly, the macroeconomic conditions of Nigerians would be better than what it is currently.

In an article entitled “Corruption: Let’s talk about it” published in The PUNCH on January 17, 2022, I explained that Ruzindana identified corruption as multifaceted, and thus included those items often overlooked as normal activities in our clime. Therefore, corruption, as highlighted by Ruzindana, consist of items or events like bribery, extortion, illegal use of public assets for private use, over-invoicing and under-invoicing, payment of ghost workers and pensioners, payment for goods not supplied or services not rendered which is called “air supply”, underpayment of taxes and duties on exports or inputs through false declaration, purchase of goods at inflated prices, fraud and embezzlement, misappropriation of assets, court decisions awarding damages in excess of any injury suffered, removal of document or even complete case file, and red-tapism cum patronage when one wants to see an officer. Ruzindana was not talking about the Nigeria situation alone; he was talking on a global scale. However, if the comment is about examples of corruption in Nigeria, the list will be much longer.

In the same publication, I referred to Rose-Ackerman, who identified four stylised types of corrupt states as kleptocratic states, bilateral monopoly states, mafia-dominated states, and the highest level, competitive-bribery states. When a country gets to the highest level of these states as Nigeria is currently, reversing the trend becomes more technical, and with actions that can consume the leadership.

Since the publication under reference, new events, however, have been identified as constituting corruption in Nigeria. It is corrupt for anyone to make payment for a job done or not done in any foreign currency. The situation where, as reported, delegates to parties’ primary were ‘paid’, ‘compensated’ or bribed in foreign currency should be seen as an unpardonable level of corruption. The same goes for a government, for example, to decide to reward Nigerian sportsmen living in Nigeria, entertainers or those who excel in their trade but live here, in foreign currency. Such an action has negative implications on the economy, particularly on the exchange rate. The top-class politicians now compete with foreign currencies, destroying local value of local currency in the process.

There are so many untoward things that civil or public servants do carelessly or deliberately that are injurious to economic development. The other day, on my way to Ogun State from Lagos, I noticed many new public buses parked under a bridge. That was the third time I would see them there in six weeks. On inquiry, I was informed that those buses were either in need of batteries or tyres. The drivers of those buses, the supervisors or line managers would be paid at the end of the month for failing to do their job or for sleeping on duty. That is corruption. It is a common scene in public service when workers deliberately vandalise or keep away their tools to avoid working for their salaries or wages. In some other instances, workers in the same office come to office on only selected days of their choice within a week or month; while spending the remaining days moonlighting.

The other day my vehicle was clamped for ‘wrong parking’ as they call it. The ‘officer’, another corruptive title for the clerk or attendant in charge, heavily fined me and started negotiating with me on how he could help me pay less. I had a suspicion that the fine was not that much, but I could not do anything. Whatever it was, I decided to make payment officially and collect a receipt. All attempts to make me settle him failed and he finally agreed to collect the money and issue a receipt. I told him we normally pay at the office, which fortunately is not very far. At the office, I was told the officer in charge of payment and receipt had just gone out and would have to wait. Another of the officers tried to convince me to settle so that I could leave. I was adamant. Luckily, a gentleman tapped me from behind and he happened to be an old friend working in the vehicle department; this time, a true official. He instructed them to collect the fine and issue a receipt while we were exchanging greetings. The charge was actually less than half of what I would have paid on the street. My friend collected the receipt from me and asked who issued it. There was silence, until one of them mentioned a name and said the person had just gone out. It was a fake receipt!

That is the way we run down our economy, and complain of low productivity, low revenue, delay in salary or non-payment of salary, lack of motivation to work and work very hard. Eventually low output per worker is the order of the day in most public departments. In many cases, the public service is overburdened with excess staff collecting salaries for doing virtually nothing, or not collecting salaries regularly because of low revenue. No one is asking questions on how unpaid workers get money to be in their offices daily. There is the need to ask questions if we are concerned about Nigeria.

The cover-up that goes on in virtually all the ministries, departments and agencies further strengthens corruption and the attendant low productivity in the public service. Sometimes, to overcome the inefficiency and revenue shortfall, some governors engage the services of revenue consultants while still paying employed staff who could not do their jobs efficiently. The engagement of consultants should be temporary and to serve as a benchmark for how much revenue is expected from the regular staff. Otherwise, another level of indolence and corruption is developed.

The competitive-bribery state where Nigeria currently is, and which is the most dangerous stage in the corruption ladder, requires that we must find a solution to corruption if the country must grow and develop. It was our referred Kabiyesi, His Royal Majesty, the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who in his wisdom said, ‘Before a yam seed starts sprouting, it must get thoroughly rotten.’ Maybe Nigeria is not yet thoroughly rotten, and we need to wait a little time.