143 10 9435 https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/daebbdccf0889a82a7567866e54f2c4f.jpg accc25920c30320c13b74a2d54ad536b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Keeping the Books Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brass tools used to create patterns on cover of the Libro Maestro model. https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/3cfa4757fece0587dc023abab6c977e0.pdf e2b0bbcc0a18bb199fc3dae1afc021ed PDF Text Text BNIBERY AND CORRUPTION I (BANE OF OUR SOCIETY) BY I M#RIUS NKWOH, B A. (English) Nigeria, . (Information Officer] Publicity Division, Ministry of Information, CNUOU--NIOERrA �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION (BANE OF OUR SOCIETY) MARIUS NKWOH, B. A. (English) Nigeria, (Information Officer) Publicity Division, Ministry of Information, �Dedicated to :My Mother. �BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Cocktail Ladies Talking About Love The Sorrows of Man The Voice of Umuchu Copyright Reserved First Impression 1965. Price 3/- �CONTENTS Chapters Pages Introduction . vii-xi Foreword v-vi . Prcfacc Corruption in the Police Department Corruption in the Railways . 12-28 . . 29-39 40-49 . . . 50-60 . 61-73 Official ~ o r r u ~ t i o n . . Official Corruption Continued . . 74-84 Corrupt Council . . . . . . BL-FL Corruption in Politics . . . . 96-108 Judicial Corruption . 109-1 17 . . . .. . . . 1l t L l 3 l Misccllancous Case of Corruption Conclusion �FOREWORD v Many who feel that they would like to know more about the social cancers that gnaw deep into the fabric of our social system find themselves unable to do so for the simple reason that adequate sources of information are not available. Relevant sources of information on this subject are not as easily available as the source materials for History, Geography, Literature or Law. The obvious reason for this is that the people who perpetrate these evils and know their mechanics, are not the people to cause their impressions and experiences to be recorded for future consultations. A man who desires to achieve posthumous greatness does everything under the sun to accumulate wealth which after his death will be distributed to a host of poor people who will attend his funeral, wearing caps of freedom and bearing evidences of his liberality. It is not for these people to question how the wealth thus distributed was accumulated. Theirs is to enjoy portions of that wealth. One of these social cankerworms is bribery with its twin brother corruption. The author, Mr. Marius Nkwoh, B.A. (Hons) English (Nigeria), has chosen this subject "Bribery and Corruption" as a compendious and imaginative headline under which he puts down his impressions and experiences gathered during a long period of research into the question of bribery and corruption, how they arose and how far they have putrefied our scoial system. What are the legal implications and what are the remedies? All these are described in the lucid language of this prolific writer on contemporary topics. I commend this book to all those who really want to know more of the causes of bribery and corruption, the various forms they could show their ugly heads, �and the methods of fighting against them. No amount of time spent in going through it over and over again could be regarded as time wasted. I congratulate the author for putting his views in prir~tfor public consumption. -F. 0 Zhenach6, Chairman, . Public Service Commission. �INTRODUCTION vii My concern so far in all my attempts at writing has always been to mirrior the social conscience of our age and to reform, where possible, certain ills of our society. I see into and through the conceits, hypocrises, weakness, selfishness and wickedness of mankind and laugh or weep. What can I do? I can't change the course of life were I even a Hercules. But I can comment and tell the truth as I see it; without hyprocrisy, without sentimentality, without any ulterior motive, without malice or bitterness. I have always thought that the business of writers is to commend the virtues as well as to expose the faults of their contemporaries; to confute as well as support a just accusation, to find out real crimes which are sufficiently grave and threatening to the social order and to caution people against same. There are certain social depravities which mankind has suffered through the ages and bribery and corruption are among these. Every Nigerian today agrees that bribery, corruption, injustice, jobbery, nepotism, favouritism, partiality, selfishness and other kindred social evils are wrong. Every Nigerian denounces these. evils publicly, in the Press, over the Radio, on the Altar, at the Pulpit and on a political soap-box. And we do this with the vehemence of the strongest terms! But does experience not show us that all these public denunciations effect little, if anything at all? How can we condemn these evils in the daylight when so many of us are arch-givers or receivers of bribes in the secret of darkness? Are we really sincere and do we really mean what we say? In many walks of life today, bribery and corruption are the order of the day. They are now accepted as a way of life at various levels. Service at times becomes self-centred. To get a job in many departments, it is �viii neither what one is nor one's fitness for the job that counts. It is rather the weight of one's enveloped purse that matters. One can be anything, yet one will get the job provided one knows the back-door. Those who can't pay, get nothing or if they get anything at all it is the worst that can be offered. I t is no wonder therefore that when one gets a job, one is not sufficiently interested in what one does but in what one earns. And this is why the generality of the public. meets with such inefficiency, incompetence and indifference in many offices and departments which are maintained with public money. What is'bribery? I t is the offering or acceptance of any undue value reward to do ro refrain from doing anything contrary to the values of honesty and integrity. Originally it meant alms, especially those given to beggars. Later on it meant living upon alms or professional begging and hence theft, plunder, spoil, which later on changed to blackmail. Bribery therefore means a gift received or given for corrupt purposes or a thing stolen or robbed. It is a reward given to pervert good judgment and by so doing corrupt the conduct of a person in a position of trust, for instance, an official or a voter. Bribery is always an undue reward for anything against justice. It is one of those unjust ways of taking another's property. I t is taking money or money equivalent from a man in order to do a service which we should do without remuneration from such individual. Gifts are sweet things and are capable of melting the hardest of hearts. Bribery and corruption are therefore sweet things to some people. But their effort does not endure. The cost of things may never bother us when another person is paying; yet the desire for many more beautiful and valuable things will continue. Who will �always pay for these desires for us? If there are no people to pay, of course the answer is that we shall have to steal such' things. And if we are caught, of course we will be tried and imprisoned. This is exactly the case with bribery and corruption. The indulgence is sweet; but one day is one day. The briber or the bribed will be caught, tried and imprisoned. We should therefore avoid these social evils and help raise the moral tone of our Nation. Bribery and corruption are things of the heart. One can avoid them by determination and selfwill. In this Republic* era, Nigeria needs youths who will rise above bribery, corruption, nepotism, favouritism,. jobbery, injustice, etc. Until each and everyone of us 1s determined to discipline ourselves and avoid these ills, all preaching and condemnation of bribery is sheer hypocrisy. And we need not deceive ourselves any more. Think how often you have seen the Police collecting two shillings from lony drivers! Think of the many times you have been refused promotion because you have not seen the "Oga"! Think of some allocation of land, some contract awards, some scholarship awards, some loading and offloading of goods in the Railway! Some Rigistry clerks of our Magistrate and High Courts are not too honest in the performance of their duties. There are thousand and one corrupt persons in this country, big and small, politicians or civil servants. Let's resolve now for a change of heart so as to fight this monster that is called bribery. That's the only way to avoid it. The fault of modem life is that sometimes thereis no honesty or sincerity in the things we do. We seldom love our work for work's sake:It is 'government work.' We perform it solely for what we can get out of it. 'Gwemment money is nobody's money.' The body is �our chief care. We make much o it; feed and pamper f it. We guard it from such little things as pinpriks. We flatter ourselves that all is well or must be well. Why not? We have plenty of money, (never mind how we got that money) plenty of nice robes, a chain of cars, buildings, fine girls (whether wives, friends or concubines) and the best that life can offer. But all these do not last because at times our honour has been rooted on dishonour and our wealth built on extractions from poor people. Even the dear body we caress so much is but clay and like its kind will surely split and crumble. And this is but Nature's way. Bribery and corruption are now a way of life. Should this be the case? Honesty is no more necessary for the effective performance of any task or achievement. We have cleverly discovered a short cut to richness - 'getrich-quick philosophy.' Honesty is no more necessary for any effective functioning of our moral selves. Even our body has been a thousand times prostituted to win certain ends. Some women cannot deny this because to some of them 'fair or foul is the strategm.' Honesty is no more necessary if we are to have and maintain pleasant relations with others. How can we when everybody suspects everybody? And this is the life we live today. The world is a slave to' gold. And the glitter of it has fooled people for long! I have been anxious, silent, pensive and sedentary. My days have been hours of care and my nights those of deep watchfulness. The things I see today! You too, I believe, see them. Our society is sick. Think of the crimes (highway robbery, murder, etc.) I hear of nowadays; the immoralities that have now become the fashion ('topless' fashion is even not my concern); the threat to human life and property by night marauders; bribery and corruption, nepotism and favouritism; un- �employment and dissatisfaction at every comer; uprisings and revolts throughout the world; assassinations and cold wars; tribal discriminations and hatred, political victimization, persecution and prosecution; the atrocities of thugs or what is now popularly called 'political stalwarts!' Where do we go from here? It is because of these ills of our society (and indeed the world's) that I choose 'Bribery and Corruption' as the province of my present investigation and discussion. I am not doing anything new. I am not even saying anything new. Many have written and spoken upon this subject. But I want to approach this topic from quite a different angle - how bribery and corruption really operate at different levels and places of our society. My investigation is conducted from place to place and not merely hearing reports and then rushing to make undue conclusions or generalizations. No, I will give in this book the exact descriptions of this public disease which is eating deep into our body system. And I implore all good citizens of this great Republic to raise their voices against this social disgrace. -M. U.E. NKWOH. �PREFACE PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION Dr. Zik in his Renascent Africa (p. 165) has this to say:- 'As in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, so too in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Some leaders perch on alters defied with the stench of conuption, chicanery, egocentrism, tribal prejudice, cowardice, get-rich-quick philosophy.' Later on in the same book, he bitterly pointed out the sins of the blackman to the blackman. Said he:- 'The blackman is small-minded. He is petty. He is spiteful. He sees no good in the work of other blackmen. All he wants is for self, for family, for relatives, for immediate friends and for those who accept crumbs from him. Go to the public officers and you will see the blackman there. He damns; he curses; he swears, he orders; he threatens. - Go to the law making chambers and you will see him there. He will not co-operate. His task is to blacken the character of others and to paint them in sombre colours for his selfish delectation. Go to the make-believe homes of 'society folks' (do you call them contractors?). You will see the blackman there trying to live as a lord in a manor. Debts upon debts are piled upon his head. His very home is mortgaged. He will not scrupple to sacrifice his wife so as to keep with the Joneses.. . ' And Zik has not minced words at all. He understands the blackman, his weaknesses and ills. He has correctly described the type of blackman that is an easy prey to bribery and corruption. We know the truth he has spoken, but we pretend the situation is not as painted. Well, let's listen to another voice crying against the same thing. A certain young man, Mr. Ray 0. Nwaroh has C. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 13 to say about bribery and corruption, which he described as 'a matter for us all.' According to him "these words are so constantly used that the actual impact on people, if any, seems negligible. They have become such a cancerous growth in the community that some never think of either the repercussion or the harm they do the community at large. Any nation which has a conscience must do anything to eschew bribery in every form. In its totality, bribery cannot be justified, no matter by what name we call it (a tip, freedrink, entertainment or kola.) When many things go wrong now; they are often attributed to the aftermath of colonial administration, but mind, many things were not as bad then as now. Britain for their part, never left any legacy of bribery and corruption take ascendency over achievements and proved endownments? I wonder if this is the new gospel of Independence. "But who is to blame for this moral depredation? Let us examine our consciences. The recent talk by Mr. F. Iheanacho, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, was quite encouraging. He asserted that the public often tries to tempt those in position of trust. Therefore, we are the accusers and the accused. Today an average Nigerian believes that nothing goes for nothing. Any favour granted on merit, even with good intentions, is looked upon with suspicion. Why shouldn't a person have something he should have freely? He too, on the other hand, must feel some compunction if he had it, because the conscience has been morally distorted and socially debased. "The public often looks on the 'police' as the worst offenders in this considered field. But I say no. The clerks at the counters the motor car and cycle licensing �14 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST 4RIBERY AND CORRUPTION agents, nurses, road overseers, masters, men in the upper sector of the public life are all cited as co-offenders. A school leaver is put in a dilemma; if you do not bibe, you have no job; if you bribe, you break the law of honesty. But to avoid being called unemployed, he reluctantly succumbs to the second alternative. The appointment of the "X-Squad" was welcomed as a release. Why does it operate very inactively? Has it been bribed out? Did the members vie for office3 by bribing themselves? We are back where we were having moved in a vicious circle. Let the Ministers of Social Welfare take note. If this country is genuinely serious about curbing the menace of bribery and corruption, what helps do the different governments give to prospective prosecutors of the victims of this act? "They can't present an attitude of just being ignorant, or to say the least, not being interested in the affairs of the electorate save a t the election time. If the govemments are nonchalant, nobody would risk his personal freedom to organise campaigns and clandestine attacks. Let the government come to the help of people prepared to waylay bribe givers and receivers. By this means, the country will be cleansed of the leprosy of bribery to which it has been subjected and by which it has been menaced. "We must need imitate what is good no matter from what country it comes. Let us look round and see how the salaries of the Ministers in other countries compare with those of the peasants there. Is the gap so wide as to cause mass dissatisfaction? I am not a professional economist but in my humble opinion, salaries of legislators should be slashed to bring their scale in line with that of people working independently for themselves. Any commission set up in this country will fail in its �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 15 duty if the sky-rocketed.salaries of this mentioned class are not cut, importation of luxury cars banned, allowances reduced, plurality of income from appointment stopped, and rents controlled. These legislators, having given so, much with the right hand to secure a senior post.or a ministerial appointment, so much will be taken back with the left to replenish the gap already created; thus bribery in this country is circuitous. If you cannot bribe your way to promotion,:you must be static and eventually redundant, worse still, if you have nobody to put,in an influential word for you, you suffer the same fate. "Why have'we to raise such a hue and cry against one expatriate who asserted t h a t many Nigerians including Ministers are corrupt? Perhaps, it was the right thing from the wrong mouth. Why also condemn the Editor of the West .African Pilot who also claimed that corruption comes from.the upper segments of the Public? May be, the Editor is talking too much. After all, was the bitter truth not spoken? If there is a preferment by and a lobby to any Minister or Premier, can we not safely describe this act as corruption?. Let us examine the dangers we face when the traffic meri'are such as are mainly concerned with collecting cursed shillings from drivers. (a) Lives of passengers are endangered by over loading; (b) Proper road worthies of vehicles is never insisted upon. "Imagine the optional and forced contributions these vehicle owners' make. But we must pity poor drivers who are not prepared to corrupt, but to avoid waste of time, they are corrupted to corrupt. "It may be useless to launch the Six-Year Development Plan when the economy so raised will slip into the pockets of Machiavellis. The peasants feed the cow and they milk it. Let us first launch Six Years of Anti �16 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION Bribery Campaign. If the governments of the Federation are worth their salt, severe and effective laws must be enacted for curbing the menace of this plague. I will suggest right away - punishing the offender by the Firing Squad. Why can't Ministers, who by long service have out-lived their useflness, be changed? Why can't a Premier be removed, having lost the confidence of his colleagues? Why offer them bribe to. retain office? If I were such a Premier, I must resign having lost their confidence. "The concept of bribery is deeply implanted in the minds of the peasants by legislators who spend every available penny to go in to share the poor taxpayers' money, ride four cars, live in overplus luxuried houses. Peasants have their weapons, history has proved it. Imagine a candidate spending £3000 for an election! He must recoup himself of his losses as soon as he succeeds. I wonder if Parliament is the way to make money anyhow. 'If the Scholarship Boards at the Regional and Federal and Council levels offer awards to the highest bidder and not to the best qualified, we shall be guilty of dishonesty. Scholarship and appointments are said in most cases to be offered or distributed before applications are invited. Why this back door business? Unless a man is recognised for his worth and achievements and unless only the best is regarded as good enough for this country, the nation is corrupt and has no conscience. Concluding therefore, those who may be touched by my article, I impore their grace of pardon and ask them to join me as vanguards in this crusade, but for those who think that nothing can be done without bribe, can the nation rightly call them HONEST PATRIOTS" �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 14 Mr. Nkwaroh is but one of the voices crying in the wilderness, praying for the reform of our society. But there are still many more; people in high places and Iheanacho, Chairwith bigger responsibilities. Mr. F. 0. man of the Eastern Nigeria Public Service Commission, has also joined these many voices crying against bribery and corruption. Below is a text of a lecture he gave sometime on the topic. Said he:- "Bribery and Corruption are so evident all around us today that to those who would like to see these evils chased away from aU ramifications of our national life the opportunity to discuss ways and means of doing so is one to be hailed with the greatest enthusiasm. "I propose to discuss this subject not with any air of sanctimoniousness, or any intention of pointing an accusing finger at any or all of you. The problem of bribery and corruption is, I think, the first problem of our national well-being today. After the great battle of independence which raged and went by but only yesterday, the most serious hreat to our nationhood and independence today comes, but from bribery and cor~ p t i o n .It behooves all of us, therefore, Christian and non-Christian alike, to ponder the problem of combating these evils in all the spheres of our public and private lives. "The occasion of this meeting offers us the opportunity of pondering the problem and in that spirit I should like us to consider the subject. In order to be certain that we are thinking about the same subject, I think our first step in this discussion is to seek clarity on precisely what we have in mind when we speak of bribery and corruption. I do not think this is a difficult first step. There are several dictionary meanings of these terms, but a careful analysis will show that the differences �18 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION are only apparent and a matter of word usage. Fundamentally, there is general agreement as to what the terns cannote. "Bribery in ordinary usage is the offering of gifts in money or in kind with a view to procuring action, legal or illegal, in favour of the giver. It includes the soliciting of gifts as a condition or reward for performing one's duties. Thus it is at law a crime not only to offer but to receive bribes, and both the giver and the receiver of bribes are equally culpable before the Law. "Bribery is not only an offence constituted by law; it is also a grave social evil which strikes at the root of social cochesion. Its social consequences will indeed form the major part of this address but before we delve into that, let us consider the other term, corruption. Corruption in public life involves a state of moral deterioration. In such a state, those placed in authority are willing to sell their honest judgment for illegitimate g'i. They perform or are made to perform their public duties in disregard of the rules of public conduct laid down for the performances of those duties, and in response to the undue influence of the bribe