Re-organization and Amnesty are Key Strategic Weapons Against Deep Corruption in Nigeria

New York, September 11, 2006—Believing that Nigerian government is serious about ending the hydra-headed scourge of corruption eating deep into every fabric of the society, Africans In America, Inc. wish to contribute the following suggestions:

Oil-rich Nigeria has been consistently rated as one of the most corrupt country in the whole wide world by Transparency International, an organ co-founded by the current President of Nigeria, and a claim most Nigerians do not dispute.

Various successive governments had made some sort of ‘lip-services’ efforts to address corruption in Nigeria but without any meaningful results.

President Shehu Shagari’s started Ethical Revolution by establishing the Public Complain Commission headed by another moral crusader Alhaji Maitama Sule.

General Muhammadu Buhari's fight against corruption, code-named operation War Against Indiscipline, in which, just about anyone who held political office was presumed guilty of corruption.

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda, the then General Buhari's army chief of staff, overthrew him in a palace coupe and used Buhari's harsh methods to legitimize the coup. IBB did not address corruption. Rather, he created Mass Mobilization for Self-Reliance.

General Sani Abacha, who undoubtedly tyrannized the Nigerians for five years after IBB was forced to ‘step-aside’ established the National Economic Intelligence Commission. He also enacted laws on failed banks and against money laundering laws, which attempted in great measure to sanitize the highly opaque financial sector.

Current President Olusegun Obasanjo during the inauguration speech marking his second missionary journey to the seat of President and Commander-in-Chief promised to wage war against corruption in Nigeria. That did not happen for almost 6 long years of his rule.

However, lately things have started to change with the establishment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2003 under the leadership of Nuhu Ribadu.

Thought the current incursions the commission is waging against corruption appears to be selective and targeted at mostly political opponents and out-of-favor colleagues of the President Obasanjo; we still welcome the fact that effort against deep corruption in Nigeria may probably take various phases namely;  1) ‘selective’ incursions, 2) the battle proper and 3) the imminent total war against corruption.

With this background, we therefore make the following contributions, namely;

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) should be merged and ICPC should become a department, division or unit of EFCC.

The anti-corruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should be completely independent of the executive and should not receive any funding there-from.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should develop its capacity to execute major battles and the imminent total war against corruption by recruiting and training more officers, opening more offices and enhancing the salaries of its staffs.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should handle all cases of fraud against the government and citizens in Nigeria. Reformed Nigeria Police Force (NPF) should handle assault and violence, and public order related cases except fraud cases, which it has traditionally not been effective at.

As a final prelude, government should announce 3 months amnesty program for anybody – government officials and ordinary citizens who had defrauded the country from 1980 till present to refund the loot or face the full weight of the law.

The repentant looters who cooperate within the program period will be granted amnesty from prosecution as they assist law enforcement to recover funds and properties from other looters, while the incorrigible hardcore looters will be arrested, prosecuted, jailed and their loots invested in any parts of the world will be confiscated and returned.

After the 3 months, the government could evaluate the exercise and decide the next line of action.

No one, including politicians should interfere to impede the work of law enforcement and there must not be any sacred cow. Anyone regardless of position who interferes to impede the work of law enforcement must be arrested and appropriately charged.

We hope these humble contributions will assist in informed policy decisions on the imminent war against corruption in Nigeria.