Nigeria lost about $15B to fraudulent and corrupt practices in the<\/p>\n
security equipment spending during the last administration, Vice
\nPresident, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has disclosed, even as he spoke of
\nhope that the implementation of the 2016 budget would commence soon.<\/p>\n
“By the grace of God in the next few days we will begin the implementation
\nof one of the most ambitious budgets in our history. Ambitious not just in
\nits size but more in its broad range of fiscal and other socio-economic
\npolicies,” according to the Vice President.<\/p>\n
The Vice President spoke today at the book presentation of the
\nIbadan-based elite group, House of Lords, which just published an indepth
\nanalysis by different experts titled “Nigeria: The Challenges of Growth
\nand Development, ” at the University of Ibadan.<\/p>\n
While observing that the Buhari presidency has kept on a sustained fight
\nagainst corruption, the Vice President said the country simply cannot
\nsustain the shocking level of public sector corruption in particular.<\/p>\n
Said he: “When you look at the sheer amount of money that have been
\nembezzled, the sheer amount of money lost from any of these various cases
\nof corruption, you will find that far too much has been lost. ”<\/p>\n
Continuing he disclosed that “it was discovered a few days ago that the
\ntotal amount of money lost just to corruption in part of…and provision
\nof security equipments in the military is closer to 15 billion US
\ndollars.”<\/p>\n
While the nation’s foreign reserves is now around about $27B, Prof
\nOsinbajo, driving home the stark significance of the such corruption,
\nnoted that the $15 billion figure “is more than half of the current
\nforeign reserves of the country.”<\/p>\n
He then told the audience made up of top Nigerian elites drawn from
\nacademics, business and the professions that what the Buhari presidency is
\n“trying to do is to ensure that there are consequences for corruption and
\nwe try to send a message that anyone who is found to have been corrupt
\nwould not only dislodge the property they have stolen but will also pay
\nfor it in terms of the sanctions of the law.”<\/p>\n
According to him, “I believe strongly that it is important to send a
\nmessage that no public officer can steal the resources of this country and
\nexpect to escape. I hope the message would be loud and clear and it will
\ninform behaviour in the future.”<\/p>\n
Throwing a challenge to the generality of the Nigerian elite, Prof
\nOsinbajo said “the limits of the growth and development of most nations
\nlargely depend on the strength of the value-driven influence of their
\nelite, indeed it is evident that the reason for the development and growth
\nof most societies is not resources, but values, (otherwise African
\ncountries will be the most developed.)<\/p>\n
Citing the example of Singapore to back up his submission, the VP noted
\nthat the reason why the “tiny, resourceless island is richer than most of
\nsub-Saharan Africa with its vast resources is values: hard-work,
\nintegrity, innovation promoted by a committed elite. Thus the custodian
\nelite especially in largely poor and illiterate societies has a huge
\nresponsibility.”<\/p>\n
He said that responsinility is what he called “The burden of privilege.”<\/p>\n
He explained: “I have argued elsewhere that the privileged, or the elite
\nboth individually and collectively have a responsibility, an obligation to
\nsociety, to plan it, organise it, order or reorder it and above all to
\nmake sacrifices for it, for the maximum benefit of all.”<\/p>\n
Continuing he added: “This is the burden of privilege. It is their
\n-elite-obligation individually and collectively to chart the course for
\nthe millions. They define and house the ethos and the public sense of the
\npeople. It is their expected role to find common cause across professions,
\nvocations, ethnicities and faiths, defining the minimum terms and
\nconditions for the safety, security, growth and prosperity of the
\ncommunity.”<\/p>\n
Furthermore he stated that the elites “define clearly what is lofty, what
\nis noble, what is deserving of honour and how these values can be
\nsustained, preserved and enforced. This is the burden of privilege. The
\nFrench describes it as \u201cNoblese oblige\u201d –nobility obligates or perhaps
\nmore correctly for our purpose, privilege obligates. Society fails when
\nthe elite abdicates its role.”<\/p>\n
Based therefore on the recent past of the country, the Vice President
\nlamented that “to a large extent the ethical space has been vacated by the
\nNigerian elite. In its place are all manner of excuses and false
\njustifications of bad behaviour. Today ethnicity and religion protect
\ncorruption and abuse of power. Mediocrity is encouraged by the subjection
\nof merit to variations of quota systems. Quotas are not in themselves
\nwrong, but must be the exceptions not the rule.”<\/p>\n
He stated three principles that the Nigerian elites ought to accept and
\npursue to ensure nation’s growth and development:<\/p>\n
The first is integrity-a rigorous maintenance of transparency,
\naccountability in governance<\/p>\n
The second: the discipline of implementation, which encapsulates planning,
\ntimeliness and precision.<\/p>\n
And third: the rigorous enforcement of rules, law and order.<\/p>\n
“Each of these is founded on ethical constructs that are established,
\nnurtured and protected by the elite. In doing so the elite must understand
\nits responsibility, the obligations that the privilege of education,
\nstatus and providence confers.”<\/p>\n
“It was the aristocratic elite in the United Kingdom that presented the
\nMagnaCarta Libertatum: a charter of human freedoms that has become the
\ntemplate for constitutional rights anywhere in the world. Those barons,
\nnot lawyers, crafted the high-minded words of that charter including those
\nthat through the ages undergird the enduring notions of the rule of law
\nand judicial integrity namely: “To none will we sell, to none deny or
\ndelay, right or justice.”<\/p>\n
“Similarly it was the American elite that drew up the words of its
\nConstitution and its other documents enabling personal autonomy and free
\nenterprise. The puritans a small but powerful group entrenched the
\nAnglo-American concept of hard work, creativity and trustworthiness, their
\nreward is that the work ethic said to be responsible for the success of
\nthe industrial revolution is named after them, ‘the puritanical work
\nethic.’ ”<\/p>\n
“There is very little reason why concepts such as “Omoluabi,” or
\nequivalents which conflate notions of a person, character and
\nintrospection should not be insisted upon and established.<\/p>\n
It is my humble submission so, that it is the business of the Nigerian
\nelite through its most revered social institutions to promote the values
\nthat are fundamental to development and growth. Policies are often only as
\ngood as the character and commitment of its implementers.”<\/p>\n
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