By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye<\/p>\n
I have said it so several times that when Nigerian politicians converge
\nto map out plans for acquiring power, which, in most cases, practically
\ntranslates to securing unlimited access to unearned wealth, they do not
\nusually remember that they came from different ethnic blocks. At such
\ngatherings, they will all think alike, talk with one voice and even look
\nand laugh alike. They will speak the same language.<\/p>\n
Indeed, illicit accumulation and all forms of corrupt activities do not
\nhave tribal marks. The colour of graft is the same any day, no matter
\nwho is involved.<\/p>\n
At such times, the masses are hardly remembered. They do not matter at
\nall. Everybody is preoccupied with the much he or she would be able to
\naccumulate and cart away for his personal luxury and that of his family
\nand cronies.<\/p>\n
In the introduction to my book, \u201c_Nigeria: Why Looting May Not Stop
\n[1],\u201d _I maintained that corruption became very monstrous in Nigeria
\n_\u201c__when public office gradually ceased to be a platform for rendering
\nselfless service and transformed into the easiest route to criminal
\naccumulation of wealth. And the law, too, became increasingly very weak
\nin the face of the overwhelming sleaze. Since then, generations of
\npublic officers have passed through this route, looting the country
\nblind with utmost impunity and quitting office into incredible
\nabundance, without any fear of anyone ever prying into the clearly
\nunearned wealth they flaunt with revolting fanfare\u2026\u201d_<\/p>\n
And because of this unhealthy development, _\u201c\u2026an ever-swelling cult
\nof looters has emerged whose nuisance value has remained the undisputed
\nheadache of the country\u2026 And given this very depressing situation and
\nwith the dreadful cult of looters growing in stature and influence,
\nmaintaining effective command at virtually all our public institutions,
\nhow then can we possibly hope to be able to sanitise the system or have
\nfree and fair elections in this country?\u201d_<\/p>\n
Sadly, the problem has, in the course of time, been so horribly
\ncomplicated. This is because, \u201c_the members of this cult have so
\n__much money to throw around and so have easily enthroned themselves as
\nformidable godfathers and kingmakers who deploy the billions at their
\ndisposal to install and remove governments at will. Many of them can
\nsingle-handedly found and fund political parties without the slightest
\nimpact on their bottomless pockets. They also have all it takes to
\nfrustrate any attempt to pry into their hideous pasts. The very
\nnegligible few among them who manage to get \u2018messed-up\u2019 in the
\n\u2018anti-corruption war\u2019 are those foolish enough to find the trouble
\nof those more powerful than them, or get themselves into some really
\ncomplicated situation that it would be difficult to extricate them
\nwithout a serious backlash capable of posing a dangerous threat to the
\npeace and stability of the entire cult. So, they are carefully
\nsacrificed to preserve the whole house and used in the process, too, to
\nlaunder a dubious commitment to an \u2018anti-graft\u2019 campaign.\u201d_
\n(pp.vii-x)<\/p>\n
That is the egregious story of Nigeria. Many of the politicians out
\nthere raising a lot of din about their patriotism and selfless-service
\nmay just be ordinary job seekers looking for meal tickets. And that is
\nwhy I insist that Nigerian masses are so tragically na\u00efve.<\/p>\n
Immediately these politicians disagree among themselves, either on the
\npower or money sharing formula, they would suddenly remember their
\ndifferences which never mattered at all when they were sharing and
\ncarting away happily. Then they would return to the masses whom they had
\nlong forgotten to stoke ethnic tensions among them in order to use them
\nto negotiate for themselves positions of power, influence and wealth.<\/p>\n
Consequently, the suffering man who had lived peacefully with his
\nequally suffering neighbour would be persuaded to suddenly see
\nthemselves as enemies and start fighting each other. The people would be
\ndeceived into thinking they are fighting to advance the interests of
\ntheir ethnic groups, not knowing that they are at war to help negotiate
\nbetter places and limitless luxuries for selfish and callous
\npoliticians.<\/p>\n
Sometime ago, I was in one of the state capitals and what were on
\nvirtually everybody\u2019s lips at that period were the media reports about
\nsome choice structures and juicy investments allegedly belonging to a
\nformer governor which were believed to have been acquired with the
\nproceeds of his mindless looting. Opinions were divided on the
\nmind-blowing report. Although some people rose in stout defense of the
\nfellow, what I found unbelievable was that some others were ready to
\neven go to the sickening extent of openly boasting that what the man was
\nalleged to have stolen was \u201ctheir\u201d money, so, why should it be the
\nbusiness of anyone who was not from the state!<\/p>\n
One evening, I went to a nearby kiosk to make a purchase, and there, I
\nsaw two young men who, judging by their haggard appearance, should
\nbelong to the lowest wrung of the country\u2019s social and economic
\nsetting \u2013 the worst victims of the programme of impoverishment that
\nsuccessive corrupt politicians have unleashed on this country.<\/p>\n
As one of the young men expressed outrage at such mindless stealing by
\nthe former governor, the other one barked at him: \u201c_go back to your
\nstate and talk about the stealing taking place there and leave our state
\nalone. It is our money that was stolen and it does not concern you! Just
\nshut your mouth, we are okay with that!\u201d_<\/p>\n
It was difficult to comprehend what I had just heard, but the fellow was
\ndead serious repeating the same words to the other young man, becoming
\nangrier as he spoke and showing clearly that he could initiate a
\nphysical combat if the other fellow continued to discuss the matter that
\n\u201cdid not concern\u201d him.<\/p>\n
With people who reason like this fellow abundantly existing across our
\ncountry, why should any thieving public officer ever think of exercising
\nany restraint?<\/p>\n
That is why the ethnic conflicts in most cities are periodic. Some say
\nthey only occur during elections or when some politicians have either
\nlost out in their quest for power or are being tried for corruption.<\/p>\n
The most painful thing is that while the hungry and haggard masses are
\nout there fighting each other, the politicians whom they wrongly assume
\nis their champion is behind closed doors negotiating a better deal for
\nhimself. Once he has been settled satisfactorily, he would come out and
\ntell his people to halt the hostilities. He may let a few crumbs fall to
\nthem, that is, those who did not die during the conflicts.<\/p>\n
And the deep bitterness which he had caused between good neighbours and
\namazing friends in the course of the self-serving conflict he initiated
\nmight take time to heal, if it will ever. He would move away to wallow
\nin his usual luxuries until the need arises again for him to stoke
\nanother ethnic tension to service his narrow, selfish interests.<\/p>\n
I have been calling on Nigerians to stop listening to these politicians,
\nbut will they ever hear?<\/p>\n
There may be some people breathing today who will agree to serve as
\nthugs in future elections, and may lose their lives in the process. They
\nmay champion the next ethnic or religious conflict when some
\nunscrupulous politicians return to use them once more to further their
\nselfish purposes. They may even be killed or maimed in the process, who
\ncares? Certainly, not the callous and greedy politicians that instigated
\nthem!<\/p>\n
Please, Nigerians, stop allowing yourselves to be used as cheap tools in
\nthe hands of these selfish and heartless politicians.<\/p>\n
The only divisions that ought to exist in Nigeria should be between the
\noppressors and the oppressed, the exploiters and the exploited, and
\ncriminally enriched and the wickedly impoverished.<\/p>\n
Nigerians, stop fighting each other to impress your oppressors. You are
\nall victims!<\/p>\n
_*Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye__ is the author of the book, Nigeria: Why Looting
\nMay Not Stop [1] (scruples2006@yahoo.com<\/a>)_<\/p>\n