THE SYNCHRONY OF GREED AND FRAUD

Just for a second, imagine this scenario: James Ibori being tried in a court of law in Nigeria. Your immediate thoughts on that scenario is a confirmation of the helplessness the ordinary Nigerian feels. If it were in Nigeria, Ibori would still be lording it over people; be feted as a big gun in the PDP; probably be conferred with a GCFR; be made a Chairman of an influential committee; probably a Senator by now; and undoubtedly, messianically roaming the streets of Nigeria. Alas, the chicken has come home to roost: Ibori began his career of crime as a lowly-paid DIY cashier in the UK, and how ironic it is that it is the UK criminal justice system that has finally dealt with him. His criminal exploitation of his own people, and his ruinous double tenure as governor have finally been brought to the fore and the whole world now sees the feebleness and hopelessness of enforcing the law in Nigeria. Ibori is a perfect fit of the template: the indubitable causal relationship between greed and fraud; the perfect synchrony of greed and fraud; the marriage of convenience of greed to fraud.

Needless to say, there are a million-plus more Iboris; the million-plus actively destroying the survival prospects of our country by imperilling the future of our youth. The million-plus whose lingua franca is money; the million-plus who have a morbid attitude towards the welfare and wellbeing of their own people. How many of these cursed rogues have the ineffectual EFCC and the diabolical ICPC decisively prosecuted? How many corrupt judges have been successfully indicted? When are both bodies going to name and shame those corrupted officials among their respective ranks? Don't even start me off by mentioning political leadership! The illiterate political class is populated by twerps whose moral decadence has no rival; they are a thieving cabal who think nothing of the future of this country. They embezzle all this money and in the end, they die and go with nothing. They leave behind them a trail of despair and destruction.

If there were political leadership in our land, the will and courage to confront fraud would be self-evident. From the Presidency through to the Ministries, Parastatals, Senate, House of Representatives, State governorships, Houses of Assembly, Local Governments, Police Force, fraud is their currency and dishonesty their mother tongue. How can there be development when corruption is rife, and mediocrity is par for the course? Are there any distinguishable differences among the so-called political parties? No. They share a common ground; visionless in purpose and myopic in ideas. Accountability is anathema to them and openness is a distant, lofty ideal. Their moral compass has never been functional. They have no principal principle.

The real tragedy is the rotten culture being passed on to the next generation. You try and have a dialogue with a youth now and all his aspiration is to get into a position to steal, just like his forebears. They covet sweet but despise sweat; they love the national cake but hate to be the national cook. What hope is there when the future looks so bleak, and no discernible effort is being made to stem the tide of woes? These politicians are as deaf as they are daft, and our future does not lie with them. The solution will come, naturally. There is hope. Plenty of it. Of that I couldn't be more certain.