Stabilizing Corruption in Nigeria

If Nigeria is less corrupt than the vison of ending it, then we are in for a longer era of it. The ideology that corruption can be eradicated is only what it is and not a realistic tendency. Corruption can be stabilized and managed but that is what most Vanguards fighting corruption have failed to understand.

The world would not nod to a change that marks against our totem. Man is infinitely selfish and grown to maximize his own need for survival. Satre and Hobbs argument on the true state of man clearly shows that, if not for government and imposed rule of law, we would all be in the state of chaos. Civility is an agenda to repress man’s state of nature and bring out what is deemed the state of affair for the wellbeing for all in man.

Conflicts arise when the foreseen symptoms of characteristics seemed to eradicate or impede the perceived state of wellbeing of a society. Laws and justice consequently become the weapon to fight such characteristics. However, unfortunately these characteristics are all human. Such characteristics as murder, arson, rape, robbery, fraud, genocide, cronyism etc. are all innate but because of the need to maintain order and civility, we repress them. And not only because the law exist or because we want to abstain from those actions but mostly and primarily because we are aware of the consequences and cannot suffer the consequences.

Since consequences have become notorious among evil characteristics, the need to create a more effective, tougher consequence to maintain order in society has become imperative, such that most countries establish capital punishment for very grievous crimes. How every country defines or determines what is grievous is endemic of their sociocultural vices.

Nigeria for example must start considering corruption as one of its most grievous crimes and begin to instill tougher punishment against, especially cronyism and financial misappropriation. Any vanguard seeking to fight these two crimes must first change the laws of Nigeria by writing sensible judicial reforms, undressing government off both existent and imaginary immunities. Until these are done, the fight against corruption will only be a fairy tale

Of course, even after these laws are extant, executing these laws by the judiciary could be a problem. A wise man once said that Justice is in the interest of the most powerful. It is therefore a case of the egg and the chicken. Unless the vanguard is radical enough to get rid of the power bloc behind these crimes, the new laws will amount to nothing.