giver or favour evidence of the promise or transfer of money or other gifts between the office holder and the person or persons excerting influence of him. "When a man of high rank and status aproaches a lowly public official and induces him to give employment to his brother, sister, relative, friend, or other connection of his in defiance of the rules of procedures for staff recruitment, and as a favour against the claims of other candidates, such a man corrupts the public official although he may not have offered the official any material gift. The corruption in this case does not lie in the �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 19 promise or offer of any gift but in the undue influence which the man is able to exert by the mere fact of his elevated station which places the official under severe duress and inclines him more readily to oblige the man against his honest judgment than to incur the man's displeasure. "This goes for all of us, high and low. No matter what our position may be, whenever we bye-pass the rules laid down and seek to obtain treatment for ourselves, our blood relations or our friends, we are guilty of corrupting the official whom we induce to confer such favours on us. I t is otherwise when a man in such a position makes such approaches as a means of by-passing some corrupt surbordinate officers who will not like to unless they have been given something beforehand. I push forward applications to the Heads of Department personally make such approaches when it comes to my notice that a suitably qualified applicant has been asked to pay some money before getting a job. The pity of it is that these applicants usually refuse to disclose the name of the officer who makes such a demand for fear of what might happen to them later. "Corruption in the public life of any country may be obvious or concealed. In the former case, it is easy to combat and the law usually does not fail to catch up with it. In the latter case, however, it poses a difficult and well-nigh insoluble problem. Everybody knows it exists and most people feel its pernicious impact, but no one can pin it down or I prescribe for its effective cure. You will come across it in every conceivable aspect of a person's national life. You will find it in the public official who is weak-kneed and without character and who on account of these failings is willing and ready to respond favourably to the blandishments of those �2 0 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION who seek to purchase his judgment. You will find it in politics in the practice, now common in many countries, of converting public money into party funds by clever and devious procedures; in corrupt practices at elections; in the demand by men and women in the villages for monetary or other reward for going to the poll to vote for candidates for parliamentary seats; in the consequent and all too easy propensity of many a politician in high office to trade on his public position. "This last manifests itself in many forms, including a good deal of ostensibly innocent goodwill presents and favoured consideration at the hands of local and foreign nationals and companies. You will find it in the contractor who buys his way to the away of a Govenunent contract and purchases the conscience of the Inspector of Works to the extent that they are no longer able to detect any fault in his manner of execution of his contract, even when he supplied saw-dust for cement. You will find it in the teacher who either sells examination papers to candidates or juggles with the marks awarded to candidates in such a manner as to reflect not the actual performance of the candidates, but the order of merit which conduces most to his personal whims add caprices or satisfies with wishes of those who seek favoured treatment for themselves or for their relations and friends. "You will come across it in the Judicial Officer who will either not give jugment at all or will give unfair judgment if he is not paid handsomely by one or other of the parties to the case. You will find it in the lawyer who knowing fully that his client's case is hopeless, collects exorbitant or even moderate fees from him on the false assurance that the case will be won with ease, although all he intends to do is to put in apprearance �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 21 in court in order to earn his fees. You will find it in the doctor who trades on the fortunes of rich patients by subjecting them to prolonged treatment for imaginary ailments diagnosed by him from no other motive than that of creating an opportunity of collecting excessive fees from the patients. You will find it also in the doctor who being a public official will not give patients proper and honest professional attention in hospital, but will prefer that they report to him at his home where he can charge them heavy fees to his heart's content. You will find it in the businessman or trader who engages in the adultration of his ware or supplies to customers articles which he knows to be inferior to what he makes them believe they are paying their money for. "There is no need to go on with this catalogue of corruption in various aspects of national life. Whenever a person either of his own volition or under pressure does that which is not in strict conformity with the rules for discharging the responsibilities of his position, there you are likely to have corruption in all its notirety. "I have dwelt longer on corruption than on bribery, because it is the wider of the two terms. This is not, however, to say that bribery is a lesser evil, because it is not. From what has been said it will be obvious that bribery and corruption are twin evils and for all practical purposes synonymous terms, carrying the same weighty and disastrous consequences for every nation as for every individual. "Although they are widely condemned throughout the world they tend to retain surprising vitality in the social life of most countries of the world. Indeed there are some who would l i e to see these evils openly recognised as respecctable methods of doing public business. For- �22 PUBLIC OUTCRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTON - tunately these are a microscopic minority the greater generality of mankind heartily condemns bribery and corruption as social evils, and rightly so. To understand the attitude of this majority, let us consider what the position would be in a state ridden with bribery and corruption, or in a state in which bribery and corruption are openly accepted as a way of life. "Because bribery 'and corruption reign' supreme in such a state no citizen can hope to obtain the usual, services which government owes him until he has paid for such services at every point of control by the public officials. The derk in the post office will not sell a stamp or money order or postal order to the members of the public, or deliver their mails to them until he has received sufficient reward from every customer who i . il wishes to be served by hm The clerk in the office wl refuse to file the petitions received at his office or will fail to bring them up to his superior officers who will deal with them until the petitioners have sufficiently oiled his palm. "The policeman on beat duty will conveniently go to sleep and let burglars have the run of the banks, of the government safes and offices, and of the houses of rich and poor citizens, unless the owners of these are prepared to pay through the nose for his vigilance. He will even close his eyes.to open acts of murder, arson and other felonious deeds and may glandly lend the weight of his evidence in court to prove that the murderer or the incendiary is innocent of the crime, depending on which party is able to pay handsomely for his testimony. "The members of the Public Tenders Board will extdrt so much money from the contractors that to win a government contract will sooner or later come to be re- �BRIBERY AND C O R R U P ~ O N 23 garded as a fatuous plunge into the precipice of financial ruin. Justice will be sold to the highest bidder by some of the judges in the local tribunal. The far-reaching consequences which will result from this state of affairs are too obvious for comment. But perhaps these are not immediately obvious to some, and for this group we may pause to analyse one or two of the possible consequences. "When justice is put to public auction, we may be certain that the end of the state and of social cohesion is in sight. For when you come to think of it, you will iind that the basis of the state and of the society encompassing it is the property rights of the individuals and groups of which the society is composed. The law exists to secure these rights but where justice is sold, only the rich and well-to-do can have the law on their side. Property rights will change hands and will tend to accumulate in the hands of those who have more than to spare and less in the hands of those who have little to spare. "Your plot of land, your house, or even your wife and children today may not be yours tomorrow because your covetous neighbour can tomorrow secure these for himself by taking you to court in a trumped-up case and of purchasing the co~science some of the Court Judges who sit over the case. Thus the "haves" will more abundantly and the "have nots" will have less and less until they have nothing. In such a state, the road to social upheavals, to revolutions, coupe detats and civil wars is not a very long one. All this is as it should be in the internal life of the state. "How about'its external relations? We are here concerned with the conduct of those who wield the scepre �24 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION of supreme 'authority in the body politic. We are concerned with the political office holders who in virtue of their own position at the apex of the pyramid of authority in the state exercise responsibility for the state's relations with foreign nationals and foreign countries. We are considering the conduct of such politicians and the consequences of their conduct in a stage of legalised bribery and corruption. Their ruling motive in such a state is, of course, the enrichment of their personal and private fortunes by trading on their official positions. "In their bid to amass private wealth, they hold truck with firms reputable and disreputable; they will throw open the doors of their country to all who are able to ~ t i s f ytheir appetite for gain, and they will not be inhabited by any visitations of conscience in selling the dearest interests of their country to those foreigners who are able and willing to enrich their private bank accounts. AU these will be perfectly in order since, ex-hypothesis, the state we are considering is one in which bribery and corruption are legalised. But retribution waits at the door post for both such a state, and the political office holders who indulge in this orgy of acquisitiveness. "When the social fabric has been sufficiently soaked and weakened by the effect of bribery and corruption, the handful of the wealthy who know how to bribe their way to the top find the tide of social upheave1 too strong for weathering. I n the tumult that ensues, the cry of the hungry masses is heard and the wealthy hpresented with the choice of delivering their wealth ?d hkir necks or both together to the masses. "They generally seek aid from their foreign payf maate~cbctwhe story o their end is invaribly the same. it ~ ~ f s f l s c ? p & c ~is usually as captives to their foreign �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 25 protectors and often at the price of their country's independence. I n the long run all will be quiet again, there will be a new redistribution of the social product, and a new alignment of the "haves" and the "have nots." But what a price has been paid for this? "All this is true of our hypothetical state of legaliised corruption. But no one who is alive to what goes on below the surface in most modem states will fail to recognise the close parallel in actual life to these pictures we have painted. Bribery and corruption need not be openly recognised or legalised to produce the consequences we have outlined. Where the attitude of the people to their evils is one of condonement rather than of unequivocal condemnation, the state is tantamount to one ~f legalised bribery and corruption. The consequences to be expected in such a state are neither more nor less than those we have sketched. Corruption in public life is another word for moral decay. "It is the kind of decay which once it sets in goes to the heart of the social fabric and shatters, deprives, and sweeps away the society in which it is permitted to grow. It has been the ruin of nations great and small, of empires which the clanger of steel and the assaults of armies could not subdue, of people now forgotten but once dominant and triuphant. Is it any wonder that from the first time man trod this earth and learnt to live in amity and fellowship with the members of his species, bribery and corruption have been condemned as social evils? Those who would condone these evils today do not stop to ponder their grave social effocts. If they did they would have no difficulty in seeing the urgency of the need to eradicate them from human society. "Indeed the major problem of bribery and corruption is not one of being able to see the disintegrating and �26 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION grave consequences of these evils. The problem lies in fact that although the greater majority of mankind fully appreciate the evil consequences.of bribery and corrup tion, the temptation to employ them as a method of securing personal advantage is almost always irresistable and not always sufficiently resisted by me. "What is the explanation of this state of affairs? It is simply that under the pressure of immediate necessity most of us are often prepared to sacrifice our long-term interests to our immediate advantage. But if we are not too far-sighted to recognise the self-defeating nature of our advantage, our consciences will sooner take up arms against bribery and corruption than use them as a weapon for fighting the battle of life. "As Christians, what attitude should we adopt to bribery and corruption? We have seen that these are evils which have a disintegrating effect on society because they involve the deprivation of the rights of honest and poor citizens by the wealthy. This is the exact antithesis of the golden rule, "Love thy neighbour as thyself." For whoever loves his neighbour will not wish to take his property or right from him. The attitude of all Christians should therefore be one of emphatic condemnation of bribery and corruption in every shape or form. To offer or take bribes or to condone the offering or taking of bribes is to be less than a Christian. Whoever practises these twin evils cannot claim to be a true Christian. "Is all this an altogether abstract discussion of bribery and corruption, unrelated to what goes on around us in this country? This is no place to wash our dirty linen in the public and I do not propose to use this occasion as an opportunity to proclaim to the world that our �BRIBERY AND C O R R U P T I ~ 27 public life is more ridden with bribery and corruption than that of other countries. "On balance it is probably true that we are neither better nor worse than other countries in this matter. Yet the admission must be made that the canker-worn of bribery and corruption does take its toll of our private and public life to an extent that must be alarming to those who love Nigeria. An all-out war on these evils is urgently needed to stamp them out. That war, if it is to succeed, must be fought in the hearts of the people of this country. The battle is not one to be fought by inserting a few neatly turned legal phrases in the State Book outlawing bribery and corruption. It cannot be won by smelling out and penalising one or two offenders whose distinguishing offence is not that they offered or received bribes but that after offering or receiving bribes they were too unlucky to escape detection. The battle will be won only when there is a change in the attitude of the entire people or of an overwhelming majority of the people, making briberly and corruption not only boo words but also practices that can be indulged in only at the serious risk of social ostracism. So long as we persist in the attitude which supports or condones the use of bribery when our personal interests are concerned and condemns it only when others use it, so long will bribery and corruption persist. "Next to a change of heart in society is a change of outlook and attitude in the individual. The one and only injunction given the individual was, and always has been, "eschew bribery and corrupt methods." This is an prescription and one which is gladly accepted and light-heartedly rejected. �' 28 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION "With Nigeria now an independent country matched against the normal excellencies of other countries, now is the time to take a firm and irrevocable stand against bribery and corruption. These evils once revaged most of the present day advanced countries of the world, including Britain, the United States of America, France, Germany, Russia and a host of others. But most of these can stand akimbo today and face debates on bribery and corruption with an almost sanctimonious, betterthan-thou smile on their faces. If they have been able to fight these evils to a halt in their society, we too can do the same in this country. "It is said that the battle of freedom is fought not in the history of a nation but in the hearts of its free people. Freedom from the evil effects of bribery and corruption offers us the challenge of the most gruelling battle after that of independence which we have just won. This battle must be fought not only in the law court but in the hearts of our people. I t will be won the day we reach the decision in our individual and collective minds that bribery and cor'ruption are evils, and resolve in our hearts to sets our faces against them." Many more people have spoken or written on Bribery and Corruption. I t is not possible to make extracts from all these and incorporate into this analysis of the evil. Suffice it to say that everybody who has spoken or written about this public disease is adding more weight and strength to the force of argument which will surely minimize the practice if not entirely pull down the superstructure of this plague. �CHAPTER ONE CORRUPTION IN T H E POLICE DEPARTMENT "Any person, who being employed in the public service, receives any property or benefit of any kind for himself, on the understanding, express or implied, that he shall favour the person giving the property or conferring the benefit, or any one in whom that person is interested, in any transaction then pending, or likely to take place, between the person giving the property or conferring the, benefit, or any one in whom he is interested, and any person employed in the public service, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment." Every society has its own ills; those cankerworms that fastly eat down the fabric of a community. Bribery and corruption are among these. Here in Nigeria, bribery and corruption are almost synonymous with the Police. Everybody believes the police are the greatest offenders in this respect. I shall however show that while some members of the Police Force are corrupt, they are nevertheless the worst offenders. Proverty, greediness or what may be described as economic and social imbalance have been the major causes of bribery in some societies. Added to these are low salaries, ignorance, prejudice, lust for offices, lack of moral conscience, feeling of insecurity resulting from poor or no education. In the Police Force, bribery and corruption are practised during recruitment, in the Investigation Branch, Traffic Branch, Water Police section, Immigration section and Township and Wayside police stations. �30 CORRUPTTON IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT The initial stage of selecting a police man requires no corruption because physical requirements have to be fulfilled; e.g. the chest must measure 36 inches and height not less than five feet six inches. What happens is that the selecting officer sees a man physically all right and asks him oral questions. From how the candidate answers these oral question shows the officer how intelligent or otherwise the constable-to-be is. The selecting officer then repeats this process with a number of possible candidates and having decided who are the clever ones, calls them together, collectively or individually, and tells them that the big man would like to see them. This seeing of the big man ('Oga') is in fact an understood from each affair. The big man wants £2&£30 and every one of the possibles and it is the selecting officer who is the middleman. The big man's share may eventually turn out to be £10 for every possible candidate whiie the rest goes down the pockets of the selecting officer. The possible constables-to-be however pay this required amount and then are permitted to sit for the written examination with oher qualified candidates but who did not pay anything. This is really the first stage of the corruption. After the examination, of course all those who paid will pass with distinctions and the list of passes ostensibly published. It may be that only five people are required and only those who paid of course turn out to be the five. They are asked to prepare to go to the Ikeja Police Training School for the real training to become police constables. These people are therefore going as corrupted persons who believe that everything in the Polic Force depends on corruption. One has only to pay through one's way. Naturally as soon as they come out of the training, they want to recover all the money they spent before entering and �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 31 to add some profits into the bargain. This is why many of them (Recruits) go to Prison immediately they are out of Ikeja Training School. In big stations (townships) these recruits will not be posted on beat duty as is required of them at least for a year so as to get themselves acclimatised to their localities and environments. What normally happens is that having known the game, they canvas for lucrative sections of the Force; e.g. the Investigation Branch or the Traffic Duties. The person in the 'I' Branch (Investigation Branch) is not naturally corrupt. What happens is that circumstances corrupt him. A complainant, for instance, may want a certain person who has offended him (seriously or trifflingly) to be arrested. To get a policeman to satisfy his pet desire, he tips the constable and the police man proceeds immediately to justify that gift of money. After the arrest, the complianant may desire to pursue the case further by offering the policeman more money to lock up his offender in the cell or to register a stupefying slap on his cheeks before his wife, children or girl-friend. The idea is to show the offender that the complainant is a big man. And many big men in our society do this! For all these obligations, the constable is of course thanked handsomely. You can see now that money is offered to and taken by constables for diverse reasons. Sometimes policemen threaten to arrest and charge people to Court purely or civil matters. This often happens in Rural Areas where people are very ignorant. There the policemen are 'terror' and what the natives do is to collect money and offer to them so as to avert taking them to Court. And the amount is always a handsome one. �32 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT How do you know corrupt constables? Go to their houses or to their bankers or Post Office Savings Account. The furniture in their homes are all out of proportion to their slender earnings. Some of them have many landed property while others have a fleet of taxi cabs or lorries bearing names not their own. Alternatively, go to the Hotels and see how some Policemen (in plain dress) consume endless bottles of beer which wash down the sweet morsels of roasted chickens. And to round up, they branch off to their 'lodger-customers.' Do you blame them? Money is intoxicating and pushes those who have it to diverse directions. The Traffic Duties are the most lucrative side of the Police Force. A constable has only to be in this section for a year and then "commands thousands of pounds." Don't tell me "Traffic is no more lucrative." It is even more today. Many a time a passenger is travelling in a lorry which is stopped at certain points by Traffic Policemen. What did he see? The next he noticed was a little 'hush-hush' busines! He understood and money (the normal toll tax) passed from one hand to another and the vehicle passed as all right, despite the overloading and leaking tyres. This toll tax could be 21- to 51- or £1 to £5 as the case may be. Much depends on how serious or otherwise the offence is. Sometimes a passenger wonders why the driver of his lorry should pay anything at all even when the vehicle has complied with all the t r d c regulations - no overloading, the driving and vehicle licences being all up-to-day. Well, let me tell you why wise drivers always provide for a future rainy day and pay the normal toll tax (bribe) to the Traffic Police, even when their lorries are brand new. In every vehicle, no matter how new, �there are at least two traffic'6ffences if properly checked. As a matter of fact there are at least fifty traffic offences,, twenty-three of them for vehicles, 'seven for oninibuses or buses and the others for other 'types of vehicles. Let me give some of these.offences below:- ' Vehicle Offences Permitting a vehicle to be driven without-identification number (Dealer's Number in, front .and behind. Permitting a.vehicle to be drive without a vehicle 1 ' lcence. Failiig to give notice of chaxige of owneiship. Failing to provide proper sitting.accomodation. Permitting a vehicle to'be driven without efficient brake. Driving after sunset without the headlight. Sleeping whiie in charge' of a vehicle.. . Drunk while in charge of a vehicle. Failing to stop on demand by a Police Officer i n uniform. Failing to'stop aft& an accident. Driving recklessly or negligently. . Driving furiously to the terror of the public. Refusing to give name and address. Givinc false information. ~ o a d G g an insedure manner. in Overloading: Sitting on the tailboard. Distracting the attention of the driver. Causing discomfort tb uasserigers. 