Before assuming the presidency in May 2015, Muhammadu Buhari rightly
\nproclaimed that \u201ccorruption will kill Nigeria, unless Nigeria kills
\ncorruption.\u201d Unfortunately, however, after barely one year in office, a
\ndiverse segment of the population began to openly pray for the freedom of
\ncorruption in-so-far there is food on the table. By December 2016, the
\nNigerian Legislature answered by formally introducing a bill to amend the
\nConstitution to grant its members immunity or, more plainly, the
\nunrestrained freedom from prosecution against corrupt practices.\u00a0 As if
\nthe circus lacks in folly, the Senate followed by mysteriously rejecting
\nthe president’s nominee to head the war on corruption. But this whole
\ndilemma has roots deeper than the ordinary eye can meet.<\/p>\n
Not long ago, the transition to a democratic government in 1999 after
\nyears of military rule seemed like the ultimate game-changer. There was a
\nsemblance of freedom in most areas of national life. It then seemed the
\ncitizens had finally become free from the shackles of dictatorship that
\nhad strangled the country for ages. But don\u2019t hold your breath. A more
\ncomplex problem soon emerged: The way the political elites conceived the
\nfreedom turned out to be upside-down. The crux of the matter is that the
\nvery practice of Nigeria’s democracy also allowed the leaders the freedom
\nto do as they chose. In the process, they chose to revert back to the
\nmilitary style of dictatorship, leading to gross mismanagement of
\nresources and human right abuses.<\/p>\n
This culture of impunity under a democratic setting resulted in massive
\ncorruption. Different attempts by successive governments to combat the
\nsocietal ill were openly frustrated at the courts where some unique tenets
\nof freedom and rule of law were employed to produce unsavoury outcomes.
\nDespite the fact that Nigeria was consistently ranked near the top of
\nglobal corruption index, no major politician served a jail term in the
\nAfrican soil from 2008-2015, apart from the lone case of Olabode George.
\nNot surprisingly, freedom of corruption became the order of the day. With
\nthe price of crude oil then already beginning to take a nose dive, it was
\nonly a matter of time before the national economy would crumble.<\/p>\n
That was the exact situation in 2015 when the masses beckoned back
\nMuhammad Buhari for salvation. For many, Buhari was a\u00a0 ramrod-straight
\nex-general whose austere image as well as anti-corruption track record
\nwere best suited to oust a weak and pliable incumbent president in
\nGoodluck Jonathan.
\nSince assuming the office, however, Buhari’s war against corruption has
\nbeen a vain pursuit. Any attempt by the president to introduce
\nfar-reaching anti-corruption measures is readily resisted, with the
\nopposition always clinging to one form of freedom or the other. A current
\nexample is the issue of special courts being canvassed by the president to
\nexpedite corrupt cases. Of course, the delay in the courts has nothing to
\ndo with lack of human resources especially in a country where thousands of
\njobless lawyers roam the streets. The special courts, instead, are to
\nde-oxidize the existing culture where judges and politicians combine to
\nsustain freedom for corrupt leaders through frivolous adjournments, plea
\nbargains, and state pardons. Regrettably, the critics of the special
\ncourts, most of who constitute the first line of defense for the corrupt
\noligarchy, quickly pounded on the president, digging out all sorts of
\nlegal jargon to ridicule the initiative. They would helm the argument by
\ninvoking the independence of the judicial branch and, of course, vitality
\nto the broader democratic freedom. But while this warped notion of freedom
\nmay seem to favour those in the position of power, it is definitely
\nfailing Nigeria as a whole.
\nFreedom, no matter the essence, must not be antagonistic to the well-being
\nof the citizenry. Besides, Nigeria must not base its rule of law solely on
\nborrowed legal theories.\u00a0 Just as leadership is contingent upon the
\nenvironment, the rule of law ought to take into considerations the
\nprevailing conditions in the particular society or country. Nigeria is at
\na critical war with corruption and should explore extra-ordinary measures.
\nEven the United States of America, a country that prides itself as the
\ntrue bastion of freedom, had to adopt the USA Patriot Act\u2014a pervasive
\ngovernment control mechanism that allows intrusive checks at the airports.
