Corruption: The Goat And The Yam

AMBASSADOR EZEWELE ABIONANOJIE CYRIL

 We have talked about eliminating corruption for so long that it has become a political campaign tool from one government to another. Solving the issue of corruption in Nigeria seems insurmountable as our leaders had given a thousand and one reasons why it is impossible to secure a free and fair society where the rule of law checkmates the affairs of our leadership system and that of the public on the platform of equity. It is erroneous to believe in a problem without a solution. Mike Murdock, who I was privileged to learn under the sound of his voice, says “There is a wisdom solution to every life situation” While Dr. Frank Crane asserts “Our best friends and our worst enemies are the thoughts we have about ourselves” and I am of the opinion that we can loosen the chain of corruption off our neck and be emancipated from the pit of pity. All we need do is to apply the right tools for the right results.

The Police And The Government

Nigeria Police was first established in Imo state under the colonial masters in 1820 with officers from Imo state. Though the region was not called Imo State until 1976 when the state was created. Be it as it may, the colonial reasons for forming the police was to defend the interest of their colony at the detriment of Africans. But the true essence of having a police body is to enforce law and order, prevent and detect crimes and to protect life and property of the people. But the Nigerian government had handicapped the police functionality by under paying the police and by providing inadequate materials and funds for their operations. Our leaders pretend to be fighting corruption without empowering the machinery necessary to deal with it. Imagine, 45,000 Naira is what is given to each police station for maintenance and for the fueling of their vehicles in three months. That is 15,000 Naira per month which is approximately equal to 500 Naira per day.  What a slap on the face of our security system and of the populace whom they are to protect. Police is to function independently without submitting their sovereignty to political manipulation. With the next to nothing amount of money given for their daily operations, there is no way they can function without getting money from other source. A friend and a brother of mine once said that the 20 Naira notes police collects from public is the reason why the public can sleep at night. That is where they get money to purchase fuel for patrol among other necessities. Their salary is far too small compare to the cost of living in Nigeria these days. A constable salary is about 43,293 Naira 80 Kobo. That is an annual salary of 519,525 Naira 6 Kobo, while the annual average salary of German police is 60,281 Dollars. The stipends given to Nigeria Police is too small for a person who is to stay awake for others to sleep, who is to risk his life for others to live, etc. Like every other human, the police officers want to have access to the common things available to living a prestigious life. Such as, sending their children to good schools, living in good houses as landlord, having good cars with insurance backing to cater for their children and spouse if he/she loses his/her life in active service.

It is an epileptic move to intend fighting corruption with the deprived. Even the papers the police write on are not provided for. The government relegates our police force to the bench of insufficiency in order to obligate the police to dance to the vibes of the political plans. Our political settings had rendered our security bodies impotent and irrelevant not to function independently without submitting their sovereignty to the government of the day, while they pay fat salaries to themselves in the midst of the public money they are stealing. It is like plucking off the feathers of a hen and makes it to suffer hunger and pains and later use seeds of corn to direct the movement of the hen. The police security body as the hungry and the featherless hen will only follow the direction of any available corn. And the public farm proceeds can only be harvested by our political thieves.

The Need For State And Local Police  

The advantages of having state and local police are for the interest of the public while the disadvantages can only hurt the interest of a bad politician. There is no way a country can successfully control crime rate without state and local police. Firstly, the local police must be indigenes brought up in the area. They have first hand information concerning the people who live in the area. Same thing as state police, they must be people of the state.

Secondly, the local police will help to checkmate the affairs of their local region and help to fish out any suspicious person in the region. They are to take note of new persons that are moving into the area; investigate why they are there and who they come to see. This is the secret behind the investigative power of western police. Local police as the in-house police are familiar with the character of the house rats. They can easily tell of the rat that stole or capable of stealing a fish.

Lastly, the three arms of police body, the national, state and local police are to work hand in hand to share intelligence and also to checkmate each other’s activities in the region. This method will make each of the arms a monitoring unit to others. Above all, they must be well paid and cater for by providing every material needed for their operations and comforts. They must be honest and well presentable in their uniforms to command respect from the public.

The same politicians, whose appetite for public wealth can never be satisfied, will never support any system that will pose a threat to their selfish desires, such as the use of thugs for political conflicts.

The whole system of our political setting is run in bluff. The man without head always struggles to have the cap by every corrupt means. And the people are supporting and hailing them for morsels of bread. Honourable this, honourable that.

Note: There is nothing honourable in stealing.

As it is to the individual nation, so it is to the individual person, the image staring back at you as you look into a mirror is your only surviving enemy.

 

 

Ambassador Ezewele Abionanojie Cyril is the author of the book called ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’ and writes from Lagos.