NIGERIA AND THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

There is an upturning of moral values in Nigeria. So, we perceive wrong as right; and view bad as good. That is why a poor man, who possesses the virtue of probity, is the butt of our jokes while we deify and lionize the rich man, who has no moral scruples.

The erosion of family values among us as well as the upturning of our positive morality-code is traceable to the fact that our possession of wealth is the index or benchmark that qualifies us to be called successful and responsible people. So our insatiable quest for money is understandable. Our deifying rich people as well as acquiring money through fair or foul means is the zeitgeist and the weltanschauung in the 21st century Nigeria.  

So our rationalization of evil things perpetrated by our youths should be situated within the context of the existence of the culture of corruption in Nigeria. That is why job seekers offer bribe to senior officers in state and federal establishments so as to be employed in those government establishments. That is why invigilators and supervisors for examinations like SSCE and NECO would compromise on their morality codes and permit examination candidates to perpetrate examination malpractice during those examinations when they are offered inducement. And that is why police personnel mount road blocks on our highways to extort money from commercial bus drivers instead of combating crimes.

The Freudian slip committed by Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa during a valedictory session for the ninth National Assembly depicts the magnitude of the ramifications of our culture of corruption and impunity. The octogenarian senator narrated how he influenced his wife, Justice Aisha Bulkachuwa, to pervert the course of justice so as to favour his friends.

So it would be difficult for Senator Bulkachuwa’s defenders to put a spin on his disclosures so as to gloss over his self-indicting and condemnatory revelations.

Now, the hallowed chambers of our courts are where bargains for the purchase of judgements are made. This sordid and despicable state of things in our judiciary portends a grave danger to the survival of our democracy. The desecration of our judicial system is akin to driving a knife into the heart of Nigeria.

Is a robust, resilient, independent, and impartial judiciary not a bulwark against the collapse of our democracy, and by extension, the disintegration of Nigeria? If politicians know that their electoral victories got through electoral malpractices will be invalidated by the courts, they will not spend huge sums of money to manipulate electoral processes and rig elections because it will be a sisyphean curse. And if elections that are conducted in Nigeria are free and fair, then, it means that our political leaders’ occupation of exalted political offices is a reflection of the people’s political will. And our leaders will not battle with legitimacy problem.

 Following Bulkachuwa’s self-damning revelation, Nigerians are now acutely aware that the presidential election cases, which are being heard in the presidential election petition court are susceptible to manipulation. Nigerians are following the presidential election petition court’s proceedings with emotional detachment and keen interest.

So it behooves our judges, who are the custodians of the temple of justice, to live up to our expectations by giving fair and unbiased judgements on the electoral cases brought before them. Their doing that will redeem the battered image of our judiciary and restore people’s hope and confidence in our courts.

Chiedu Uche Okoye,

Uruowulu-Obosi,

Anambra State