Corruption As A Nigerian Factor

The social virus called the ‘Nigerian factor’ is a killer-disease that has arrested growth and development, and murdered talents and creativity for so long that there is little hope left as to whether the country has the slimmest chance of survival, not to talk of development or growth.

The ‘Naija’ factor first killed individual initiative in public office, unless such a move creates enough room for ‘chop’; because, according to a popular parlance, ‘man must whack’. The whole of the country’s annual budget is reputed to be predicated on the ‘chop or whack’ concept, and here is how.

If, for instance, N200 billion is needed for provision of potable water in some rural areas of the country, those with the duty to prepare or propose the budget would rather ask for N600 billion.

Now, everyone knows that the budget will go through some process by which several institutions of state will make input.

Before the budget gets to the Presidency, all manners of exigent scenarios would have been built into the budget to make it iron cast, if not sacrosanct.

The objective is to present the Presidency with a fait accompli such that there would be some irreconcilable lacunas if the budget is tampered with as proposed. I am not saying that the Presidency does not provide for exigencies of its own. Of course, it could order or advise the budget department to make room for certain fancies in the proposed budget.

However, the public office holder who proposes and implement public budget is the ubiquitous civil servant in the Ministries and so, looking into the concept of ‘chop or whack’, there is no use looking elsewhere but to start with the directors and permanent secretaries or directors-general.

Once the President presents the budget, the battle ground shifts to the National Assembly where the House and the Senate Committee on Annual Budgets are waiting for their pounds of flesh. Who is not familiar with their scarecrow tactics?

First, they would discover a missing loop which must be explained and next, they would uncover a lump that must be disentangled and then go ahead to drill holes in the rationale for the figures allocated to the various sub-heads of the budget. If they are only exercising their oversight functions, it would be understandable.

What we are talking about is beyond any oversight responsibility. The thing is like asking: “where is the provision for my chop, or shouldn’t I whack?” Negotiations beings in earnest some parts of which are not meant for public consumption.

You see, in spite of the moral decadence of our society, the question of ‘chops’ and ‘whacks’ are often wrapped in utmost secrecy and what is publicly disclosed is for the purpose of our hoodwink, for man must whack!

The general public often blames the ‘politician’ for their woes, for corruption or incompetence. Unknown to them, the politician is more or less co-opted into the corrupt script by the civil servant; but because the loquacious elected representative is the one permitted to speak to the public, he is often held responsible for what is actually the fault of the civil servant. Remember, the civil servant is to be seen and not to be heard.

At the end of all debates, everyone would have been ‘settled’ except the public. The water project would now be N500 billion and you would be made to believe that N100 billion has been saved.

Whereas, what has been lost to the leaches in public service amounts to N300 billion! That may not be the total loss because; there are some rats along the long chain of officials who would need to be taken care of.

The contractors will be left with that burden and so, the actual value of the water project which ordinarily would have cost tax payers N200 billion, will now cost them N500 billion while the practical value may just be about N150 billion!

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK