Preventing
‘Domino Effect’ of corruption in Nigeria through integrity-based public
appointments
The dominoes are compromising! The dominoes are
falling! Where is that happening? It’s on the field of play in the course of a
game between the Nigerian government – represented by public officials – and corruption.
And the stakes are very high. In the meantime, the dominoes are compromising,
and they are falling under the weight of selfish interest, greed,
narrow-mindedness, peer pressure, and primitive accumulation of wealth. Yes, more
and more dominoes are compromising and falling in turns. They are indeed “corrupt
dominoes” of our society. And the cumulative effect of such chain reactions of
the dominoes is what one can borrow a term to refer to as the ‘Domino Effect’
of corruption in the Nigerian public space. What we are saying, in other words,
is that corruption has risen to a contagious dimension.
Who are the corrupt dominoes in this circumstance?
They are the paradoxical heroes of their poor and/or illiterate followers, the
shameful “brides” and warlords of their communities, ethnic and religious
groups, the sticky-fingered public officials, and the negative role models of backward-thinking
members of the middle class. They are largely the players who constitute the
government team on the field of play in a critical must-win game against
corruption. They come from different places, play different parts, and operate
in different ways at different frequencies. They occupy positions here and
there in a strategic row of corruption in such a way that enables free flow and
passage of the cankerworms and loot of corruption from one domino to the other,
falling over one another, and creating a negative Domino Effect, while neutralizing,
checkmating and frustrating the efforts of the non-corrupt ones who are playing
to win the game. Although corrupt dominoes play on the side of government and
are supposed to key into the government’s game plan against corruption, they fall
easily to pressure from corruption. And as EFCC, ICPC and allied
anti-corruption agencies run after the fallen dominoes, the dominoes somehow get
off the hook, get dusted, and re-positioned back in the game to create the next
round of Domino Effect, and the vicious cycle of corruption continues.
But, has government been quiet and lackadaisical about
this scenario? No! Government has indeed established structures such as ICPC
and EFCC to beam searchlights on corruption and wage war against it. Needless
to say that relevant laws have been enacted by the National Assembly towards sustaining
Transparency, Accountability and Anti-corruption
Government has also established, as a constitutional duty, the Code of Conduct
Bureau [See Section 153 (1)(a) of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria].
Moreover, Government has put in place a number of systems including e-payment,
Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Government
Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Treasury Single
Account (TSA), Bank Verification Number (BVN), Whistleblower Policy, and
Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).
However, Government needs to do more in terms of strengthening
and autonomization of existing anti-corruption agencies such as EFCC. In view
of the economic, financial, political, social, moral, developmental, and other
dimensions of corruption beyond the legal dimension, the influence of the Office
of the Attorney-General of the Federation on the EFCC and any other
anti-corruption body should be curtailed particularly to the extent that any such
influence conflicts with the anti-corruption war and dispensation of justice.
In addition, Government needs to begin to rely on other
structures, systems or strategies apart from EFCC and ICPC which mainly fight
the anti-corruption war as a reactive post-mortem investigation and control.
Government will gain more mileage by introducing new strategic and preventive
measures to minimize corruption and reduce the burden on ICPC and EFCC. One of
these measures is to ensure that people that are appointed into public posts
are people of high integrity in addition to merit. We need to do away with the
unproductive system of allowing individuals with serial records of corruption
to get rewarded with another public post sometimes even at a higher and more
sensitive level. We possibly always think that such people have changed or will
change, but leopards do not change their skins. Before anybody is appointed
into a public post, it would be more beneficial if we can beam light on his/her
official pedigree and conduct due diligence, candidate profiling, and 360
degree performance appraisal involving his/her current and previous supervisors,
superiors, subordinates, peers, trade unions, and other stakeholders. We can
give this all-important responsibility to an existing agency or, at the risk of
adding to the multitude of government agencies already in existence, establish
a brand new Integrity Commission to
be manned by people of proven integrity.
The demonstrated integrity and anti-corruption
stance of President Muhammadu Buhari and those of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo
constitute enormous strengths and opportunities which must be latched
on to in practical terms. In order to succeed in the
anti-corruption war, beyond the great efforts of the EFCC, the President and
the Vice-President will need to ‘clone’ themselves down the ladder of
governance by ensuring that all public appointments they make are not only merit-based
but also integrity-based. Integrity should form part of the critical yardsticks
in future appointments of Ministers, Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries,
Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Chief Executives of Parastatals,
Chairmen and Members of Governing Boards, and other public posts. By the time this
is done, progressive state governors will also lay good examples in their
states and ensure that integrity is given its pride of place and elevated as
the new public order not only in public appointments but also in everything we
do. The issue of integrity is a shared core value that a nation with a vision
of development must not joke with. Fortunately, integrity is one of the core
values of the Nigerian civil service and is also one of the seven (7) national
ethics stipulated under Section 23 of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
At this auspicious moment of the arrival of Mr.
President from medical vacation, about which we are excited and grateful to God
Almighty, we expect that Mr. President will change the gear, raise the bar, and
begin to inject fresh blood into Government.
Reassuringly sirs, our leaders at the national and
sub-national levels, Nigeria is a country of good people and, unlike the
falling dominoes who have been managing our public affairs over the years, there
are many qualified and credible Nigerians who believe in transparency and
accountability, abhor corruption, and are willing and ready to enlist their
services behind you to achieve good governance and socio-economic development.
May God help us!