20. Failhito wear condukor's bidge: 21. Failing toexhibit tab1es':of fare. �COilRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT Selling goods or printed matter inside buses Damaging any part of the omnibus. Spitting on any part of the omnibus. Refusing to pay fare. Sinokiig in an omnibus where a notice prohibiting it is pested. Causing discomfort to other passcngen'; e.g. vomitting. There are many more traffic offences. Supposing a car is running on an untamed road during the rainy season and collects some quantity of mud which obscures the plate number; this car has already committed an offence. Although the offence is not intentional yet that's the law. To avert such trouble, the driver gives money to the Traffic Police. Somebody inside a bus may spit out from the window unknown to the driver. But this is an offence whether done inside (on the floor) or outside (through the window). The offence is not against the person who spat nor the owner of the lorry but against f the driver, even though he does not know o the incident. To avert such trouble, of course the driver tips the Police. Selling newspapers, printed matter or goods in a bus is an offence. Smoking is prohibited. Causing discomfort to passengers e.g. vomitting or adulterating the air is an offence. So many other offences compel the driver to give bribe to the Police so as to avert prosecution. There are, as I said earlier, over fifty traffic offences found in every vehicle. A driver finds it convenient to give 2/- to 5/- or any amount asked of him. It is more convenient for h i that way and the reason is simple. Failing to 'wntribute' or pay 2/- to 5/- or more when �BRIBERY AND GORRUPnON 35 demanded of him means wasting days at the Police Station and finally going to Court. But these days are of immense value to every driver and if eventually he is charged to court, he wastes more days there too. There are many adjournments to be faced. There are lawyers to be briefed and money goes in each case. This waste of time and money will teach the driver a lesson to pay up his dues on demand the next time he is stopped by a Traffic Police man. The Court might have fined him upwards of £20 to £30 when he could have paid only 21- to 51- to have averted this waste. This is a police man's logic for receiving bribe and drivers see the reasonableness. What is to be done? The police is as corrupt as the drivers who give him bribe. Why does a particular constable remain in the Traffic duties all his years in the Police Force or at least for the greater part of his stay there? Why does a particular constable stay a year or two in the Traffic duties and change to General duties only to return to Traffic again? Is it because he controls traffic more than any other constable? No. I t is because he can give out a huge part of his booty to his senior officer who is responsible for posting. And despite this huge part of his daily collections which is paid to his senior officer, the Traffic Policeman still has enough to spare. Even his immediate Sergeant can. get a share! A police man on 'beat duty' has no £50 to £100 to give to his senior officer after his normal eight hours shift simply to be posted to the Traffic Section. He will therefore remain in General Duties until he can pay through his way. This situation even induces him to demand and receive bribes so that he can bribe his senior officer whose duty is to post h i to the Traffic Section. Sometimes the senior officer likes to change the �36 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT duties of some Traffic policemen and revert them to General Duties because some of them are not paying up their dues regularly. The officer wants obedient constables who will pay up regularly. He may have unfinished buildings at home. He may be contemplating to buy a transport lorry or plots of land. But he may have no This is the normal "hush-hush" business while checking transport lorries on the road. Is the Traffic Police Officer in front of the lorry checking or standing attention? This at the back of the s lorry, i he examining the soil or picking u p something? constables with sufficient money ready to pay before they are posted on Traffic Duties. Here "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush." And so the old ones are called and warned that they are not paying up handsomely and regularly. They are however allowed to continue �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 37 in their Traffic Duties and to bringback proceeds handsomely, to the tune of £50 to £100 a month. And so the trouble continues and bribery and corruption become a way of life. The Water Police are charged with the responsibility to look after goods in ships. Part' of their qualification is that "you must be a swimmer." But not all of them are swimmers. Anybody from the Ship is to be questioned by the Water Police. Oftentimes this questioning takes the shape of a fiftylfifty business or failing which an arrest is ostensibly made. Anybody who is familiar with the activities of some members of the 'Waterguard' and 'smugglers' know what I am talking about. Supposing a person from a ship has 40 costly watches. An understanding can be reached where the Police on duty has 20 and the person 20. This is why Water Police men wear very costly watches, some costing as high as £50. There are also gold, diamond, jewelries etc. These are contraband goods which nevertheless find their ways, in good quantities, into our society. How did they manage? And there is the strong drink (brandy, whisky, etc) palaver. These can be found in many homes. How did they manage to reach so many homes in such quantities? Simply this: Some members of the Water Police are very corrupt. Nothing more. An Immigration Officer is expected to check credentials, whether they are genuine or not. If genuine, few pounds are added to the passport forms to speed up action. If ungenuine, many more pounds are added and of course, you obtain your passport or visa all the same. So many custom officers are like these and there is always an understanding with policemen on duty. �38 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT Some constables are eternally posted to wayside stations or rural sub-stations. They are never posted to the township stations. Not that it is difficult to transfer them to the big stations in the towns but because they generally pay, like Traffic policemen, handsomely to remain in their lucrative stations. In this way bribery and corruption are perpetuarted. Bribery is a two edge-sword, for it harms some people and elevates others. For instance, if two people go in for an interview and it happens that one is more qualified than the other, and if the less qualified candidate bribes the officer conducting the interview, he is likely to get the post. Here, bribery does good to mediocres to the deriment of qualifid candidates. Many people have through bribery risen to positions of trust, positions they would not have reached were it not for bribery. Some people have escaped dangers through bribery and thereby live longer than they should. Bribery had saved many people innumerable inconveniences. But though bribery has some merits, shall we because many people have survived through it encourage this social menace? As an elevator, it is also a deterrant to social justice and equity and therefore impedes progress. From time immemorial bribery has caused the downfall of many nations. For instance, if a citizen is bribed to reveal the secrets of his country, the entire nation will be doomed as a result of the bribe which is taken by one of its citizens to achieve his diabolical ends. From this also will result a national disgrace and an ultimate downfall of the country concerned. This is why I think that Policemen, on whom much hope and faith is built, should not disappoint their fellow citizens' expectations. �BRIBBRY AND COBRWnON 39 Theirs is the charge to see that law and order are maintained. Their duty is to protect life and property. They are to see that justice is done. How can they do this if some of their members are so corrupt? Nothing is free in the Police, I am told. To be promoted you have to bribe. To be lucratively posted, you have'to bribe. To be rccruited at all into the Force, you have to bribe. To avoid constant 'Orderly Room,' (the normal Civil Sentice query) you have to bribe and always be a favourite of senior officers. There is 'eyeservice,' 'condo' and allied ways of seeking favour from people on top. There is the 'oga sent me' falsehood to receive money. There is 'your file case is receiving attention' until doomsday. There is 'come to the Charge Office.' There is change of vital statements and clever loss of vital exhibits in a serious case. There is everything that militates against fair play when corrupt policemen want bribe and it is not given. And they make things l difficult. In a l that is good, we implore these officers to help our society by resisting the temptations to ask and receive bribes. �CHAPTER TWO C O R R U P T I O N I N T H E RAILWAYS "Any Person Who:- being an agent corruptly accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, from person, any gifts or consideration as an any person, for himself or for any other inducement or reward for doing or for forebearing to do or to be done or forborne to do, any act in relation to his principal's affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favours or favour to any person in relation to his principal's affair or business; or corruptly gives or agrees to give or offers any gift or consideration to any agent as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do any act in relation to his principal's affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or difavour to any person in relation to his principal,'~ affairs or business; or knowingly gives to any agent, or being agent knowingly uses with intent to give his principal any recipt, account or other document in act of which the principal is interested and which contains any statement which is false or erroneous or defective in any material particular, and which, to his knowledge, is intended to mislead his principal; is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years or to a fine of five hundred pounds. . ." �(For the purpose of this section the expression "consideration" includes valuable consideration of any kind; the expression "agent" includes any person employed by or acting for another; and the expression "principal" includes any employer). Bribery cuts across our social, economic, political, educational, religious and culturd life. There are many causes of bribery when it is critically surveyed. One of these is sheer poverty. When an officer on a salary of £30 a month spends nearly all or more than his salary, the alternative of course is to find means of getting extra money to balance his budget. This is why some Railway Officers take bribe from traders to load or offload their goods into or from Railway wagons. But besides poverty, another possible cause of bribery among some Railway staff is grediness or an attempt to get rich quick. So many of them are jealous of each other simply because some of them have no buildings, lorries, costly clothes, plots of land, stores or plenty of money which is used to train children in the Colleges or Universities. Because of this, a young man who has just come out from School is employed as Station Staff wants to be a millionere over night. How does he do it? I will tell you. At the "Goodshed," collected money is shared every week-end. The Stationmaster always receives his share even though he does not know how the money is got. His weekly share is sometimes between £30 and £40, depending on how heavy or otherwise the proceeds are. The process is like this. There is what is called "sealing of wagons' for which 2/- is collected from traders for every wagons sealed. The same 2/- is collected for the opening of wagons before goods are offloaded. Even money is paid for the offloading trouble. . �42 CORRUP~ON IN TR& RAILWAYS In the "Booking Office," a passenger's load may weigh about 2 cwts, but the Booking Clerk makes it less, say 2 qrts. The cost of the less weight o course goes to f the Booking Clerk. And then there are train porters to convey goods to the wagons. They are employed by the Railways to carry goods for those passengers entraining. But except you tip them, they may ,well leave your loads behind. The result of course is -that many passengers have travelled without their loads in the train. What happens to these loads left behind is anybody's guess. Loading Clerks at the Goodshed may refuse to load customers' goods, bcause their palms have not been properly greased. 'No room in the wagons' is the usual reply. At the 'Delievery Section,' if customers fail to claim their goods in time, 'storage charged are often collected for the Railways. But if affected persons sufficiently tip the Deliery Clerk, the Railways may get none of these charges again. The same thing happens at the 'Luggage and Parcels Office.' Failure to claim your goods in time means incurring "cloak room charges." But the process is the same and you will not pay the charge if you properly grease the palms of the clerk on duty. The attachment of loaded wagons also requires bribe. Sometimes a customer is lucky to have his wagon loaded. He has paid the correct charge to the Railways; yet unless he tips the shunter, his wagon will be delayed and of course his goods will perish. The same thing happens with Cattle wagons. Shunting of these to the Cattle Shed requires bribe. Hausa people (cattle dealers) are generous and so play well their cards, but failure to do this exposes the animals to starvation and of course to consequent deaths. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTlON There is intriguing red-tape in the Railways. So many officers do the same job. The difference is only in name. When a trader in Northern Nigeria once loaded his wagon with yams and consigned same to his counterpart in Eastern Nigeria, it was noticed that the wagon arrived Enugu and stayed there for three weeks. The owner came down to Enugu to inquire about the cause of the delay. He met the D.S. (District Superintendent) who referred him to the S.T.C.O. (Senior Traffic Commercial Officer). This officer referred the trader to the T. 0. (Y). (Traffic Officer, Yard) from where he was referred again to the Y. M. (Yard Master). The last mentioned officer referred the trader to the Shunter who nonchalantly explained the 'delay was due to much work.' He however assured the trader that his wagon would be despatched to its destination without further delay. This angry man departed to his destination and hoped his wagon would reach there before him. But how could it? He had come to Enugu to inquire about the delay officially, through the biggest boss to the smallest Shunter, his humble self. He should have known better and done the only thing expected of him. A week had passed after the inquiry. Two weeks also passed. There was still no sight of the wagon at its destination. The trader was still waiting. But he decided to make another trip to Enugu. This time he was properly advised and having done the expected thing, he went away. Two days after, his wagon load of yams arrived. I t was unloaded and to his greatest sorrow, more than four hundred y a m had got rotten. This was the penalty for his honesty. I a trader fails to bribe, his punishment is this type f of experience. His goods would perish and he would lose so many hundreds of pounds. His life may be ruined �44 CORRUPTION IN THE RAILWAYS as a result. The fun of this experience is that sometimes f mere official referring o customers to other officers suggests that the customer should play his card. This is so because both big and small in the Railways know of the existence of these corrupt practices. And none of them cares to eradicate them. May be they are beginning now. Nowadays, traders have formed a union. This trade union functions in this way. Membership enrolment is anything from £20 to £50. Any loading which does not pass through this union means trouble for the Chief Booking Clerk. It is these traders who say whose gmds will be loaded or not. And by this method they control the C.B.C. (Chief Booking Clerk) who sometimes works for the Union (mark you for the Union and not the Railways) even on public holidays. Bribery and corruption are safely entrenched in many Departments or sections of the Railways. Take the Staff section (Establishment) for instance. This section employs clerks or station staff. They are charged with the responsibility to promote staff. They handle leave matters and transfers. Relief Clerks often tip some members of this Section to get transferred to some money-making stations for relief duties. 'Sleeping and relief allowances' are often collected when staff stay long on relief duty. Because of this, station st& elect often to be transferred to good stations where they can make quick money. And much money is paid for these arrangements. In the past, money was taken from applicants who wanted to go to the Railway Training School at Yaba, Lagos. After training and posting many Station Staff become rich people with a lot of landed property, so many lorries and buildings. So many of them go Overseas �BRIBERY AWI) CORRUPTlON 46 for further studies especially in law. What is to be done? Bribery and corruption have got tap roots in the Railways as well as in other Departments. No one section is free. The Accounts Section is even involved when some of its members go on line to pay wayside staff their salaries. Much cheating and stealing is done. Even Clerks are not so keen on preparing the usual mileage 'voucher' except the drivers and guards tip them. At every comer you meet with a demand for bribe or your case will not be treated timely. Have we forgotten the Stores Clerks? Some of them are wonderful people. Much of the Stationery is sold. Have we forgotten the Train Guards? They are wonderful people too. Some of them bargain and convert Railways money (ticket collections) into their personal accounts. Have we forgotten T. T. Cs? They are like the Guards. Their van is used for purposes otherwise intended by the Railway Authorities. Sometimes female passengers, who are travelling free of charge, hibernate there. Have we forgotten the Enginerring section? Their activities with Contractors are well known. Sometimes it takes fortune to register as a contractor, to award him a contract and to pay him the necessary fees. It can therefore be seen that bribery and corruption are serious social evils. They threaten all senses of justice and fair play. It mortgages people's conscience. Where it exists, people find it hard to speak the truth. Justice is not allowed to take its cause and people are usually found in the wrongplaces. Things do not take their normal shapes in the society. The painful result is that where bribery is the order of the day, people do not find it interesting to make honest effort to improve their ends. Instead they depend on bribery and corruption to achieve their ends. �46 CORRUPTION IN TRB RAILWAYS If bribery does not exist, people will be interested to work hard and struggle honestly for something. They will be proud of such struggles. Economically, bribery kills the incentive to work, reducing productivity and lowering both individual and national incomes. To free the society from the evils of bribery, something must be done. Employers of labour should devise a means whereby candidates should compete for ' vacancies in open examinations and the markers should be men of high integrity. To check bribery, everybody in the State should declare his property. When this is done, there should then be a general evaluation of people's property and their yearly income. This will actually reveal that some people have defrauded others in order to build for themselves financial empires. People should be promoted on the basis of their skill, productivity and educational qualification. I t is bribery that has given rise to promoting unqualified people to various posts thereby creating difficulties in the way of honest labour. In certain sections of the Railways, promotion is are not encouraged. SF 94 (query) is sometimes issued to people with malice to deter their progress. Secret visits are made by some sectional heads to the 'Officer' or 'Boss' to paint the names of certain junior staff in sombre colours. The intention is always definite. Until such junior staff bribe some of their immediate sectional heads, there is no recommendation for them and consequently no promotion. This is why you can see in the Railways today so many people on First Class or Assistant Chief Clerk maximum. So many Clerks are Clerk Grade I1 while few lucky ones are Clerk Grade I where they mark �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 47 time till God knows how long. The situation gives the impression that the Railways is sick. What is the cause of this sickness? Part of it comes from a deep rooted corruption in the Corporation. Another cause comes from the general indifference of certain Officers to the affairs of their Junior Staff. The result sometimes is hatred, malice and all manner of injustices. This is why some of the Junior Staff are This is a typical Court Official in the Registry's Office. He is e very busy man; receiving telephone calls and writing at .the same time. He has no time evn to know that a person standing by his side is dropping down an "envelope". �48 CORRUPTION IN THE RAILWAYS corrupt. They do not do their work properly. They believe they have no future in the Railways and because of this they grab money from whichever person that offers same. Their logic is always the same - 'make hay while the sun shines' or 'prepare always for a rainy day.' Some of the younger clerks spend their office time more on their tuition lessons than on Railways duties. They pass their G.C.E. (Advanced Level) and enter the Universities, leaving the Railways to carry along with its policy of no promotions to the Junior Staff. What is necessary in the Railways today is a change of heart as well as that of policy. The junior staff must be encouraged so that they can take more interest in their work. There should be a prospect for which they work. New extensions can be provided to retain old hands, even though they are now graduates. Real checks should be made to eradicate bribery and ,corruption among the rank and file. Anybody caught should be tried and imprisoned so as to set an example. But those caught should not bribe those who caught them and by so doing free themselves and thus perpetuate the practice the more,This will defeat all honest attempts to eradicate the disease. Everybody's care, indeed everyman's care, should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart. Next to this, he should try to escape the censures of the world and do those things which win the approbation and applause of the public. A man is more sure of his conduct when the verdict he passes upon his behaviour is confirmed by the opinion of all that know him. This is the time to examine our conscience and to give honest verdict of our lives. The Railways today harbours so many corrupt officers. Some of these officers are expatriates. Some of them are Nigerians. Some too are Junior Staff and some Senior. �BRtBERY AND CORRUPTION 49 A 'holier-than-thou' attitude will not do. Pointing accusing fingers form above to below or vice versa will not do. All that is required is an admittance of guilt and a resolution to live a better life in future. 