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shilgba@yahoo.com Yokohama, Japan

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DIRTY DEALS AND POLITICS OF CONVENIENCE

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he African American civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1957 speech titled "facing the challenge of a new age" said: "Those of us who live in the twentieth century are privileged to live in one of the most momentous periods of human history. It is an exciting age filled with hope. It is an age in which a new social order is being born. We stand today between two worlds-the dying old and the emerging new."

If I may be permitted to borrow from the same foundation of hope captured in Dr. Luther's quote, I should say that Nigeria is presently perching astride on two worlds-the waning latitude of wheeler-dealers in government and an expansive amalgam of disparate interests unified in the clamor for a new Nigerian order. The struggle between hope and despondence is an ongoing one within the breast of many a compatriot both at home and abroad. The alternation between one brilliant moment of government policy and revelation of crass underhand deals in government tempt the mind towards irredeemable hopelessness. This however should strengthen our resolve for a new dawn.

The Minister of state for Finance Mrs. Nenadi Usman alleged that governors in Nigeria engage in illegal transfer of foreign exchange bought from their state allocations from the federation account abroad. This allegation was corroborated by the Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Iweala who challenged Senators to demand for accountability from their respective State governors. She had made an insightful rhetorical remark that if the honorable Senators would not, then who could? The broad generalization drew the ire of some state governors, some of whom challenged her to publish the list of Governors engaged in such activity.

In fact, one Governor threatened to resign if it was proved he was guilty of such. Following the declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau state, reports were leaked that the Governor of Plateau State Joshua Dariye was detained in the UK by the British police over illegal transfer of funds to that country; it was said the amount of 1.3 million British pounds found with one of his Aides was traced to his account which led to the Governor's detention. As if that was not enough, in This Day's newspaper of 21st May 2004, there was another report that the British Foreign office made a complaint to the national Chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party on the 16th of May 2004 about the illegal transfer of "huge foreign exchange by Governors". Can any sensible person fault Mrs. Nenadi Usman now?

From the report from the British Foreign office, "Governors"-referring to more than one or two, if we consider linguistic fineness-are engaged in this dirty deal. It is instructive that the British foreign office made the complaint to the national chairman of the ruling party PDP. It can be inferred that the majority of those foreign currency Governors are members of the PDP. Besides, the British foreign office recognizes, and rightly too, that it is within the purview of the national chairman to initiate corrective and punitive measures.

I have a feeling that Britain may not be the only country where these shameless Governors are carting our wealth; The British have only been kind to open up. Could it be that some of the money is being stashed away in Switzerland, Luxemburg or Germany? The millions of pounds taken out of Nigeria by these Governors develop foreign economies while Nigerians languish in squalor and the economy in the doldrums.

Early in the life of the current democracy, a Political Scientist in the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria said on Radio Nigeria Kaduna that from reliable underground check reports, Local government Chairmen converted 30% of allocations to their respective local government areas into foreign currency and transferred outside Nigeria. Furthermore, I discovered a great deal of corruption in the States and local government areas when I had the opportunity to coordinate a personnel audit in a state in Nigeria.

In Lagos state, the chairman of the Primary School Board told us flatly that since we practiced federalism in Nigeria they would not cooperate with us to do an audit of all primary school personnel there. They frustrated us with the full support of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). We experienced similar opposition in other states like Kebbi (Where I was the state Coordinator), Zamfara, Katsina, just to mention a few. I was surprised that the number of Primary school teachers and other personnel those states claimed to have was far from the reality. The unfortunate thing was that the NUT which should be the body fighting for right and truth on behalf of the voiceless teachers was a ready tool in the hand of the powers in the states. The Primary School Boards in the States are a money swallowing pit. Don't the Governors know what is happening?

The point is that these Governors claim their allocation from the federation account is not enough to pay salaries of their staff. How many "ghost workers" do they have? How much do they transfer abroad? I suppose it is obvious that the economic reforms of the Federal government will be defeated if nothing is done to stop these kinds of heartless and callous thieving. The presidency certainly has no powers under the constitution to curb or punish this betrayal of public trust by Governors. Should we call this kleptomania or rapacity? Which ever is the case, they should not continue to hold office. This is where the instrument of party affiliation comes in. This is why, in my opinion, the British foreign office made the complaint to the Chairman of the ruling party PDP instead of addressing it to the President of Nigeria. I propose the following:

1. The Chairman of PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh should demand and receive from the British foreign office (If he has not already) the full list of the affected Governors and their detailed account records from the British foreign office. I hope that Chief Ogbeh being a champion of financial prudence will get to the bottom of this matter.

