Tafa Balogun’s recent exit from the police force has been interpreted in basically two ways. Firstly, it is perceived as a sign of this administration’s determination to fight corruption. Secondly, Balogun is seen as the latest unfortunate scapegoat in the selective shooting gallery of Obasanjo’s war on corruption.
My own perception is that we cannot celebrate Balogun’s departure as a victory in the anti-graft campaign or even as a triumph of justice. Not yet. The best-case scenario would be for the EFCC to prosecute Balogun. Confronted with overwhelming evidence of the pot-bellied super cop’s wrongdoing, the court would convict and he would be jailed. End of story. Beautiful. Classic but unlikely!
In the last two weeks, the media has been awash with speculation and exposes on Balogun’s purported loot stashed away in banks. The sums being bandied around would have been shocking except that in Nigeria, news of an official on the take has since lost its shock value. The EFCC also confirmed that its investigations of the police boss were behind his exit. But really, if Balogun was removed, so what?
The anti-corruption efforts of the present administration suffer from a lack of a finishing move _ a critical lack of sting. It was the EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, who first pointed out that no Nigerian has ever been convicted for advance fee fraud or 419. This is still true today. This administration’s war on graft has been attended with much noise and hype but has pitifully few scalps to show for it. It falls frustratingly short when it comes to dealing a terminal judicial blow on the culture of corruption. Both the EFCC and the ICPC have fingered the judiciary as a cog in the wheel of justice. I believe that this is the true debacle we are facing in engaging corruption.
Julius Makanjuola, a former permanent secretary in the ministry of defence, was removed sensationally over alleged financial misdeeds a few years back with the usual attendant media circus. That case eventually fizzled out after an out-of-court settlement was agreed. The police and the Oyo State justice ministry inexplicably bungled the Bola Ige murder trial leaving unanswered questions, and those possibly guilty to walk free and the victim’s blood screaming against the betrayal of justice.
Consider also the government’s case against the duo of retired General Ishaya Bamaiyi and Major Hamza Al Mustapha. It has dragged on for five years, bugged down by the combination of a snail-paced judicial system, the stalling tactics of the accused and the far from stellar performance of the prosecution. In all likelihood the case will drag on till 2007. Thereafter a new administration will pardon the accused who will go on to forgive their detractors, and walk scot-free.
The EFCC boasts an ‘impressive’ record of having over 500 suspects behind bars. Something is wrong with this picture. 500? Suspects? How on earth is justice served by clamping people into jail on the basis of suspicion? The Nigerian police also routinely displays its crime-busting prowess by parading suspects on television. Thereafter nothing is ever heard of those suspects in terms of prosecutions and convictions. And statistics indicate that eighty percent of the inmate population in our over-crowded prisons is awaiting trial persons (ATPs).
No one seems to notice the telling impotence of our justice system, which appears constitutionally unable and unwilling to prosecute those that it accuses of wrongdoing. This judicial incapacitation is possibly the greatest weakness of the anti-graft campaign. A guilty Balogun or Joshua Dariye or some other high profile crook staring at a camera from behind bars would symbolize a real victory for the war on corruption.
Until this symbolic and tangible victory is attained, the anti-corruption rhetoric will remain hot air. Until some big wigs are dragged through the corridors of judicial process into prison to pay for their crimes, the war on graft will remain vulnerable to suggestions that it is selective witch-hunting and political stagecraft.
Obviously jailing a few big thieves alone will not transform the moral climate of our country but it will send a powerful message. We live essentially in a society that no longer believes that “crime does not pay” or that “honesty is the best policy.” When highly visible personalities are accused of highly visible crimes and are let off with a slap on the wrist or a pat on the back, the message being sent is that crime pays. The growing idea is that the only commandment that really matters is the eleventh one _ thou shall not get caught. This merely accelerates the moral decay of society and engenders a perverse inversion of values.
As it is, Balogun has been welcomed back home by his kitt and kin as a worthy son, as was Dariye. The ex-police boss will probably be given another chieftaincy title to add to the national award he received last year. He has, of course, since forgiven his detractors and handed the matter over to God in truly Nigerian style. Recall that two years ago, The News published a detailed expose on Balogun’s alleged financial dealings. The police chief then as now, forgave his detractors and invoked God’s judgment. Subsequently, he made the list of nominees for national awards. How tragic.
When Nigerian public officials are accused of wrongdoing, they don’t head to the courts to clear their blemished names, instead, they forgive their detractors and invoke divine absolution. It is as though our law enforcement agencies have resigned themselves to the limits of Nigerian justice; so they prosecute and convict crooks on the pages of newspapers and in the court of public opinion.
Apparently mere media censure and the temporary scorn of a forgetful people is the best that we can muster in terms of bringing wrongdoers to justice. So the crooks live to steal another day. The net consequence of this is that as trust in our judicial system continues to be eroded, extra-judicial methods look increasingly attractive options to both the state and the society.
Only prosecutions and convictions will change the terrible perception of corruption in this country. For many Nigerians corruption is simply a ponderous term for their right to “come and chop the national cake.” For this reason, the likes of Balogun and Dariye are heroes to their people in whose eyes they can do no wrong.
If things stay this way, then we would have to conclude that the ex I.G. who served the PDP and the presidency faithfully has been given a soft-landing for all his efforts. Some years down the road, his remarkable potbelly might make a reappearance on our political stage.
I have nothing but the highest regard for Nuhu Ribadu for the crusading zeal with which he is heading the EFCC. But I believe that only cast-iron judicial nails will hold down the coffin on the vampire of graft. Which is why I hope that the EFCC will earn decisive legal and moral victories in their cases against Dariye, Balogun and Anajemba among others.
•Nwodo writes from Lagos
This article was originally published by ThisDay Newspapers www.thisdayonline.com