'Man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong; which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday' (Alexander Pope). �CHAPTER THREE JUDICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:(a) being a judicial officer, corruptly asks, receives or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything ommitted to be done, by him in his judicial capacity; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempts to procure, to, upon, or for any judicial officer, or to, upon, or for, any other person, any property, or benefit of any kind on account of any such act or omission on the part of such judicial officer; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years." (The term "judicial officer" in this section includes a member of Native Tribunal, an Arbitrator or umpire, and any person appointed to act as a Commissioner under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, or before whom, under the provisions of any Ordinance, proceedings are held in which evidence may be taken on oath). "Any Person who:(a) gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, any property or benefit of any kind to, upon, or for, any person, upon any agreement �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 51 or understanding that any person called or to be called as a witness in any judicial proceeding shall give false testimony or withhold true tcstimony; or (b) attempts by any other means to induce a person called or to be called as a witness in any judicial proceedings to give false testimony or to withhold true testimony; or (%) ,Any , (a) asks, receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person, upon any agreement or understanding that any person shall as a witness in any judicial proceeding give false testimony or withhold true testimony; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years." Person who:being.a peace officer not acting judicially, or being a perscn employed in the public service in any capacity not judicial for the prosecution or detection or punishment of offenders, corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or other person, on account of anything already done or ommitted to be done, or to be afterwards done or ommitted to be done, by him, with a view to corrupt or improper interference with the due administration of justice, or the procurement of facilitation of the commission of any offence, or the protection of any offender or intending offender from detection or punishment; or �52 JUDICIAL CORRUPTION ( b ) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure to attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any such person, or to, upon, or for any other person, any property or benefit of any k i d on account of any such act or ommission on the part of the peace officer or other person so employed; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years." William Hazilit in one of his essays - Advice to a School boy - said inter alia :- "Do not begin to quarrel with the world too soon, for bad as it may be, it is the best we have to live in. If railing would have made it better, it would have been reformed long ago. But as it is not to be hoped for the present, the best way is to slide through it as contentedly and inocently as we may. . . We may laugh or weep at the madness of mankind." Mr. Hazilit is entitled to his own opinion. For my own part, I like to "laugh or weep at mankind" and to think that the business of our life is indeed not to see what lies dimly at a distance of us, but to do what lies clearly at hand before us. Bribery and corruption, more than any present social evils, shake the foundations of our society. Mere lip service can't do. Mere condemnation won't help. Mere speaking and writing about them, will not do. What is necessary is an acceptance by all that bribery and corruption are now a national disgrace. And we fmd these evils in every walk of life. All is not well in certain arms of our Judicial Department. The irony of justice is that behind every High or Magistrate or Customary Court, there is the Registry's Office where bribery and corruption are practised ex- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 53 tensively. Whenever a case is to be tried, certain preiiminaries are to be fulfilled. Every Plaintiff wants his case to be heard immediately and to achieve this, he "co-operates" with the Registry's Office. If it is "a claim of money against somebody," he meets the Registrar to decide the summons fee and other things relevant to the case. To fix the date of hearing to suit the Plaintiff, money is sometimes taken, to do this. But sometimes the Defendant comes too. He also wants the case to be deferred so as to enable him get money to pay the claims. To achieve this aim, he has to pay, but much higher than what the Plant8 paid. Already the case is the balance, tilting to the side of the highest bidder. The Judge or Magistrates is not yet aware that such a case has come to his Court. In the case of a writ of "fi-fa" (fieri facias) the Creditor normally wants everything to be fininshed immediately so that he can sell the property of his debtor to meet up the debts he owes him. The procedure is thus:After judpent, the debtor files "leave to pay." This may expire and the creditor bribes his way for a "fi-fa." If this is granted, the Bailii usually serves the debtor a "court order" to take inventory of his property on a stipulated date. During this period or in the process, the debtor can bribe him to exclude some of his valuable property which are usually taken away at night. Sometimes too the Bailiff bargains with the debtor to dudge receipt of summons. If this happens, he ostensibly returns to the Court to report "Debtor not in town." If however the Plaintiff gives him more money, the Bailii usually lies in wait at the door of the debtor long before 4 a.m. in the morning. Sometimes the debtor bargains with the Bailiff to have his things back through selling them at a very cheap �54 JUDICIAL CORRUPTION price. To achieve this end, certain people are called (bribed) to buy back his property at very cheap prices. But very often too, some members of the public or even some staff of the Court are interested in the sale. They can bargain with the Bailiff to "hammer down" whenever they prize valuable articles. It is therefore "going, going, going, gone!" for such people. On the other hand, the Creditor can see the Bail8 so as to ensure his debtor's things are sold at a very high price. This is to enable him recover his debts. But he has to pay the Bailiff dearly for this favour. And so when anybody prizes an article and it does not reach the amount the Creditor would like, the Bail8 often puts down such article and takes up another; saying that the "offer is too poor." Later on, he will take it up again and fresh offers will be made. These offers may be higher than the previous ones because much "behind the audience" canvassing has been made. Money works wonders and many money-lenders (they are the majority in this type of case) are adepts in the business of bribing their way through. Many money-lenders influence so many people, some Court Officials not excluded. They can, for instance, undertake to pay the Bailiff's transport to the Debtor's place so as to see that the "writ of fi-fa" is served on their Debtors. But the Government pays for the Bailiff's transport; yet this does not matter neither to the Bailiff nor to the Plaintiff (Creditor). The paying of his transport or the giving of drinks on the way are merely an inducement. And this is bribers' logic. Sometimes, some Court Registrars act as Deputy Sheriff. This officer, Chief Registrar by convention, advertises that a Debtor's property are sealed up. Money �BRIBERY AND CORRUPnON 55 lenders often meet him to do this for them. Sometimes the Government is acquiring land and dispossessed peopled are entitled to compensation. The Government often deposits this money with Courts to dispose of. In paying this amount to eligible claimants, some Registrars take their own share of "thanks for early payments" from the payees. Crown witnesses are entitled to some allowances. These claims are approved and paid by Registrars. To speed up matters when the reply of "no fund yet" is made, bribe is offered to some Registry's official and fund becomes available for immediate payment for the transport which was made through a round-about land or water route. Travel by land is always preferred for obvious reasons I t is easier to cheat that way because travel by rail or air is a fixed rate for which "warrant" will be issued. Corruption in the Judicial Departmeat spreads like the heads of a hydra. The Clerk of Court prepares bail bonds for Magistrates or Judges to sign. A Lawyex may plead for bail and the Magistrate or Judge agrees But the Magistrate or Judge will go after the closing of his Court. Unless the person granted bail sees to it that necessary documents are prepared and signed, he will sleep in the cell that night or be remanded in cumdy in the Prisons. In the case of appeals, the Magistrate or Judge reads his judgement and hands over to the Clerk for typing out for record purposes. In doing this, the Clerk types out more copies knowing that the affected people will meet him aftenvards for same. A person can of course get the copy of judgment from the Registrar, but as the Registrar is a Senior Civil Servant, it sometimes costs �56 JUDIOIAL CORRUPTION very much to meet some Registrtrs. Because the Clerk of Court is junior staff, it is cheaper to get (buy) copies from him. This copy helps the affected person to get necessary facts before the normal time allowed for his appeal to be made expires. A Clerk of Court in outside stations is a big man. He is virtually the Registrar too. He fixes cases and grants bail. For performing these functions, money is given to some Clerks of Court. The idea is to induce some of them to help even where can't be of any use. A Clerk of Court in outside stations works in co-operation with the f Magistrate and Police. But some Clerks o Court can hide vital "exhibits" which can decide technical cases. This fetches a huge money because exhibits decide a lot in difficult cases. Mistakes about them always favour the accused because there are some cases in which people have travelled a long distance to hear. This happens very often in out stations and such cases can't be adjourned because an exhibit is not evailable. Even some lawyers often induce some clerks of court to sell certain exhibits for destroyal. And we know that some lawyers are really mean. Such are the type that will stop at nothing to win their cases. The end is always the same. The pursuit of wealth leads many people (even professionals) to resort to mean tactics. There is another official who works directly under the Registrar. He is the "Process Clerk". He fixes cases, writes out summons and opens case files with their appropriate numbers. He also writes out 'fi-fa' notices, etc. He is indeed a very busy man. There is always congestion on his table and he takes this excuse to be corrupt. Some Process Clerks purposely leave most of their work on their tables under the plea of being very busy. Delay �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 57 often results and to speed up matters, people who have cases must see some of them and then there will be no more delays. Things will then move faster. As said above, the Process Clerk handles all documents e. g. affidates, 'fi-fa' writs, summons, etc. He opens the files and fixes dates for first hearings of cases. On these dates, fillings are made and it is the Piocess Clerk who will quicken or delay matters. This is why so many Process Clerks are well known by people who have business in Courts. They are lavishly entertained in Hotels. They are sufficiently tipped outside their Office hours. The reason is simple. They hold the balance of many cases in the court. They say which case should come up immediately or adjourned siie die in their section. There is another aspect of corruption in the Judicial Department. This happens in claiming 'claims.' A Lawyer, for instance, can bring his claims and the Registrar assesses this and passes on to the Cashier for attention. This amount may not be paid in time and it is up to the Claimants to 'co-operate' or leave it to receive attention till doomsday. Messengers in the Courts have wonderful influence just as Interpreters have. Before a Messenger brings a case file, you have to grease his palms, failing which your file can be missing suddenly among a heap of files in the rack. Litigants can only do the normal thing and their case files will be traced out immediately. Indeed, going to Court is such a waste of time and money ! Bribery and corruption also obtain in cases of appeals. You have to pay or your appeal will not be heard �even in a year. It is impossible to get copies of the proceedings of any case free of change. Once money is offered, the Clerks will sit up and even do overtime to type out the Court proceedings of the case at issue. They work to finish the work in time when the money has reached the hands of some Registrars. The language or sign is always understood and typists always work like mad to ensure they collect their own share of the booty. What can Magistrates or Judges do when some members of their Courts are so corrupt? Nothing, except that if the public brings up one of the corrupt ones before them and then we can see whether their punishment will not be a sufficient warning to other erring officials. A Magistrate or Judge cannot go to the Registry to list up cases or write bail bonds, etc. Somebody must do these duties. I t can be the Process Clerk or Clerk of Court or another person working in the Registry's Office. But these Court Officials must be honest as so many of them are today. It is believed that bribery and corruption are hard to eradicate. But I believe that if the society and all the arms of the Law help to clamp down this evil, that devastating engine of social degradation, all will be well in God's own time. Education too can help in reducing the spread of bribery and corruption. Our youths should be trained for the right jobs. Honest men should handle such delicate issues as are involved in the Registry's Office. People should be encouraged to live within their means by making them see the evil in living about their means. Certain Registrars and Court Clerks are wealthier than some Magistrates or Judges. How did they manage? When are we having a commission of inquiry to assess people's property and income in the light of the salaries �BRlBERY AND CORRUPTION 59 they have received? In some Customary Courts where, even if the case is in your favour, you are nevertless required to bring the agreed money, shows still the miscarriage of justice. And this can lead to "action being struck off" or divided judgement given. The idea is to beg an appeal. What is to be done? The Court Clerk might not have recorded all your question if he is already biased through bribery. What of the goats, welcome money, drinks in a lands case, which requires going to the site? The thing to be done is the advisability of having our Customary Laws coded for different prcrvinces which can be quoted. Lawyers should be encouraged to be Customary Court Presidents or Advisers or Judges. Alternatively some experienced retired police officials or other government retired senior officials should be encouraged to take appointments in the Customary Courts. We are not helping ourselves if we prostitute our justice. Look at even a Lawyer's Clerk! Some of them are so corrupt. They even collect bribes before ever admitting clients to be interviewed by their masters. They also take bribes before even taking down clients' statements. While it is the duty of the Chief Clerk of a Lawyer's Chambers to give clients professionals charges, he demands money to make the charges moderate. Failure to do this means making things difficult for the client. Where do we go from here? Let us make the fight against bribery and wrruption our idividual and collective responsibility. We owe this duty to ourselves. Tendencies towards bribery and corruption have always existed and probably will always. They are human weakness. But when the voice of conscience becomes weak or still, the way is left wide open for endless abuses of honesty. If we do not check bribery and corruption �M) JUDICIAL CORRUPTION now they may well check us in future. Let us appeal to all Court Officials, Messengers, Typists, File Clerks, Guards, Interpreters etc. to work for the best interests of everybody. There is a tendency on the part of most of us now to get rid of inefficient and corrupt people everywhere. But important as this may be, it is far from being enough. To win a game of any k i d , much more has to be done to throw out the poor players. It is of far more consequence to keep adding more good players to the team and putting heart into those who are already there. This is my message. But in considering the ever-present need for additional workers of ability and high purpose, it is most important not to overlook the fact that there are large numbers now in the judicial department as well as in other departments who are fulfilling their responsibility to the Nigerian public in an efficient and honest manner. If it were not for them, the situation would have been hopeless. Thy need our gratitude and constant help. I t is because of such people that our Judicial Department is today rated so high everywhere in the world. �CHAPTER FOUR OFFICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:(a) being employed in the public service, and being charged with the performance of any duty by virtue of such employment, not being a duty touching the administration of justice, corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything already done or omitted to be done or to be afterwards done or omitted to be done, by him in the discharge of the duties of his office; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any person employed in the public service, or to, upon, or for, any other person, any property or benefit, of any kind on account of any such act or omission on the part of the person so employed.. ." or "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, takes, or accepts from any person, for the performance of his duty as such officer, any reward beyond his proper pay and employments, or any promise of such reward, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. " or . �62 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:being employed in the public service in such capacity as to require hi or to enable him to furnish returns or statements touching any sum payable or claimed to be payable to himself or to any other person, or touching any other matter required to be certified for the purpose of any payment of money or delivery of goods to be made to any person, makes a return or statement touching any such matter is, to his knowledge, false in any material particular, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three ..." "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, knowingly acquires or holds, directly or indirectly, otherwise than as a member of a registered joint stock company consisting of more than twenty persons, a private interest in any contract or agreement which is made on account of the public service with respect to any matter concerning the Department of service in which he is employed, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years, and to be fined at the discretion of the Court. . " . Ms writers are fascinated by the attempt to forecast ot something of the conditions of life and social activities as they will be in centuries ahead. For my own part, I am of the opinion that for a man to be greatly good, he must imagine intensely and comprehensively. He must place himself in the place of another and many others. Their pains and pleasures must become his own because �since people exist only in life, they must devote their time to being alive. Life is motion and motion is concerned with what makes man move, which is ambition, power, pleasure, wealth and health. But in pursuing these ends, man should not be corrupt. Bribery is one of these unjust ways of taking m w or money-equivalent from a man in ordei to do a duty or service which we should do without any remuneration from such individual. Some sections of our Ministry of Education suffer from the disease of bribery and corruption. In the Scholarship section, whether Provincial or Urban, it is alleged that @me candidates offer 50 per cent of the worth of these scholarships. Failing to do this means no scholarship for such candidates. The cleverness of the candidates in these regards in immaterial because they are not the only clever ones. Corrupt persons are not fools and so they know how to logic out their case. A Secondary School Scholarship may be £50 a year or £250 for five years. To win this, upwards of £100 may be offered to be shared by some Members of the Scholarship Board. Post Secondary Scholarship may be about £200 a year. But I am reliable informed that £150 if some candidates fail to grease the palms of some members of the Scholarship Board, they may never win the award. The contest for Scholarships is so, keen nowadays when one remembers these awards are made on Divisional and Provisional basis. But what of a Division which has five Scholarships alloted to it but which has up to a hundred applicants? And these people l are a l qualified ! - In Corporation or Depaments, Scholarships for Overseas training are won not always on merit. So many unqulified people are doing their technical training over- �62 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION seas today. Take a look at their qualifications. Some are big men's wives or girl-friends or relatives. And then there is recent fashion of foreign Scholarship award to I'. certain political V P s Who judges who are qualified for these awards? Your answer is as good or bad as mine. Admission to Secondary Schools is another instance where corruption rears up its ugly head. This starts with collecting pounds of money for Entrance Examinations that never took place. There is the 'late entry' concession. From the so many candidates that took a genuine Entrance Examination, of course only a few( (about 30 to 60) will be taken. But about 200 are called for interview and out of these the required number is taken; yet not all those who passed the Examination turn up for admission next January. Bigmen, VIP's and influenntial women have taken their sons and daughters to the Principal and persuade some of them to admit them, even without any Entrance Examination. And so many Principals grant this request! Are they hoest? These are the type of students who turn out to be the dunces of their classes. Admission into Primary Schools is even a problem nowadays especially when transfers have necessitated removing of one's children to another town. Until some Headmasters' palms are properly greased, such children may never get any admission for a year, even though they have their transfer certificates with the necessary report cards. Sometimes children who had been in a particular school are driven away because they have not paid the school fees in time. A day can be the only difference and yet tomorrow, a child with the school fees, finds a strange person occupying his seat in �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION \ 65 class. He is told "you have lost your position because you couldn't pay your fees in time". The fun of it is that the Headmaster knows the father too well but may h a w disagreed with him over a matter. The punishment of course is to sack his son or daughter and replaced hurl or her with another child. What a revenge1 Coming back to Entrance and ~ C . E Examinations. many things happen there. So many people pass thest: examinations without ever sitting for them. Other people are bought to do them on their behalf. There are even cases where men impersonate women (girls) and sit for their girl-friends. Some of them are usually caught. There is also the revealing of question papers to get money. There is the Students Advissory Board, wherc money is paid sometimes to speed up matters. Them. are many nasty things that are done in the name c a education. I n some sections of the Ministry of Works, all is not well there too. Contractors, whether big or petty, depend on Inspector of Works. Any award of contract is on percentage basis, 50150. 