2. The list, on receipt, should be published in all national dailies. The need for this is to remove the dubious cloud that now hangs over some Governors that might not be culpable but only have the misfortune of being Governors in the same era as this rapacious lot. This is one favor that MUST be done some of these Governors who are trying their best to leave a lasting legacy. I must hurry to say that the politics of "family affair" doesn't apply here. The money stolen does not belong to PDP but Nigerians.

3. The PDP should use its influence to encourage impeachment proceedings of all affected Governors (Where Governors from other political parties are affected, their parties should do same).

4. Since the crime perpetrated falls under money laundering, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should initiate court proceedings against these Governors. In fact, the respectable EFCC should initiate a case against Joshua Dariye, since having been suspended and his gubernatorial powers being in abeyance, he cannot hide behind immunity walls.

Not a few Nigerians support more funds going to the State and Local governments from the Federation account. Besides, greater autonomy is sought for them. But these demands must be given fillip by prudent management of resources at these levels. I commend the publication of allocations to these tiers of government by the Finance ministry. However, we as Nigerians, led by our representatives in the national and state assemblies, must demand for accountability. But how possible is it that a State Governor transfers huge amounts of state fund abroad on a regular basis without the knowledge of the state assembly; or is there palm-greasing to buy silence?

The declaration of state of emergency in Plateau state coming against the report that Dariye's release from detention in Britain was facilitated by the presidency sends out the signal that the president is ready to take the bull by the horn. Ex-Governor Dariye may not come back as Governor even after the lifting of the state of emergency. I have this conviction that he will have a visit from the EFCC soon. Having being in the crusade against corruption for some time, the president should be encouraged in his steps to bring sanity where he is constitutionally empowered, however feeble these steps may be. The president too should encourage and urge on the chairman and the national council of the PDP to treat seriously the report from the British foreign office.

Politics of convenience should be discouraged by our elected officials. Some people who have opposed the recently declared state of emergency in Plateau state in the same breath call for a declaration of same on Kano state. I do not see it as necessary now. Starting with one troubled PDP state among many troubled states is enough a warning that other state Governors should sit up. As a Christian and a former Pastor in Nigeria before leaving for abroad (I was pastor of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Samaru. Zaria while lecturing at ABU Zaria), I counsel CAN to desist from heating up the system through calls for a state of emergency to be declared on Kano state.

If Kano crisis rears up its ugly head again and the president fails to administer the same treatment, then CAN can rightly claim partiality (But I believe given the "last warning" received from the president, he will not hesitate to use this weapon if Kano becomes intractable). Governor Tinubu has condemned the "removal" of Governor Dariye, claiming it is against section 1(2) of the constitution. This claim is without regard to the spirit and import of the phrase "state of emergency", a period of time requiring according to section 305 (3c, d) "extraordinary measures to restore peace and security (avert such danger)". The Governor and fellow Nigerians should be more concerned about security of life and property than the "suspension" of the Governor. Dariye's powers have been SUSPENDED; he has not been REMOVED by the president. I suppose both the president and the national assembly are very much in line according to section 305, and there should be no splitting of hairs about this.

Another aspect of politics of convenience is the creation of local governments without due process and procedure according to section 8, and amendment in the First schedule in line with section 9 so as to reflect a new number in section 3(6) for proper revenue allocation according to section 162. The affected State Governors should put off their grandstanding and revert to the number and identity of local governments recognized by our constitution in the First schedule. This is not the time to create jobs for the boys and pay political debts through creation of more local governments.

Apart from increasing over head cost, it will engender competition among states to a ridiculous extent that we may end up with tens of thousands of local governments. Knowing that this could be the case, the framers of the constitution made the process difficult and cumbersome. All the affected states want more funding from the federation account of course. This is the game! I learned that some local government workers in Ebonyi state organized prayer meetings calling on God to remove the demon that is keeping their money from coming.

We are sometimes ridiculous to a fault. There is no demon to cast out. Let the affected Governors be humble to accept they erred, and submit themselves to the constitution. Besides, our priority now is not creation of more local governments. We need infrastructure, good health delivery system and clean portable water, decent schools for our children, improved power supply that will bring down cost of production and increase our GDP, environmental sanitation, robust agriculture with added value to the products through encouragement of germane SME's etc. We definitely have zero tolerance for petty thieving by our Governors.

As I conclude, I must spare some words of praise for the British foreign office. I call on other foreign Governments to help expose our corrupt political thieves, while we strive towards a nation with decent and compassionate leaders who would not touch public funds and steal what is theirs (and ours of course); only a fool steals what is his and keeps in his neighbor's house; Shame, shame, big shame.