\nThough initially condemned as an infringement on civil liberties, the Act
\nhas been embraced for effective homeland security in response to the
\ntragic incident of 9\/11.<\/p>\n
Lampooning only the opposition for the clog in the wheel of Buhari\u2019s
\nchange agenda is an injustice to human conscience. The president has to
\nshare part of the blame. He effortlessly ruptured the balloon of public
\ngoodwill initially inflated by a cocktail of desire for change and the
\nmyth of a legendary track record. Apart from the slow pace of his
\ngovernment, Buhari forgot there is always a delicate balance between
\nfreedom and authority. His early missteps, particularly the mode of
\npolitical appointments, the refusal to obey court orders, and lack of
\ntransparency, simply evoked a frightening nostalgia of the dictatorial
\ntendencies that doomed his military regime. Such excesses, or rather abuse
\nof freedom, coupled with the harsh economic condition on the ground, were
\nall the corrupt oligarchy needed to gain the public support to subdue the
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Today, the bulging optics is that the strongman elected to strengthen the
\nsystem has been cowed into a weakling in office. That is how the
\nopposition has been able to hoodwink many to now believe that freedom for
\ncorrupt politicians is a desirable compromise to stimulate the economy.
\nThat is how and why the president now appears to embrace the very culture
\nof impunity that he was elected to decimate. Instances abound.\u00a0 But
\ndefinitely mind-boggling are the manner he dropped charges for a clear
\ncase of forgery against the principal officers of the Senate, and the
\napparent freedom for corrupt politicians in return for part of their loot.
\nWhat else is more? With the Executive branch already enjoying a corrupt
\nfreedom in the name of immunity, not many were shocked when the Nigerian
\nLegislature formally introduced a bill to amend the Constitution to also
\ngrant its members the freedom from prosecution against corrupt practices.<\/p>\n
These developments are utterly mystifying and only go to encourage
\ncriminal ingenuity rather than deterrence. Yet, don\u2019t count on a mass
\nrevolt. Given Nigeria\u2019s recent past, any scheme masked with freedom is
\nperceived with a sacred aura. But the masses must resist the gambit this
\ntime. Hope anchored through a corrupt premise, regardless of the inherent
\nfreedom, is a poisoned chalice.
\nThe aim here is by no means to circumvent the role of freedom in
\ndemocracy. Viewed in its totality, freedom is not only essential for
\ndemocracy, it is also vitally important for any human or organizational
\ndevelopment. But however indispensable it might seem, the cardinal truth
\nis that in democracy as we know it, neither the freedom nor the liberty is
\nrooted in an abstract sense where the leaders or the followers are free to
\ndo as they please.<\/p>\n
Often ignored in the contemporary discussions of Nigerian democracy is the
\nageless adage: every coin has two sides. There are positive and negative
\nkinds of freedom. On the one hand, positive freedom refers to where people
\nare free to engage in endeavours towards the common good. It goes with
\nmoderation, responsibility, and accountability. Importantly, positive
\nfreedom is open to all\u2014not just the sole province of the leaders
\nthemselves. On the other hand, negative freedom typifies the prevailing
\nNigerian situation where leaders freely engage in acts inimical to the
\ncommon good. Such negative freedom allows Nigerian leaders to hide behind
\nall sorts of rule of law to loot the public treasury without qualms.<\/p>\n
Change does not come easy, especially in an environment where most
\nprocesses are fraught with rules of law tightly woven with negative
\nfreedoms. Yet, there is hope. President Buhari can still reset by
\ncautiously navigating through the prevailing rules of law while
\nstrengthening the system to wipe out the negative freedoms undermining the
\nleadership processes. But any reset requires a change in style. What
\nNigerians sought and voted for in 2015 and hope to see today is a
\nresolute, just, and transparent leader capable of demonstrating serious
\nconsequences for corrupt practices regardless of whose ox is gored.
\n==<\/p>\n
*Ogbonnia, a leadership scholar, wrote from Houston, Texas, USA<\/p>\n
Email: SKCOgbonnia@firsttexasenergy.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before assuming the presidency in May 2015, Muhammadu Buhari rightly proclaimed that \u201ccorruption will kill Nigeria, unless Nigeria kills corruption.\u201d Unfortunately, however, after barely one year in office, a diverse…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n