'Work order' is prepared for work not done. Registration of contractors even costs pounds of money. Girls are sometimes offered to those who will award these contracts. Sometimes men's wives are dragged into the bargain. Then there is the free-drink offer to the 'Boss.' Inspite of all these, collection of the money after the work is done is not easy. What? with so many 'come tomorrow, come tomorrow' until the contractor does the required thing. A controactor has to bribe to get his due. He bribes to claim the amount from the Sub-Treasury. He bribes to know when next there will be another opportunity. I think bribery is second nature of many contractors. So many of them �66 OFFICIAL. CORUUPTION do not believe any Clerk in the Office who is connected with their work can ever do that without their first bribing him. This money is always enveloped and dropped on the table of the clerk. Of course the clerk understands. He becomes active and alive to his job. Things move fast and all the relevant things are done and the contractor of course collects his money. Sometimes some of these contractors go to the houses of some of these clerks. There, a real bargaining can be made. The following day, some of these clerks still go to the Office with sanctionious faces. But that doesn't matter. This is in a Cocktail Party. An influential Contractor is throwing this Party for his friends, some of when are members of the Tenders Board. In major contracts, there is a real business. T o register as a major contractor is not sufficient. You have to be attached to some high government official or a politiciaq who will inflqence some people in the Tenders Board. Direct negotiation begins in which about 10 per cept �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 67 is conceded to the awarding party. In this case, there is no tender. Some Government Architects might have worked out the total cost, making sure that the surplus is there. The person helping the Contractor might take about 5 to 7+ per cent. Sometimes in Council's Tender Board, about 21- per £1 is paid to some members of the Tenders Board through their agents. This depends upon the correct amount required for the tender (which amount has been revealed to a Contractor). In the Foreign Contracting Firms, wonders happen there too. Some of their workers pay about £10 to £15 to the foreman before being employed. Here, some engineers and foremen are wonderful people indeed. Some of their employers work for about five months and then are sacked. After a month or so, some of these sacked employpees are notified that work is now available. This means coming back again and paying again for uncertain and insecure work. This is why foremen of some Foreign Contracting firms have such landed property,%xi cabs, lorries, etc. And their time-keppers are equally wonderful people. So many of them are really big men Why shouldn't they? They mark 'present' and 'absent' for all the employees. And so many people are marked 'present' when they were really 'absent' and vice-versa, To get on well in the Company means being in the good books of these time-keepers. Even the c a w to sack some employees can emanate from them. Contracting firms, some of them any how, erect mighty buildings for some VIP's or Politicians who helped them ta secure big contracts. If this were not w, how c w a Politician have so many storeyed buildings? Even �68 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION some Politicians are reported to have sky-scrappers nowadays. How did they manage? Which takes me to the harm some foreign firms are doing. These people are capitalists or sons capitalists. The only language they understand is money and always big money. They stop at nothing to win heavy contracts. They agree to any terms. And so what they lost with their right hands, they always recover with their left. They are wonderful people and so many of them still regard Africans as slaves or at least people money can always buy their conscience. They are corrupt and corrupt Africans with their big money. For how long should they be allowed to wield their money influence? The system of awarding contracts nowadays is still corrupt. But what is to be done? Is there any better method? The Tenders Board method would have been excellent but for the corruption therein. Why do some of its members reveal the required figures? Why do some VIP's and Politicians influence the award of contracts and collect thousands ~f pounds from the bargain? Why do fianace clerks require tips before preparing the 'voucher claims?' Why do contractors themselves cheat the nation by exaggerating the cost their finished work? Why is money taken at all to register the name of a man as a contractor? The Tak Assessment Section of the Internal Revenue is another source of headache to all. The job of this is to assess and collect taxes. The work is done like this: The Tax Assessment Clerk assesses farmers, traders, petty traders and small businessmen in rural areas. These are the people living in the areas alloted to them. They have, in these places, agents whose duty it is to give them the �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 69 names of new arrivals as well as old residents of the area. Old men's names are also given with a view to exempt them from paying taxes. The names of people who are old enough to pay tax are given. But before somebody is exempted, the concession must be an agreed bargaining. Sometimes there are School children who couldn't continue their studies because their parents are unable to pay their school fees again. These tax agents purposely include their names with a view to attract their parents visits. This visit to beg for the removal of their names from paying tax means paying money. Very often a youngman has just established an Industry. One of these Tax Agents will quickly send him a notice of the category he belongs e.g. the £2000 to £5000 category. The owner is naturally surprised. He hasn't even begun to operate. He has not even got a mite as a profit. And so, worried, he runs to the Agent to explain. But he explains with money and then the Agent takes him to the Tax Assessment Clerk who considers his case in the light of the money he receives from his Agent. There is usually a flat rate for taxable adults in every area. But there is also the Income Grade. To give the names of this grade is at the discretion of the Tax Agent. If therefore, a man who barely manages to live from the sweat of his brow is given an income assessment, he of course runs to the Tax Assessment Clerk to explain. An understanding will be reached and matters are corrected. Failure to do this means going to Court to explain why you failed to pay your tax. Tax Assessment Clerk, some of them at least are regarded as very rich people. To stop their corrupt life, they rotate duties. Some of them stay about two months �70 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION at a place and then are ransferred. But they always come with the fore-warning "make the much you can in so small a time and then get away." Some however render correct accounts and are allowed t c stay even up to a year or more at one place. These people may not be too honest but at least are comparatively speaking less corrupt. I am of the opinion that few tax assessment clerks or their agents are honest. They may be trickish in the game and so appear honest outwardly. These may be the older hands at the trade. There is the Urban Tax Assessment Board. Normally when notices are sent out to individuals to declare their income, many people declare falsely. The Board in turn assumes the responsibility and assesses everybody. Disagreement with their assessment entitles you to the Board. But failing to do this you must pay. No court can excuse you from paying your tax. What happens therefore is that the person over-assessed appeals. This means canvassing through members of the Board before the day the appeal will be heard comes round. And this canvassing takes the form of offering bribe. Sometimes the correct amount realized from the collection of taxes is not rendered and very often false tax receipts are issued out. The intention is always to defraud. What is to be done? Everybody must pay his tax, although nobody should be asked to pay more than he earns. Everybody must play his part in raising the standard of our living. For that reason, everybody must accept just taxation as a normal way of governments to raise money. Taxes go to pay for administration, for social services and for economic development. What a citizen pays returns to him in the form of real benefits. But those entrusted with the sacred duty to collect these taxes should not trade from it. This will'only be a negative step. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 71 We must adopt personal and social attitudes which are geared to change our society from impersonal service and lure of money. We are faced with twin evils of bribery and corruption. Unless we take strong measures and mobilise public opinion, we shall never stamp out these evils. We are faced nowadays with a widespread 'dash-bribe' system. Because of this, the pace of our administration and economy is impeded. We urge our govrnrnents to take decisive action on this grave issue. Those in official posts must remember that men who take bribe betray the trust of the nation. Bribery as a sin is a big injury to the poor. Think of a vacant post which exists in an office! Somebody pays to get it at the expense of a more qualified man. Or don't we see around us in the offices people who are worse than useless? They can't put up a simple letter (correspondence). They can't understand simple English. They are so ignorant of many things and so do things upside down. Some of them are typists who cannot type a simple draft. And if such typists are girls, well don't ask how they were employed. These are the people that shame our Civil Service. But for how long must we keep quiet over these issues? Things are degenerating. They are indeed going from bad to worse. All concerned, the State, employers and the employed, should combine to see that the obligations of social justice are fulfilled. As a minimum, employers must deal justly with their workers, both as regards wages and conditions of work. On the other hand, workers must deal fairly with their employers, and give honest return for just wages. Time for 'government or whiteman's work is past. We are now independent. �72 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION Employers should take a personal interest in their workers and sympathize with their difficulties - high cost of living, high rentage etc. The workers in turn should endeavour to understand the problems of their employers (indeed the Nation's). Both employers and workers should always keep in their mind their duty to promote, as far as possible, the good of their community. This is in a man's parlour. T h e young visitor is an applicant for a scholarship award. And "paper message." What can be those sheets of paper? Money? Social justice should permeate the institutions and the entire life of the people because it is of the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual �BRIBERY AND COREUPTION 73 all that is necessary for the common good. In this way, that is if everyone's heart is filled with the above considerations, bribery and corruption wiU be minimised. What is necessary now is for everybody to begin to think on the badness and injustice of these twin social evils. �CHAPTER FIVE OFFICIAL CORRUPTION (Contd.) "Any Person who:(a) corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything already done or omitted to be done, or to be afterwards done or omitted to be done, by him or any other person, with regard to the appointment or contemplated appointment of any person to any office or employment in the public service, or with regard to any application by any person for employment in the public service; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any person any property or benefit of any kind or account of any such act or omission is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. " or , . "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, does or directs to be done, in abuse of the authority of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. If the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain he is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. ." �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 75 I t is always the aim of the Christian Churches to so form men's characters that they will conform to the spirit of Christian teaching in their dealings with one another and not necessarily to seek always their own advantage but the common good. "Love thy neighbour as thyself" is a Christian maxim. This is why I am taking this medium to ask big and wealthy people to help build this Nation and eschew all such influences they weild which have helped to corrupt the society for so long now. While the right to one's property is unassailable, its use is circumscribed by the needs of social life. Owners must not merely consider their own advantage, but the good of the community. The rich should regard themselves as the stewards of their Earthly possessions, as God's dispensers and providers of this world's good which are to be used not merely to perfect their own nature, but for the benefit of others. They should employ their surplus wealth to help their needy brethren in a positive way and not necessarily corrupt them. All I am trying to say is that many rich people are very corrupt and carry this stigma to wherever they go. The Land Department is not very innocent of bribery and corruption. Most of the Lands Officials are corrupted by these rich men I have been talking about all this time. They carry their load of money about to get plots allocations and approvals of the different stages of their building plans. The whole thing works like this. An announcement is usually made in the Press about a new layout to be leased out. Applications are invited from interested members of the public. Definitely there will 'be a limited number of plots to be leased out. But a 'hush-hush' business is already set in motion. Fake application forms are circulated. People are deceived to buy these so as to get plots. And there is always a scramble �76 OPFICIAL CORRUPTION for thse because everybody wants to own a plot. Eventually applications are made, some with the geniune forms, some with the false. So many Land Officials work overtime, secretly during this period. But it is the Land Officer who will recommend applications to the Principal Land Officer for approval and allocation. Any failure to see some Land Officers this time means a reluctance on their part to recommend such applications. The fun of this gamble is that mere application to get land does not entitle one to get it. There are con&ions to fulfill; e.g. evidence of the means to develop the land when allocated. Granting many of the applicants satisfy these conditions and their applications are recommended for approval and allocation; yet they may not still get land. There is the possibility that the Principal Land Officer must .have been over-stepped by politicians or other Senior Government Officials. After all, so many people are interested in land allocation and some senior officials in the Administration may even take over the work, thereby leaving the Land Officer and his Principal mere figure heads. The reason for this take over is ostensibly to avoid bribery and corruption. But some senior officials in the Personnel Departments influence Land Officers because they will help to promote or employ their own people. This reduces the work of land allocation to merely "help me to help you." Talking about Land Officers, mention must be made about their Inspectors. These people, whether Council Building Inspectors or Government Land Inspectors are wonderful people. Some of them are so corrupt and operate like this. Their job is to inspect the site of building and approve or disapprove same from stage to stage. This is according to whether "they have been seen" properly or not. Land Inspectors (not Council) in- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 77 spect the land (plot) to determine its suitability for allocation to people. But there are odd portions of land here and there on which people want to put up buildings. These are not among the regular layouts. To inspect these odd portions of land and recommend same for allocation to desiring applicants means money. And still after allocation, the Inspectors continue to inspect the site, whether building is in progress or not; whether building conforms with the building plan or not; whether after the two years covenant the place is not developed. Where there is a brench or failure to build within the time allocated, the nomal thing is for the Land Inspectors to inquire. The reason may be that the applicant or leasee is yet financially incapable to erect building on the plot or that he is not yet prepared to begin developing the plot because of other buildings he is putting up in every big township. In this case, 'penal rent' and 'extension' are given him. If after the third time he still fails to' build, the land will of course be taken back from him. In all these processes of concession, money is sometimes the sole determinant. There is the compensation side of Land's work. Very often the Government acquires land from natives for Crown use. Compensation is paid after the necessary legal and charting processes. Many lawyers feed fat this time on some ignorant natives. But it is still some Land Officers who have the final say in everything. They will say when compensation will be paid or not and to facilitate matters, an understanding is usually reached between some Land Officers and some lawyers. The poor prey is of course the ignorant natives whose money (compensation) is shared proportionally. �78 OFFICIAL COIlRUPnON Traders; Contractors and Big men corrupt some Land Officials. Some of these people don't believe anything can ever be done for them free of charge. They therefore carry around their load of gold, jingle it sufficiently loud to the hearing of some of these poor officials and consequently succeed in corrupting them. When some of these poor fellows have tasted these free gifts once, they begin to desire more and more of them. I t is only natural and soon the desire becomes a habit and a way of life. Consequently it is a condition that you must bribe before you get anything from the Land Office. This is why I started this Chapter by blaming the rich men who corrupt these officials. But mere sight of money or the free dash of it should not be an excuse for Land Officials to be corrupt. The Health Office is another place where bribery and corruption rears up its ugly head. There are officials of this office called "Public Health Inspectors' or what was formerly known as 'Sanitry Inspectors'. T o help my readesrs understand them properly, I will enumerate some of their duties and show why and how of these officers are corrupt. Public Health Inspectors carry out house to house inspection for the purpose of discovering nuisances and with a view to eradicating them. This is a holy assignment; but what are these nuisances? They are house-hold rubbish, filthy drains, stagnant drains, accumulation of refuge, unswept compounds, mosquito breeding receptacles, etc. In the performance of this duty therefore, some public health inspectors are overzealous and find trouble where there is none. The idea is to 'co-operate' or go to Court. As many do not like going to Court, they prefer to 'co-operate.' Public Health Inspectrs inspect food preparing establishments, eating houses, like the Hotels, meat (animal �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 79 killing) that is to be sold in the market, liquor licensed premises, etc. (The Police and the Health Office cooperate to grant these licences). Vaccination against small pox and the control of the spread of other infectious diseases are done by public Health Inspectors; although they do not yet restrict the movement of lepers all over the place. Which begs the question when is the Govemment going to pass a legislation to restrict the