By Nuhu Ribadu
Protocols,
Let me start by thanking the Governing Board of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) for the invitation to deliver the keynote address at this important event.
NIM has always shown commitment and taken the lead in efforts to sanitise the public space, especially the continuous search for solutions to our national problems, in which corruption features prominently.
It is this well-established tradition that the Institute is consolidating under the current leadership of Emeritus Professor Munzali Jibril, who is a well-respected academic and accomplished administrator.
The choice of the theme of this event could not have come at a better time than now when the fight against corruption is on the front burner and the clamour for turning a new leaf in the conduct of our national affairs is at its loudest. Indeed, this clamour for a new approach, a new attitude and a new personal conduct in the way and manner we run our systems, both public and private, cannot be better achieved without first removing the major obstacle to our progress, which is corruption.
You can therefore imagine my delight that a body of astute managers – who are the drivers of the systems – are giving a thought on how to curb corruption in our public lives.
As administrators, you are central to any discussion on corruption and ways to curb it. The task of making Nigeria a modern nation is in your hands. It is also on your shoulders that the burden of getting us out of the present economic woods rests. Again, it is you, the managers, that have the most important role of tackling corruption in this country. Administration is about management of human and material resources; those are the usual avenues in which corruption thrives.
As we all know, corruption is a major impediment to our progress as it deprives us of our tomorrow even before the day breaks. It is stealing from us, denying us what we are entitled to and stealing from our children by leaving for them a hopeless future.
Yet, the cancerous virus of corruption is inherent in most of us. It is the temptation to make free money, or use influence to gain undue favour or influence. It is the selfish bug that lurks somewhere in the heart of all of us. Corruption is that thing that pricks you to gain something extra when no one is looking at you; that lure for things worldly. Because it is this embedded in humans, many scholars and practitioners are of the view that it amounts to over-ambition, or even impossibility to say that one is out to eliminate corruption. Maybe in theory but certainly not in practice. The way to go therefore is to seek to minimize it so that it does not affect our development progress.
And, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, minimizing corruption in public lives starts and ends with management. The role in which you, my audience this afternoon, are players.
Now, the topic says, “Minimizing Corruption in Public Life”. The mention of “public life” evokes that role you and I play in running the systems from within our offices. It does not necessarily presuppose life as a public figure, elected or appointed but a life away from the private.
Public administration is not only about the work of the President or the Minister or the Governor. It is the aggregate of the roles of everybody along the ladder from the cleaner to the clerical assistant up to the last man on whose table the bucks end.
The big question is, how do we tackle corruption and minimize its cancerous spread on this our ladder that is public life? How do we stop the termites from eating off the parts that make up this ladder, that may stop our country from ascending to the Eldorado of progress?
There are global standards on ways to minimize corruption in public life which basically involves a three-thronged measures of social justice and values, making the offence difficult to commit and effective sanction regime.
Broadly speaking, curbing corruption is a two-dimensional fight with the preventive and punitive aspects going hand in hand. The crime must be made unattractive and difficult to commit. When it is committed anyway, strict sanctions should be in place to provide deterrence for the culprits and would-be offenders.
Leadership, Values and Social Justice:
Leadership is everything when it comes tackling corruption in public life. It is the leader, whether political or administrative leader that can set the tune for others to follow.
The role of leadership is illustrated by the example of the herdsman. It is the herdsman that takes the lead and paves the road for his herd to follow. He clears the path and confronts every possible danger ahead of the cattle. The herd takes after him and it is because they see and believe in his sacrifices and leadership, the cattle follow him to wherever he sets his feet.
Personal example is therefore key to trend setting in the quest for probity and integrity. A leader with soiled hands has no moral basis to question his subordinates or followers. And when the leader is involved in dirty deals it becomes a free for all. Modern and quality leadership is therefore the bedrock of whatever may happen in the quest to tackle the menace of corruption.
For leaders to set this example, there should be practical steps that will change the ways of doing things for the better. ostentatious lifestyle by leaders evinces a feeling of extravagance and corruption. There is no reason, for example, why we should continue to see the long motorcades for both elected and appointed leaders. Leaders who receive huge sums of money in security votes and live in cosy government houses do not exude the needed seriousness to match words with action when it comes to fight against corruption.
Next to leadership is a good value system. The society in itself has a big role to play in bringing up its offspring with very good values. We need a value system that cherishes honesty and integrity and discards the corrupt value system that cherishes riches whose origin is unknown.
