Departure Points

(1) The Amalgamation Roots
Conceptually and objectively speaking, all the evidence of a predisposition to endemic corruption looms large in Nigeria today. The sad reality is that there is no silver lining in the horizon, which in itself fuels more corruption as those opportuned to be in position of authority scampers to insure themselves against the promise of a bleak tomorrow. This is why corruption has become cyclical. The roots of the culture of nepotism and corruption lie deep in the foundational amalgamation ideology of robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to say; the legitimisation and prioritisation of the consumption culture of unearned income and the lack of positive correlation between productivity and reward.

Here is the meaning of what I have just said. “As early as 1898, the British considered combining the then-three protectorates to reduce the administrative burden on the British and allow the rich south to effectively subsidise the much less economically prosperous north. (This is what Lord Lugard was referring to in his infamous description of how a marriage between the “rich wife of substance and means” (the south) and the “poor husband” (the north) would lead to a happy life for both. Some have suspected that Lugard was also referring to the political supremacy of the North over the South”
This was the ideology of raw nepotism infused into the bloodstream of Nigeria by the British upon which the existence of Nigeria was predicated. From this raison d’être emerged the entitlement syndrome of the Northern ruling class and their collaborators from the rest of Nigeria. The new age embodiment of this mentality is no other than former President Muhammadu Buhari and his unprecedented nepotism. He would absolve Abacha from the charge of stealing even as he was receiving and taking custody of proceeds of Abacha’s crime. If the Tinubu presidency is having problems with this constituency today it is on account of not adequately yielding to this entitlement syndrome.

The power rotation principle can be construed as ‘tragedy’-it is a response mechanism to political conflict not an optimal strategy. It is a suboptimal compromise in the effort to defuse real and potential situations of conflict and ensure that such situations degenerate into less attractive possibilities’¹. As it is often the case with Nigeria, this utility has morphed into the dysfunction of becoming an instrument of legitimising incompetence and corruption. It has become birds of the same feather with the grossly abused federal character provision. It is a recognition and acceptance of the bane of overcentralisation of power and an escapist deflection from coming to terms with federalism. .

(4) Resource curse syndrome
‘Countries like Venezuela and Nigeria (the companies we keep) are often cited as examples of the resource curse, where despite their wealth in natural resources, they face significant economic and social challenges’. The contemporary manifestation of the resource curse syndrome in Nigeria is what is called the oil subsidy scandal. The curse here is, first and foremost, the inability of this government to hold anyone accountable given the surfeit of evidence. Rather than hold anyone accountable the government is reinforcing the prior scandal with its own collusion. I do not know Mr Mele Kyari but I marvel at the mystery behind his retention. Every performance index keeps on degenerating under his tutelage yet he remains untouchable. One does not need to dislike this government to conclude that they are in cahoots with this man. It doesn’t make sense otherwise.

From the South came the counterattack by Professor Itse Sagay “This is a wake-up call on the people of the oil-bearing region. For instance this is the time to come together and fight intellectually for the anomaly in the uneven allocation of oil blocs in the country. You will observe that because of the long stay of the north in power at the centre, they manipulated the process and cornered these blocs to the disadvantage of the south; today, you have all juicy oil blocs in the hands of the north. Now that Jonathan is there, I would not want to sound being immodest by calling for a revocation of the blocs allocated to the northern businessmen, but from the look of things, they have decided to take the entire South for a ride, so Jonathan should ensure that he corrects this imbalance by allocating more oil blocs to people in the South to make up for the inequity in the sector.”

But contrariwise, these forms of corruption are completely absent in the primordial public. Strange is the Nigerian who engages in embezzlement in the performance of his duties to his primordial public-town union. To put your fingers in the till of the government will not unduly burden your conscience and people may well think you are a smart fellow and envy you your opportunities. To steal the funds of the (ethnic) union would offend the public conscience and ostracise you from society.’
The sum of my argument today is that the challenge confronting Nigeria, especially corruption, is a cyclical systemic crisis. In the short term, the solution to this crisis is simple but elusive. It is as simple and elusive as requesting President Bola Tinubu to done the garb of a radical reformer. For instance a President with the mentality of issuing an executive order that within a year all federal government motor vehicles should be sourced from Nigerian car manufacturers. To survive Nigeria needs a shock therapy.