movement of lepers all over the place? Health Inspectors inspect open spaces, frains, small streams or pools, rivalets, etc. for the purpose of discovering if they contain mosquito larvae or certain bad worms. The idea ii always to find effective methods or eradicating them. The inspection of bildings which are in progress is also the work of Public Health Inspectors. They check the ,proposed building plans for approval and then watch the progress of the building under construction especially the "damp-proof course" side which must satisfy that there is no moisture rising from the ground around the foundation base. (Architects say that this moisture can cause the wreck of a building if not properly checked or provided for). Also the Inspectors look for ventilation, whether rooms are properly ventilated or not; whether the "free air-space" around the building is adequate or not. (There must be at least five feet space around the building and the area occupied by the building must not exceed the required percentage of 33i per cent or 50 per cent at most). In Ports areas, the public health inspectors help to control the spread of infectious-diseases. To achieve this, they examine all the Passengers coming in or going out of such Ports. We all know that ships are notorious for conveying infectious dieases. In the performance of these �80 OPFICIAL CORRUPTION duties however, some public health inspectors make much money. In the case of inspecting buildings, either the landlord 'co-operates' or faults will be found. These faults can deter the progress of his building and the approval may wait till doomsday if nothing tangible is offered. And so many landlords spend a sizeable income Here i the boy who uirited Mr. X in hir parlour. And he is now s in arr Interuiew Room. No doubt the applicant is answering quertions, quite confidently, althouph standing attention. some of these Inspectors. And it saves them much trouble. But is it good? Must Inspectors not tell the truth when and where there is truth? Why should landlords spend their money on bribe when they are 01 1 �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 81 complying with every inch o the proposed building f plan? Why should the Inspectors not agree or disagree, approve or disapprove, when there is a just cause for so doing? Some Personnel Departments of our Civil Service are sick. There is nepotism, favouritism, jobbery, bribery and corruption in these places in the employment and promotion of staff. The Corruptions are more guilty of these sins; which is not saying that personnel sections of the Ministries or Departments are less corrupt. All over the place we see so many incompetent hands at work! How did they manage? There are so many typists who can't type a simple draft. There are many Clerks who cannot put up a simple correspondence. There are many Managers who can't manage anything. There are many Directors who can't direct the simplest affairs. Some Secretaries of certain Corporations are somply figure heads. They are merely agents of "his master's voice". And yet all these people are experts or types of experts who give no expert service or advice. And these type of people can be found right now all over the place. What is nepotism? The Dictionary Defines it as an "undue favour from holder of patronage to relatives; the advantages or opportunities for advancement, pertaining to Pope's nephew; the practice on the part of the Popes or their ecclesiastics (and hnce other persons) of showing special favour to nephews or other relatives in conferring offices; unfair preferment of nephews or relatives to other qualified persons; fondness of one's nephew". The above is th dictionary definition of nepotism. May I add that nepotism is the required qualifiation of any applicant who has a tribal, political, Regional, religious, linguistic or geographical relationship with the �82 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION boss of any Corporation, Department or Ministry. Any other DaDer aualification is unnecessaw. Applicant must have &ke form of blood relationship o; ma;iiage connection with the 'Oga' of the Office. Alternatively, he may belong to the same secret society, tribal organisation or religious association with the 'bigman' of the office. This is nepotism. This is why many Offices are filled with people from the same area or people of the same dialect. And this is one of the worst facets of bribery and corruption. What is favouritism? The Dictionary again has it as the "manifestation of partiality to the interest of one person or family or one class of men, to the neglect of others". This is a twin brother (or sister if you choose) of nepotism. I t also emanates from bribery and conuption because when you have received some material benefit from somone, you are always inclined to favour him or her. Favouritism is "a disposition to show or the practice of showing favour or partiality to an individual or class, to the neglect of others having equal or superior claims". I t is always an undue preference and this is why we see in our country today, certain top posts being the monopoly of certain tribes. The Chairmen of most of the Corporations are from the same tribe. The General Managers of most of our young industries come from the same division. All the Messengers of certain Ministries or Departments speak the same dialect. And this we live all in the name of Natioin unity and development plans. What is jobbery? The Dictionary defines it again as "the practice of corruptly turning a public office, trust, etc. to private gain or advantage." I t is the pepetration of jobs. Certian Corruptions or Departments have been turned into some division's or tribe's vineyards, because �BRIBERY AND OORRUPTION 83 Abraham and Isaac are the God fathers there. Admission to these reserved vineyards is strickly limited. But if you are admitted, (having bribed your way through) your oath of office is "thou must not say what you see and know." And so in many walks of life today, bribery and corruption are the order of the day. In fact they are accepted as a way of life at various levels. Because some Personnel Departments are not 50 per cent honest, people bribe to be employed and when they are so employed, their service to the Nation becomes selfcentred. To get a job in many Departments nowadays is an ordeal. It is not what one is that matters or counts. I t is not one's fitness for the job either. The thing that counts is the weight of the purse (enveloped money) that is given. One can be anything, but he will get the job provided he knows the back-door. Those who can't pay get nothing or the worst that can be offered. Is it any wonder that when one does get a job, one is not interested in what one does, but in what one earns, by fair or foul means? And this is why the generality of the public meets with such inefficiency, incompetence and indifference in many offices and Departments run and maintained with public money. What is partiality? The Dictionary defines it thus:"unequal state of the judgment and favour of one above the other, without just reason; prejudical or undue favouring of one person or party, or one side of a question; prejudice, bias, unfairness. . ; excessive or especial preference for a prepossession in favour of a particular person or thing; hence favourable disposition, prediiection, fondness, or affection, for someone or something; party spirit, rivalry, factiousness; one-sided, relation to . �84 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION a section as opposed to univeral . . . " Why is it that some people are continually recommended for promotions in certian offices inspite of their general incomeptence? Why is it that girls or women have edge over their men counterparts in some considerations in certain Ministries or Departments? Is is because of their proved ability or integrity in matters of office work? Why are some efficient clerks so hated and are never recommended by those above them? In fact why do the good suffer and the bad apparently prosper? These are the questions 'partiality' or apostles of it must answer. Social justice should permeate all our institutions and the entire life of the people. Its efficacy should be equally manifest in the creation of juridical and social order which informs the whole economic life. But justice is far from exhausting the whole of one's duty towards others. Over and above its requirements, there is a limitless field for that brotherly love which men owe to each other as sons of the same Heavenly Father and descendants of the same first parents. The Personnel sections of our Ministries or Departmens should be fields of initiative, service and personal sacrifice for the common good. Charity thus finds a most important part to play in our economic life. It is this brotherly love that I recommend to some of the officials in the Personnel Departments whose duty it is to employ and promote people. The same I pray for some officials of Public Health Office and Lands Department. �CHAPTER SIX CORRUPT COUNCILS "Any Person who:accepts, or obtains, or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, from any person for himself, or for any other person, any gratification or reward whatever, whether in money or in kind, for inducing by corrupt or illegal means, or by .personalinfluence, any Local Coucil or any member thereof, to do or forbear to do any act which such Local Council is authorized to do in the excerse of its jurisidiction or to show favour or disfavour to any person is guilty of a misdemeanour; and is liable to imprisonment for two years". (Local Council is author's insertion) or "Any Person who:being authorized or required by law to give any certificate touching any matter by virtue whereof the rights of any person may be prejudicially affected, gives a certificate which is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years". Wordly sucess, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a dazzling thiig. Old men are naturally more or less the admires of wordly sucess; but though men of persevering, sharp dexterious, and unscrupulous habits, ever on the watch to push opportunities may and do "get on" in the warld, yet it is quite possible that may �86 CORRUPT COUNCIL not possess the slightest elevation of character nor a particle of real greatness. He who recognizes no higher logic than that of the shilling, may become a very rich l man, and yet remain a l while an exceedingly poor creature. Riches are no proof whatever of moral worth and their glitter often serves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their possessor. All I want to say in this Chapter is that money is good but that there are things money can never buy for us. We may get plenty of money through bribery and corruption but the worth of such money may be cheap in the eyes of the public who understands we are not entitled to some of our achievements. This is why I want to treat in this Chapter corruption in our Local Councils. Let me begin by telling my readers something about the working of Local Government in our country, and I presume in other countries. Local Government is that arm of the Government of a nation or state which deals mainly with such matters as concern the inhabitants of a particular district or place. It also deals with those matters which the Parliament of the State has deemed desirable should be administered by Local Authorities. Local Government therefore has no powers except those defined by Parliament. This is why the powers of Local Authorities are, in general, limited to those conferred by Parliament. Because of this situation, some of the statutory powers are adoptive (by Local Authorities) and statutes themselves are often directory and not mandatory. In Nigeria, Local Government takes the forms of Municipal, Urban, County, District and Town Councils. Their functions are mainly to cleanse and collect refuse, �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 87 build bridges, plan houses,. give street lights, provide public transport (buses), gwe education and provide public parks. Besides, Councils protect people's life and property through the instrumentality of their Police. They also provide institutions for social betterment, (e.g. Hospitals, Health Centres, Schools, etc.) construction and hs maintenance of works of national benefit. It is in ti way that the work of Local Councils or Authorities is legislative, administrative, executive and financial. The legislative side is concerned with the making of byelaws, while the administrative is concerned with the maintenance of works of public convenience and utility within discretionary limits e.g. streets and bridges, lighting and cleansing, swers and sewage disposal, collection of household or trade refuse, etc. The executive side in charge of enforcing, through Council officials, the above measures. The public safety side is concerned with the provision of the Polic, Customary Courts, inspection of buildings, regulation of traffic and dangerous trades. The institutions of social betterment provide education, library, parks, gardens, museums, art galleries, etc. while the financial slde raises money through rates, licences, etc. The principal of Local Councils is mainly co-ordination with the Government, but up to certain limitations. This is why the work of Local Authorities is transacted principally by means of committees. Local Authorities have a general power to appoint committees and to determine the numbers and their terms of office. A member of Local Council is usually appointed to two committees m d he will find that these committees have sub-committees. This endless committees is of course to find jobs for every Councillor. �88 CORRUPT C O U N C ~ Having gone so far to explain the system and working of Local GovemmentJ proceed now to show how and why all is not well in the Councils. Many Councils are very corrupt. Some are consequently bankrupt and unable to discharge their sacred duties to their citizens. So many of them are so inefficient and badly administered with the result that Councillors go to Council Meetings to feather their nest instead of serving the citizens they are supposed to serve. Let's take a look at some of the Council's committees and their members. The Finance Committee approves all budgets for capital works of development e.g. postal agency, schools, water supply, health centre, bridges, etc. What normally happens is that the town which wants any of these developments first notifies the Council. The Council in turn assesses the cost of the project and informs the town. The cost is usually thousands of money and an agent of the Council will go out to meed representatives of that town and tell them how many other towns are in need of the same project. The people should bring some hundreds of pounds so as to put their project "first on the list." Bribe is then offered and received by the Council and work starts on the project with the required money already deposited with the Council before the bribe was ever asked. Work is soon completed and bribe is asked again for the "official opening." This is again given and the opening is made, sometimes by a Minister or his Parliamentary Secretary. The Government promises to contribute 50 per cent of the capital cost and this amount is remitted to the town through the Council. But the Council will not pass this amount to the town until the town agrees on a percentage sharing. This is done and �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 89 the town gets half of the amount, while Councilors divide the other half among themselves. This is a typical operation of some councils. It is bribe, bribe, bribe! It is money, money, money, all the time ! The Councillors are more concerned with this aspect of their work than any other. And then there are drinks and food offers, goats and sheep gifts. Many Councils are very corrupt and help no person except themselves. There is always "business" in Councils. Land is got for relatives, for Councilors themselvts or their associates. Opening of new markets, Industrial markets, parks, whether for motor or pleasure, means bribe and bribe before approval of the scheme. Building of Schools, Hospitals, Rural Halth Centres, Post Offices, Maternities, Postal Agencies, etc. requires bribe and bribe and bribe. The Welfare, Halth and Building Committe can quickly demolish buildings not built according to the so-called councils building bye-Laws except those affected bribe and bribe Councillors. Council Building Inspectors will not approve any stage of a building except their palms are properly greased. The result is that Landlords spend a lot of money on these people to approve their buildings, sometimes not built according to plan. There is hardly anything you get from the Councils without first of all bribing. Will you get their Scholarship without bribing? Will you be employed as their teacher without bribin Will you be the Council's Treasurer, Secretary or C airman without bribing? Will you be a Councilor at all without bribing? There is hardly anything you get from the Councils that is free of charge. If it is water, you have to pay. If it is postal agency, you still have to pay. Rural Health Centre, Hospitals, Schools, Maternities, etc. are never approved for the asking even %' �90 CORRUPT OOUNCIL though your town has contributed all the money in the world towards the project. A typical Prison House. Notice the warder and the Prisoners. This 1 a place for all corrupt people as well as criminals. Do s you want to be there ? If not, why not stop bribery and corruption ? May we look at the Councils Customary Courts? These �BRIBERY ANI) CORRUPTION 91 ate not clean either. Sometimes justice is not done or appear to be done in the majority or cases before them. Winning of cases depends on how much people have seen some members of th Customary Courts. Losing of cases depends on how much people have failed to see members of the Customary Courts. And in this way, th business of justice is carried out. Money is such a determinant of where the swing of justice will move. But should this be so? Law is of its very essende a mandate of right reason, proclaimed by a properly constituted authority, for the common good. It is therefore of the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual all that is necessary for the common good. But just as in the living organism it is impossible to provide for the good of the whole unless each single part and each individual member is given what it needs for the exercise of its proper functions, so it is impossible to care for the social organism and the good of the society as a whle unless each single part and each individual member that is each individual man in the dignity of his human personality-is supplied with all that is necessary for the excercise of his social functions. How can a man run to the Customary Courts to seek redress and justice and return with revenge and injustice because he has not been able to bribe for a just judgment? Where then lies the salvation of the common man, the poor farmer, the small trader? Local Co(,ncils and their Customary Courts should help us. Some of their actions cry to Heaven for reveance. Their inffuence and power are not only notoriously great but also dangerous. This we can see from the officials who work for them. �From the point of view of administration, the influence of the Permanent Officials in Local Councils is important. The Local Government service is generally speaking, efficiently and adequately staffed. Many of the officials are persons who by experience and training, are capable f of exercising great assistance in the formation o the policies of the Local Authorities, with which they are connected. This has been shown in areas where the Local Councils, under wise and public-spirited leadership, have been able to secure the services of officials of high attainment who have been the means of infusiig a more progressive spirit in the local administration. The professional servant gives the Councillors expert advice, giving advice on matters as they arise; controlling the routine work, suggesting the inauguration of experimental schemes and performing other duties. But some of these officials and professionals, before long, are corrupted and consequently fail to give the much desired expert advice they are supposed to give. Sometimes, some of these officials and professionals are so bought over by the Councils that they are made to do the work as the Council direct - and want. Failure to do means plenty of trouble for such officials. False reports can be made against them. Vote of no-confidence can be passed on them. Everything calculated to injure one's character is done simply to cow such officials down. Eventually most of these officials give in and dance to the tune of the Councillors. They have no alternative. But the fun of it is that having known the game, some of these officials are worse than some Councillors in askiig and receiving bribes. And they take these bribes in a grand and big way! Local Authorities cherish their right to appoint their own staff. Why not? There is busiiess in it. Although \ �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 93 subject to general requirements, academic standards, experience and character, they are n e v e r t h e 1e s s given considerable latitude in this connection. But there is no set procedure for the making of appointments by Councils. Although vacancies are advertised, it is usually known that some people have been ear-marked long before the interview and appointment. The Council's Secretaries, Treasurers, Medical Officers of Health, Engineer, Town Clerk, etc. have always passed through this process. Failure to play up one's card before the interview means non-acceptance by the Councils concerned. What is to be done? In everything you want to do with the Councils, it is money, money, money. The world may be going to blazes, the Councillors cbuldn't careless. All they want is money and this they get through many ways - from settling land disputes, civil cases, providing amenities, employment and so forth. Their Police also help to bring in booty and anybody who does not co-operate with them is victimized, persecuted and prosecuted. The rates the Councils raise are not always used for the best ends. Licences are collected from anything and the money goes down the pockets of some Councillors. Many a time, a particular area does not see any visible signs of their rates. They complain, but the Councillors couldn't care less. They are Councillors for a term of office and must make big money before their time expires. This is the aim of all Councillors and yet no system of Local Government can be complete which does not secure the whole-hearted support of each individual citizen. What is to be done? In everything you want to do with the Councils, it is money, money, money. The world �94 COPRUPT COUNCIL may be going to blazes, the Councillors couldn't care less. All they want is money and this they get through many ways - from settling land disputes, civil cases, providing amenities, employment and so forth. Their Police also help to bring in booty and anybody who does not co-operate with them is victimized, persecuted and prosecuted. The rates the Councils raise are not always used for the best ends. Licences are collected from anything and the money goes down the pockets of some Councillors. Many a time, a particular area does not see any visible signs of their rates. They complain, but the CCouncillors couldn't care less. They are Councillors for a term of office and must make big money before their titheir expires. This is the aim of all Councillors and yet no system of Local Governmnt can be complete which does not secure