Social justice is equally at the base of this. Though there is some level of disagreement among experts, many agree that improving living conditions of the people is another means of discouraging corruption. When a public servant doesn’t have to source for his own security, provide his own water and electricity, or made savings to sponsor education and healthcare of his family, the instinct to steal drastically goes down.
Transparency Measures:
Making corruption difficult to commit entails adoption of pro-transparency mechanisms. In this case, the work is already done for us as there are a number of mechanisms around all sectors developed for us to brush up and adopt into our own laws. Presently, anti-corruption laws come in forms of Conventions and Protocols of international bodies such as the United Nations, the African Union, the World Bank and non-state bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Transparency International, etc.
In addition to making our system open, transparent and corruption-proof, these conventions also help us in keeping trail of what is ours and making it difficult for stolen money from here to find a safe haven.
Over the years, some of these conventions and charters have been domesticated by Nigerian government to come up with agencies and pro-transparency mechanisms such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Fiscal Responsibility Commission, the Freedom of Information Act, and Whistle Blower Protection Bill, among others.
The essence of these laws is to open up our systems, introduce transparency and probity as requisites against frauds and economic crimes.
Sanction Regimes:
The first two steps in cutting down cases of corruption cannot address it all. And that is why we need strict sanction regimes. Persons who are found to have infringed on the laws by helping themselves to what is for the overall good of the rest of the citizens must be made to pay direly for their actions. In driving this, there should be keen commitment from the political leadership, in addition to competence and integrity of the drivers of the process.
First step in achieving this is to push for immediate and comprehensive reforms in the justice sector. These reforms should cover the entire justice sector chain: the police, judiciary, ministries of justice, prisons and other reformatory institutions. This is an absolute prerequisite for the success of any anti-corruption campaign.
As is often said, our laws may not be faulty, but operators of the system are likely to be. To fight corruption, the umpire has to be clean, honest and sincere. Dishonesty cannot fight dishonesty; if you are corrupt you cannot lead successful anti-corruption campaign. Having a corrupt person pretending to fight corruption only creates confusion.
Conclusion:
Minimizing corruption in public life is a big challenge. It is a national service in which we are all stakeholders, as it is a life saver for us and our country. It is globally acknowledged that the most thriving form of corruption is in government business; thus, it needs to be fought all out. In curbing it all stakeholders, especially you the managers need to be fully on board.
Added to what I have pointed out initially, the following are steps that I believe can help us address corruption in public life, especially in today’s Nigeria:
- Leadership is essential. Leadership at all levels should be beyond reproach to provide the needed example. There should also be the will to apply the sanctions. As I have pointed out several times, lack of will by the political leadership to prosecute the war against corruption takes us to nowhere. The political leadership should be determined and it should be seen to be serious about it.
- Honesty has to be lifted to the position of a prized and rewarding national value. Criminals should not be celebrated as heroes on account of their wealth.
- All government expenditures should be budgeted. Extra-budgetary spending should be criminalised and security votes should be completely phased out.
- Transparency should be the keyword in all government businesses; from budgeting to award of contracts and even employment. Lack of transparency is the first thing that sows the seed of corruption.
- Smart technology should be deployed in procurement process to give room for transparent and accountable system of doing business.
- Cash transactions should be completely abolished or minimized as much as possible. With electronic movements of cash everything could be within watch and can be tracked.
- We should weed out corruption in our electoral process. If corruption thrives in the way leaders are brought to offices, we are indirectly bringing corrupt people to power and thus perpetuating corruption.
- The civil society and the media should be encouraged to be very vigilant and honest watchdogs of all systems. Whistle-blowers must be encouraged and protected.
- Red tapes and administrative bottlenecks in the bureaucracy should tackled. Reducing unnecessary process will cut down tendencies of corruption as people need not to bypass established rules to accomplish any task.
- Subsidies should be phased out by the government to stop all the haemorrhage and abuse. As a discretionary intervention, subsidies on whatever service or product is very much prone to corruption by both the beneficiaries and those managing it, as we have seen with petroleum subsidy in this country.
- Education is important to this process. Citizens need to be sufficiently educated to be able to sieve right from the wrongs and demand for what is right.
- Lastly, at the root of achieving all these is resolve by all Nigerians individually and collectively to not compromise. We must resolve to shun corruption entirely by taking a stand that “I WILL NOT GIVE A BRIBE AGAIN” no matter the consequences. Time will come when there will be no takers!
With these, and perhaps some other measures, I believe we can do well in checkmating corruption in our public life and, of course, we need to keep the conversation alive to drive these points home.
Thank you for listening
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