the whole-hearted support of each individual citizen. # What then is to be done to stop Councillors from being corrupt? Not much except appealing to individual sense of patriotism or taking corrupt ones to Court to set the example. Alternatively it might be necessary to educate some of these corrupt Councillors on the rudimentary facts about man and the society (which are their main 'obligations). Man's natural instinct moves him to live in civil socety because he cannot, if he lives apart, provide himself with the necessary requirements of life, nor procure the means of developing his mental and moral faculties. Hence it is divinely ordained he should lead his life - be it family, social or civil - with his fellow men, amongst whom alone his several wants can be adequately supplied. This is why we have Councils and Councillors. This is why we want them to help procure �BR18ERY AND CORRUPTION 95 those means of our development both for ourselves and the State. They are servants and not masters. They are few among many and should not ever dream to lord it over those who sent them to represent them. Theirs is the duty to serve not to be served. Society is for man and not man for society. In the same way, Councils are for man and not man for Councils. Every town can do without a Council if worse comes to worst. And Councillors should know this. Every Councillor who does not understand his mission in the Council is a fool and should be removed by the town that sent him there. Every Councillor who betrays his town by demanding and receiving bribes should be recalled immediately and substituted with another person Every Councillor or Chairman of a Council who thinks he is too big, can be told the plain truth by reducing and humbling him and finally showing him the exit from the Council's premises. A part can never be greater than the whole, although we are seeing all around us nowadays individual boasts that tend to justify this unnatural situation. A tree can never make a forest. Let all our Councillors undestand this once and for all and know that the original and essential purpose of social life is to preserve, develop and perfect human person, by facilating the due fufilment and realisation of the religious and cultural laws and values which the Creator has assigned to wry man and to the human race, both as a whole and in its natural groupings. Verbum sap. �CHAPTER SEVEN CORRUPTION IN POLITICS "Today the phrase "playing politics" has degenerated into such base usage as to stand for everything ignoble, everything dishonest and everything crooked. When a man tells deliberate lies now, people say he is playing politics. Pilfering, stealing, embezzlement, brazen, armed robbery all go in for playing politics. Chicanery, duplicity, libel, sedition, treason, castration of truth, deliberate strangulation of justice and fairplay are now baptised "playing politics." When one tribe dispossesses another tribe of their hard earned property, liberty, and rights; it is called playing politics. Even when men of "honour," men of "integrity" - Lawyers of renown, Doctors, Chiefs and leaders in their own right - meet together purposely to evolve very clever and subtle methods of mass dishonesty (have you ever heard of toe-print?) - all this is called playing politics. . Even clannishness is politics.. ."Thou should not be caught is the eleventh commandment (of politicians and criminals). Blessed is the man whose sins are covered; and so in this of pretences, the vilest criminal may have a f "stainless reputation" i he is clever enough not to be " found out (J.R. Nruachukwu, Assistant Editor, 'Nation Magazine'). - . . .. What does politics mean? Simply it means the science or art of government which engenders a condition of civil order, organized society or state. Throughout the world, politics has been described in diverse terms-ungentleman's game, dirty game, tough game, expensive game, and a l that. One thing however is evident - that l �BRIBERY AND CORRUFTION 97 politics is a game and a very paying one indeed. Let us see how politics is a game. We know that for a game to be good it must have universally accepted rules which govern the actions of the players. Can we say that there are any such universally accepted rules in politics? If we cannot, who tells me that politics is a game? The fun of politics is that the actors in the game are generally capable of appointing themselves umpires but incapable of delivering universally accepted verdict. Recall to mind the Profumo sex scandal, the countless N.C.N.C. crisis, the Action Group crisis that led to the declaration of Emergency and all that! I think that it is better to call politics "a gamble" or "game of chance" in which the players are in the main opportunists and careerists. Don't get me wrong. I t is only in this sense that we can say that politics is expensive, dirty, ungentlemanly, Machiavellian, lucrative and what else have you. Politics can't be anything else because the means by which we surrender our votes should have justified the ends for which they are handed out. But what have we? During election times our politicians promise us heaven and earth - better roads, good water supply (taps), electricity, post offices, colleges, hospitals, scholarships, employment, increased salaries, all forms of social amenities and life more abundant. After elections, what do we normally have? No sight again of those we voted to help u s Taxes are increased; custom duties are increased; austerity measures are introduced and provident fund is created for compulsory saving. The next we hear of our politicians is in the House where they amuse themselves in the business of Government. It is �98 CORRUPTION IN POLITICS "hear, hear" all around. We have new models of cars, flowing robes, photographs all over our dailies. Sometimes we hear that such and such Honourable has crossed carpet and joined this -or that party. And the pity of it all is that the Constituency is never consulted. The Politicians couldn't care less. There is no honesty in our politics, Perhaps you may think this is sweeping. There are thugs, persecution, victimization and unlawful prosecution as a means of achieving political ends. There is bribery and corruption. There is nepotism and jobbery. There is favouritism and partiality. There is regionalism and tribalism. And al these are means to achieve political eminence. l When we begin to give offices to people not on the basis of ability and make injustice the comer-stone of our public life, then, we can say that our politics is a gamble. As long as our present rulers, some of whom chance alone gave the opportunity of leadership, continue to think in terms of preserving little empires of their own, empires where thugs, loafers and all manner of crooks abound, so long will there be no hope that Nigeria can ever make any sustained contribution to her internal unity or the peace of Africa or that of the world. The cold war between the regions now is becoming apparent day by day inspite of the hypocritical addresses of our leaders. What do our Politicians promise during Republican life of this country? Our brand of politics is very corrupt. Much of this corruption in the political parties originates from the outside as well as from within. But one of the best ways to keep politics clean is not to seek privileges or favours from politicians. Those who are loudest in condemning �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 99 'dirty politics' are more to blame than a l others because l they seek special privileges. More often ndt it has been found that a corrupt worker in politics got that way because someone in politics corrupted him. To exert any force, political parties must have workers who will become politically active and strive in various legitimate ways for what they consider the best interests of all concerned. Voting is not enough. Party workers, while conforming as far as possible to the worthy objectives of the organisation, must be ever alert not to put party advantage above the best interests of the country or the locality. Moreover, for every person who takes up a career in politics there are five hundred who could assist on a part-time basis. How about you? One who engages in politics must be prepared to follow a positive approach and not be content to play a negative role on the side lines. Theodore Roosevelt gave a strong recommendation on this when he said: "The prime thing every man who takes an active interest in politics must remember is that he must act, and not merely criticize the actions of others. It is not the man who sits by his fireside reading his evening papers and saying how bad our politics and Politicians are who will ever do anything to save us; it is the men who goes out into the rough hurly-burly of the caucus, the primary, the political meeting, and there faces his fellows on equal terms. The real service is rendered not by the critic who stands aloof from the contest but by the man who enters it and bears his part as a man should." Our brand of politics is dirty and corrupt. Take a typical election for an instance. There is much intrigue, much double-dealing, much disloyalty. The root cause of all these is of course bribery. People's conscience are �bought to vote for people who are not their choice; People are bought to cross-carpet to swell majority to entitle a particular political party ro rule. Victimization is used against opposing candidates and their supporters. Acts of arson and hooliganism are committed against opponents and people are bribed to do all these. The electoral college system brought with it large scale bribery and corruption. All over the place now are money-mongers, the commercial Politicians who parade in gorgeous robes. Political posts and privileges have gone to the highest bidders.. Election nominations are as high as you can.pay. Voting is even corrupt. Large scale voting papers are somehow managed into a candidate's box to ensure his victory while acid is somehow managed into the voting boxes of opponents to bum up the whole lot. Good politics'has gone to the dogs.,The lust for office and the ambition to rule are now the dominant features of our brand.of politics. Many thousands of pounds are put into an election campaign and the position is such now that men and women, who by their very nature and u p bringing, were not suited for politics now parade the whole place as "honourables." And'this is why politics has become plain business of nothing else but hard cash. All "spirit of sincerity, conviction, loyalty, devotion and dedication has become supplanted by mercenary motives and the desire to amass wealth." And so, '.'today, if as a politician you do not build plots at. .you have not started. As a politician, if all your children are not trained Overseas, you do not know what you are doing. As a politician, if yo,u do not send your girlifriend Overseas, you have not made your mark. Your wife must be a Contractor and your brother must become . �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 101 the Chairman of a well-paying Board." (J. R. Nwachukwu on 'Our Kind of Politics'). Bribery and corruption have eaten deep into our body politics. To be nominated you have to bribe. To be promoted, you have to bribe. T o win contracts, you have to bribe. To be Chariman, Secretary, General Manager of Corporations, you have to bribe. To win amenities, for your Constituencies, you have to bribe. T o win Scholarships, you have to bribe. There is no end to bribery and corruption in our own brand of poltitics. Today Politicians have introduced thugs, what they call "political stalwarts." These people are paid to burn houses, break the wind screens of cars, beat up opponents and cause trouble during campaigns. They are thickly set, muscle men who live at political parties' secretariats. They are tough, healthy looking men, whose job is to protect Politicians when they are on tour or campaigning. And they are heavily paid to do this job--from lo/- to 1 a day, excluding incidental inducements and tips from the big Politicians. Their chief food is drink and cigarettes. This is a common feature of our own brand of politics. What are we to do? Our politics is becoming very dirty. I t is even becoming more corrupt. Merely complaining about "dirty politics" accomplishes little, if anything, except perhaps to allow it to become more "dirty." Those who could make it better are discouraged from having any part in it. But if the average good citizens refuses or otherwise fails to take an interest in politics, then there .are no two ways about it - things are bound to go from bad to worse. Those who criticize and do nothing are probably more responsible for any �resultant disaster than those who actually promote it. Politics will never be any better than the people in it. The only way to improve its quality is to encourage more persons with high ideals to take an active part in everything that comes under legitimate politics. The more willing people are to start at the bottom, to serve in the ranks and generally play an insignificant role, the more valuable they will be in the long run because of their experience and hard knocks. 3 y fulfilling an earnest desire to serve the public in getting the best type of voters to the polls, people may well prepare the way for a political career for themselves in which they can render even greater service to the public. T o stop bribery and corruption in politics, let all of us act in this way: - Try to think of yourself as a "commitee of one" encouraging more high-quality persons to take up purposeful careers i govemment. You can do it at n any place - in the home, in a letter, in a conversation, in a business conference, in a clagsroom, in a park, or on a street comer. Stimulate others to be one-man recruiters. You will find most people disposed toward such a positive approach. The man in the street, the woman in her home, the student looking forward to the future, are for the most part sincere and of good will. Whatever their lack of technical or political knowledge, they can usually improve themselves by study and training. As , someone put it, "If the majority of men were not upright seekers after the common good, no govemment, regardless of how powerful, could ever exist. The police force would have to outnumber the citizenry." Stress the necessity of getting as. many young people as possible to take up govemment work as a lifetime cereer with the sole objective of providing efficient, honest, �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 103 and economical government for the benefit of all: In times of emergency it is necssary to supplement a regular staff with specialists who can serve only on a short-time basis. But even special assistance like this depends on those who are dedicated to government on a continuing basis. A supply of new blood is constantly needed. Many of our Politicians have long outlined their usefulness. They should be,changed now. Encourage little government workers - Messengers, Typists, File Clerks, Guards, and similar public servants - to work for the best interest of everybody. Every one of them counts. In their hearts they want to do the right thing. Most of them now think nobody cares. Yet each one doing one good stroke, speaking one good word, can start a trend that may have mlghty effect. Politicians are not the only people who love our country. The more interest the majority of the citizens take in seeing to it that every branch of their government, from top to bottom, is staffed by the best available career workers, the better government is bound to be. The home, the Church and the School are in a unique position of advantage to foster such a trend. There will always be a tendency on the part of most of us to limit our interests to getting rid of inefficient or corrupt people in government. Important as this maybe it is far from enough. To win a game of any kind, much more has to be done than "throw out" the poor players. I t is of far more consequknce to keep adding more good players to the team and putting heart into those who are already there. This is what we need today in our own brand of politics. �104 CORRUPTION IN POLITICS In considering the ever-present need for additional workers of ability and high purpose, it is most important not to overlook the fact that there are large numbers now government who are fulfilling their responsibility to the Nigerian public in an honest and efficient manner. I it were not for them, the situation would be well-nigh f hopeless. They rate your gratitude and your constant help. The downfall of a country is usually attributed to circumstances that are well known to all. More often than not, however, the root of the trouble is to be found in countless little instances of negligence, carelessness, or oversight on the part of the average citizen in the performance of his duties. 'One of the best indications that the ordinary citizen is doing very little in an effective way to save his country is evident in his oft-repeated phrase: "What can I do?" First of all, it is an open confession that, while sharing in the fruits of democracy, he is failing to contribute to the preservation of the roots that make the fruit possible. "What can I do?" clearly reveals that one is doing very little. Those who are dedicated to a ciuse, whether good or bad, are fired with ideas that they individually can put into effect. One never hears a man devoted to destruction say, "What can I do?" He is already doing it! Finally we should not expect God to clean up our politics. Let u s encourage a more respectful attitude. As I said earlier the tendency to criticize government is growing even among those who are ordinarily very loyal. Consequantly there has developed among many a lack of sympathy - an aversion toward public service and anybody connected with it. A bad situation, therefore, has become steadily worse. A man with a weak heart is only hurting himself if he does no more than �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 105 make fun of the heart and neglects to protect it. If his heart stops, everything of course stops. Loyalty to government begins in the home. Children pick up most of their prejudices in the home. If an everincreasing number of young people show a reluctance to undertake a career in government, it may be due to the fact that they frequently hear derogatory remarks about all phases of government from the lips of their father or mother. If ever they should express a desire to devote themselves to a life of public service, their parents' reaction is frequently a chilly one. "Don't be foolish. Don't stick your neck out too much: You'll never get anywhere in politics. You'll only get hurt." Thus children are conditioned over a period of years to do nothing but take care of themselves. How long can we allow this situation to exist? Now is the time for corrections and change of heart as well as that of the head. Good citizens should make it a matter of conscience to be honest in their thoughts, words and actions in all that affects their private lives as well as State affairs. They can make contributions to the betterment of the government and help arrest the decays that sometimes eat its vitals. Even better, citizens should help restore that condition of elementary justice which is absolutely essential if we are to survive as a free nation. We should be grateful to God that many in government service are faithful public servants, giving their best for the common good or we would have been wrecked by now. They labour hard and conscientiously at their tasks because they are people of high purpose. Their sense of duty and dication to the role that involves the destiny of everybody removes a note of drudgery �106 CORRVPTION IN POLITICS from the hardest tasks and makes each one instead a labour of love. Those who believe that honesty and integrity are indispensable factors in Nigerian Government must follow the example of these devoted public servants. They must do more than bemoan the shocking disregard for truth and justice that they observe so often. If their love for God and country is deep and genuine enough, they will take action. They will engage as best they can in local, state and national affairs. If we are to bequeath to future generations of Nigerians the precious advantage of God-given liberty that it is our privilege to possess, more of us will have to roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work that will guarantee continuance of that freedom for ourselves and for those who look to us to protect it for them. Pray for someone in government. Pray that more persons nf character and competence take up careers in govem- ment. The possibilities for good are enormous in this sphere. In one sense one can be a real apostolate. "The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send labourers into his harvest". (Luke 10:2) You can also accomplish much by praying for someone already in government service, praying that he will live up to the high responsibility of his office. This type of assistance is appreciated more than you realize. Anyone in a position of authority, as well-intentioned and as wellequiped as he maybe, feels his inadequacy a t times and looks for more than human guidance and support. Make your voice heard throngh letters. A means at the disposal of all, and one overlooked by most, is the influence for good that can be achieved at the cost ofa little time and a three-pence stamp. A simple, spontaneous, constructive �BPIBEPY AND CORRUPTION 107 letter, whether it is sent to the local concilman or to your representative in Parliament or to your Premier or his Ministies, makes much more of an impression than you think. Interest yourselves in our newspapers. Messages to the public opinion in our newspapers should not be overlooked. They are another means of stirring up interest in good government. If your local newspapers do not already include it, you may see fit to request that they adopt the custom of carrying a daily column showing how legislators, in both Regional and Federal Governments behaved, voted and carried out their functions. At election time, encouraging the newspapers to present information that will familiarize voters the background and principles of those who are running for office. -Every means, private and public, used to develop intelligent public opinion gives much-needed support in securing the type of government that the great majority of our people desire. You, whoever you may be, can render some service in this way. Yes, everybody can do something. If we do our best and not necessarily magnify trifling troubles; if we look resolutely at things as they are; if we avail ourselves of the manifold blessing which surround us; we cannot but feel that life is indeed a glorious inheritance and that government of the people for the people and,by the people is yet the best experiment in man's attempt to rule himself. The more you delve into and discover the true meaning, the true significance of politics, the better citizen you are likely to be and be, by the same token, the better politics will be. While you will not be blind to the influences that are ever at work trying to corrupt the �political system, yet you will not exaggerate them either. You will not shun politics and over emphasize the failures of those who participate ia it. You will regard this as a sickness to be cured rather than avoided. The very detecting of any ilness in the body politics will spur you to look for a remedy rather than to take a furtile attitude and abandon all hope. The price of playing a part in politics, if it is done well, not be a small one. There are bound to be heartaches and heartbreaks But in the midst of it all there will be that deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that you have served the high cause of God and country. And your reward will be eternal. �CHAPTER EIGHT MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION "The peace of mind and the inner satk,faction that is felt by those who known that they always do whatever they can, either to know what is good or to ucquire what is good, is a plemre without comparison sweeter, more lasting, and more substantial than any derived from other sources"; and "To the question, What is the true object of human life, whether looked at collectively or individual? the simplest and most precise answer would be: The perfection of our own moral nature, since it has a more immediate and certain influence on our well-being than perfection of any other kind"; so that "In truth, the men who have done most for the world have taken very little heed of influence. They have sought light, and left their influence, to fare as it might list. Can we not imagine the mingled mystification and disdain with which a Spinoza or a Descrates, a Luther or a Pascal would have listened to an exhortain in our persuasive modern manner on the niceties of the politic and the social obligation of pious fraud? It is not given to many to perform the achievements of such giants as these, but every one may help to keep the standard of intellectual honesty at a lofty pitch, and what better service can a man do than to furnish the world with an example of faithful dealing with his own conscience and with his fellows? This at least is the one talent that is placed in the hands of the obscurest of us all." �110. MISCELXANEOUS CASES O F CORRUPTION There is a growing clan of people in Nigeria today wh~sk: suivival;.depends largely an their. "coxinections" and "contacts" and very little on their personal merits. They :got :or..:hope :to get their.'posts. and. pernotions not. .by .their merit but as a . result of. their birth or their ability to intrigue;back-bite; blackmail, book-lick, flatter: or. play. contact-man for bribes a n d girl-friend hunting. Alternatively they can mortage, theif.conscience, assasinate characters, carry smear ~ampai~gns .against certain individuals or cross carpets for mere political lucre. &cause of :this situation, .you.find the idlers, the never'd&wells,.the nicompwps, the unqualified and the misfits th,ese .days getting on better .in .life, than their .hardworking colleagues. And,this is..only because they have Abraham and Isaac as their .fathers. They .are god-sons or god-daughters ,of .god:fathers. on the.,throne. today. But one puestion these god-sons and god-daughters never ask.is "what happens to us when.our god-father is topped out of hi$ throne?'.And this poss.ibility . i s natural i n t h e life of min. The apwer 'would frighten. them, no doubt, but yetthe truth must be'faccd. If th.eir god-fathers are tojjpled:out 'of their throne of nepotic' Supremacy,, dowri surely will go:all,the god-sons and god-datigliters also, And a';new' set of god-fathers, .god-vn? .and . god-daugthers would fake their places and like dogs have their o w days. Which: is still the .wax of the corrupt world; This is the ineviiabiliti; which always attends ,all societies. whose siifvival .depends 'inore on filthjr'.'lconiacts" and'".tonnectio.ns'I than'on indivi'dual.merit.'.Now,.iS time for. all . . . the of us to think. Some big men do not like to go to.Prison although they like to do those things which often send men to Prison. They get small men, some jobless or poor folk, to serve their sentences. All they.have to do is simply pay such �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 111 folk a handsome money; say some £100 to £500. Some Prison officials give preferential treatment to a type of prisoners, although they know a prisoner is a prisoner for all that. There is no superiority or minority, seniority or juniority at the White College. It is equality for all or the contrary smacks of injustice. Howbeit, some Prison officials receive money to give some prisoners better treatment, better feeding, liberty, chance of meeting relatives, wives or concubines or girl-friends or permission to leave the Prison House at night to pass same in the Prisoner's house. Some Prisoners do not serve the "with hard labour sentence" because some Prison Officials have been properly tipped. More and more people are becoming more qnd more frustrated with bribery and corruption in our society. What really is wrong? Everybody, including workers, businessmen, traders (big and petty), students (High School or University), market women and even politicians are grumbling that events, trends and tendencies in our politics, trade and general life, are frustrating them all. There is a wholesale acquisition and accumulation of wealth by certain members of our society. The result is that the poor are still writhing in their abject poverty and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening further every day. Unemployment gathers nomentum and yet there is no realistic solution advanced to stay the inroads of this hydra-hqaded monster. Many students have, out of penury, been disilluioned and stranded. Some of them might not have adopted the correct approach to win scholarships which are but niggardly doles. Our labour force has even fallen apart because some workers and their leaders have sacrificed their rightful reward and meat. There is still corruption, inspite of the X-Squad, if this has not been bribed out. �112 MISCELLANEOUS CASES O F CORRUPTION There is nepotism in high quarters. Tribalism still l k m s larger than before. And we don't seem to be worried about these things! We have found it difficult to change our hearts. Our leaders have the record of being the most widely travelled globe-trotters in the world. And also into the bargain are some of our leaders who are the greatest beggars of foreign aid! But now is the time to put it to the present generation of our leaders that anyone who is interested in leading Nigeria must make more sacrifices for the country. It does not require an opinion poll to show that many people are not impressed by the sacrifices some of our leaders may claim they have made. What? with some many luxurious cars, free quarters, free light, free water, free labour, fantastic salaries and allowances all into the bargain! The whole thing is frustrating. How long shall we continue to deceive ourselves? How long must we continue to shout austerity when those who should go austere never budgc an inch? Some doctors still receive bribes to conduct: medical examinations for Overseas trip and employment. Some of them still receive bribes to perform operations or treatment, even during government time and within government premises. Ring a doctor and a nurse or ward servant answers. The reply is "the doctor is not in" even though the good old medical officer is just there busy with patients or arranging for private consultations afterwards. Even some nurses attached to some Doctors receive tips to allow patients to go and see the Doctor for the diagnosis of their diseases. Sometimes a in" even though the good old medical officer is just person who undergoes a major operation should tip some Nurses or his wound will develop pus. That's why �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 113 Mission Hospitals are still more popular today because this practice is hardly prepetuated there. The fun of the corruption in Hospitals is that even bribe is paid before sometimes you remove a corpse from the Public Mortuary. The thing always starts like this: the person who has the key will be suddenly missing and attempts are generally made to find him to come and open the Mortuary. But he is paid for the trouble all the same. There is what is called 10 per cent deal for the party. But this is also seen in a different light. Often you hear well founded rumours that certain contracts have been awarded for the highest tenders. Sometimes also you hear gossips that some well-known building contractors and contracting firms are agents of political parties. And this is how public funds are diverted to the benefit of certain political parties. Very often you hear the names of some well known continental firms mentioned in connection with some scandalous deals. Who has not heard of these before? But who haq been able to say them? Are all of us cowards? We are still hearing them and we do nothing. Except we get down to the very heart of political corruption in our country today, we may one day wake up to notice that a traitor has sold all of us the mere love of lucre. I t is a publicly known secret today that in this country there are some political organizations use their positions to help their party finances and in many cases quite unscrupulously. Some political parties do this covertly and turn to condemn it openly. A Politician who has the power to approve or disapprove some million pounds of a deal, say £2,000,000 may find after a part's secret meeting that he has a duty to donate some £2,000 to his party. How can he do it? Of course he has to act �114 MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION corruptly. Oftentimes, this big deal is organised fraud, sponsored and directed from party headquarters. In this way political corruption continues. Have you ever asked where the thousands of pounds are got to finance gigatic election operations and campaigns? To stop political corruption we must be able to trace its cause from its offshort to its taproot and then pull it out , from there. Almost every Ferry has the normal passage where the machine counts passengers that have passed through the gate. But there is another .gate through which lorries or gwds pass. People who pass through this gate pay their normal fare. But where does this go? To the Ferry's account or to some individual's pockets? Charges of vehicles in every Ferry is according to their capacities. But the weighing man determines the weight of these vehicles and issues receipts. I t has been known however that some of these official receipts are stolen from the safe and the money realized from them converted into personal ends. Corruption is rife in this country. We have been condemning it. But who will bell the cat? An M.P. quite recently made serious allegations concerning corruption at high quarters. What happened? Nothing. There was not even as a public inquiry. Produce Inspectors grade produce but on many occasions ungraded ones pass as graded because money has been offered to some Produce Officials. They can degrade your produce if you do not grease their palms. Sometimes a trader calls them to come and grade his produce and they seem not to hear. They are "very busy" but the secret is that the more they delay produce buyers or sellers, the more they suffer and their produce also. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 115 In some mining industries, the tally system is used. Tally numbers are used to determine the number of miners who are actually working. But absent miners give their friends their tally numbers to present at the office so that they can be marked present when they are not. Even this is not the only evil practice. There is the bribe of some £15 to £20 before some miners are employed at all. And there are regular offers of drinks (strong) to the 'oga' of the office to advertise that some miners are "good boys". The thing works like this: The hewers put their numbers on the tubes while the tubmen put theirs too and push along t~ check points. But some miners' numbers have been known to have missed at this point because they are not in the good books of the clerks at the entrance to the Mines. Adulteration of goods is rife in our markets today. Cheating is the order of the day. Half measures are sold for whole. Getting of markets stalls is still a game of "lucky dip". Some many people have so many stalls which they sublet to others who could have got the stalls were it not for the blocking of the way by bribers. And this is bad enough. At the Motor Park the people who collect money from vehicles that enter and leave the park may not have rendererd honest and correct accounts of these. There should be locked up machine so that if you drop a shilling or six-pence, for instance, the receipt for that will be brought out by the machine. The previous system of hand-giving out receipts led to corruption of reprinting these receipts and using them over and over again. We are not safe. Bribery and corruption are the twin dangers of our age. Let's all unite and fight this common . �116 MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION danger. Politicians make sure that some vacancies are filled by their supporters and they call this 'reward for political patronage'. But this should stop. Members of Boards receive no less than £50 a month, merely for attending meetings perhaps once in three months. This is revolting; but does it worry the people concerned? And they are some Corporation Chairmen who are employed on part-time basis. They receive some £3,000 a year for this inconvenience and add to the gain free quarters free transport and free drinks (or do you call it entertainment allowance?) Not satisfied, they present a host of their relations and friends for employment. Can this continue? Should anybody who has no bigman "brother" then suffer indefinitely? Appointment to Boards or Corporation should not be made on political basis or at least as a form of political compensation. Rather it should be done or pure merit, bearing in mind the quali-fication and experience of individuals concerned. - T o be honest; to be Our resolution must be this: kind; to earn a little, and to spend a little less; to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence; to renounce when that shall be necessary, and not to be embittered; to keep a few friends, but these without capitulation. Above all, on the same grim condition, to keep friends with himself: here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. With this resolution, let your life be as happy sunshine as you can make it. Have the good sense to find a joy in as well as in play. Hurt no man - especially no girl or child. Be sober. Do not invite headaches on the morrow. Resent injustice and lying for the good of all. Smite humbugs and sordid and sefish people joyfully, until the brood is extinct. Be honourable, truthful, and kind; for honour, truth, and kindness are basic conditions of a healthy and happy �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 117 time for the human family. Cultivate refinement, for it doubles one's capacity for happiness. Cherish wisdom and dread illusion, for the paths of life are slippery with the blood and tears of the unwise. Beware of verbiage. Keep a strong and self-conscious personality, for there are too many people ready to exploit it. Fear neither God nor devil nor priest, but help to make youk fellows such that you can walk cheerfully and helpfully with them to the end of the road. Do unto others as you would that they would do unto you. �CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSION "Man cuts himself off from God by irreligion; from his brethren by indifference, hatred and war; from. his soul by pursuing fugitive and unreal goods. Having separated himself from all else, he reflects his inner discord upon the universe at large; he separates everything about him, lays sacrilegious hands on the humblest tracts of divine unity; crumbles up the entrails and matter ; itself . . . " and "Our life on earth is a constant warfare; a warfare, not against creatures of flesh and blood, but against spiritual principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places . . ."; so that " A spirit of pride and rebellion embitters individuals and stirs up the masses. Urged on by the powers of hell, men strive to enjoy pleasure in all its forms; they seek to please their bodies, hearts and minds. T h e y wish to enjoy life, and beyond this they have no further aim, but for the sake of enjoyment they are breaking down the old barriers of respect for authority, of self-control and dignity, of uprightness and honesty, of faith and loyalty. All the old beliefs and customs, traditions and habits, even family and social life, are in danger of being swallowed up in a great cataclysm of foulness, bloodshed and sin." I am rounding up my discussion so far on bribery and corruption and their allied evils. I have not, in my dis- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 119 cussion so far, posed as the Saint of our society. All I have done is to point the most serious evils of our present age and tried to give suggestions for their eradication. You may have had the same feeling with me, but why not let us pull together and eradicate these social evils? You will agree with me that these evils have not helped us at all. Rather, they have brought other evils like injustice, victimization, fraud and dishonesty. But must we allow this situation to linger further? Things now are assuming unproportional dimensions and the situation already is becoming alarming. What really is the matter with all of us? It looks as if everything is at a standstill. Take, for instance, the much talked about six-year development plan. It seems to me that a great many of us simply pay lip service to this vital programme. One should have thought that this is the time to really go austere. But what do we find? Waste, unnecessary waste, mostly in high places, bribery and conuption, nepotism and favouritism, fraud and dishonesty, injustice and jobbery. Honestly, I think the time has now come to curb, rather drastically, some overseas tours by our public men, some corrupt practices in high and low places, some contract deals of this country which based on "help me to help you" or on a percentage basis. For instance, it is publicly known nowadays that some political organizations in this country use their positions to help their party finances. Most political parties do this corvertly although they condemn it publicly. It always happens like this. A political party is accused and its members merely shrug their shoulders and say "it is politics and every party is doing it". If another party is guilty, some politicians try to cry down the heavens and urge for the �crucifixion of the offenders. They would want the Press to overstep its bounds by showing up such offenders for public contempt and ridicule. But whether this or hs that political party is guilty, the fact remains that t i practice drains our meagre resources and such should be stopped immediately. Our public men are fabulously paid: Who does not h o w this? But who speaks out? Parliamentariam on an emolument of £1,500 excluding transport expenses, attend meetings for a period of about three months in a year! If our British overlords had ruled this country in that manner, by now our Treasury would have been empty. But now we are doing things ourselves. Whom do we blame? Our brand of politics is very corrupt. It is political jobbery all the way. Politicians make sure that vacancies are filled by their supporters, and this they call "reward for party patronage". This is sweet nonsense.. And then there is another class of privileged Nigerians known as Chairmen of Boards and Corporations. Their assignments are supposed to be part-time although the remunerations attached to such posts range from £1,500 to £3,000 a year, with expensively furnished quarters free of rents and free transport also pushed into the bargain. But some of these Corporations don't meet for more than 12 times in a year and yet the fantastic salaries to their Secretaries, Directors, General Managers and Chairmen. You also know of their landed property, buildings, fleet of lorries, stores, etc. etc. etc. etc. Members of Boards receive no less than £50 a month merely for attending meetings perhaps once in 3 months. This is revolting. Has the time not really come for our leaders to reconsider these things? We are begging �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 121 about so that a few can enjoy life abundantly. Think of the many glob-trotters we have sent all over the world to seek foreign aids! Surely if the thousands of pounds paid out monthly to the HAVES of our society are invested in some type of industries, the country will have undoubtedly been the better for it. Corruption exists too much in our country today. We have been condemning it. All of us have; but the question is: "who will bell the cat?" Only recently an MP made a very serious allegation concerning the corrupt practices of some high officials and politicians. What has been done about this? Nothing, except that the MP later turned to amend the allegaion. One would have excepted an immediate invstigation. But this wasn't done. When do we hope to eradicate this evil? Let's start now. An attempt at eradication is the only important thing now. First of all appointments to Boards or Corporations should not be made as political compensation. Rather it should be done on pure merit, that is, qualification and experience of the individuals concerned. Let us also reduce the fees or remunerations of all Board, Corporation and Parliament Members to maximum of £50 per month. This exclude transport of members coming from for off places. Members should also be compelled to make use of either the Railway or the Airways; in which case, government warrants should be used. All Board and Corporation Chairmen, occupying free quarters and using free transport, should be ejected from such quarters and stopped from using free transport. We have to step into these problems now. Presently, "the reactions of the populace to the current wave of political corruption vary with the mentality of the individual. There are many among us who resignedly �122 CONCLUSION believe that politicking and plundering are synonymous; that a man, when he assumes the office of a politician, automatically assumes the role of a night-marauder, having for his daily thoughts no other motive than to rob the public treasury. "Don't mind even the critics. If you put them in power tomorrow, they would do worse", a friend once summed up a heated argument on the subject of corruption. And this friend typefies the many who today have lost faith and confidence in the fellow man inside and outside politics. They can no more trust, even their own self, with the task of mnning this country honestly. "There is the other group of critics. In this are people who religiously believe that our problem is in the hands of characters and personalities of the people in politics today. Many in this group believe that a change of faces and minds could change the trend. There is yet another. Members of this group are by their developed intellect not prone to hero-worship. They see things in terms of factors, and systems. Form this school come suggestions that a change of the political and economic system and setting alone can alter the present situation. "To my mind, the third group expresses what is nearest to the solution of political corruption. Close your eyes to the faces of the characters and personalities. Think more deeply of the factors, principles and policies and you would be coming on fine to the goal. The questions we must ask ourselves and answer are q a n y and multiform. What makes a politician use his poiition to cross the carpet for money? What motivating impulses drive a politician to give contracts to firms for money? Is it that his salary is not enough? O r that his sinecure post whets his appetite for more and more wealth? Or are the people so daft �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 123 and passive in their attitude to corruption that the polotician feels safe and secure and so goes on plundering regardless of the temptation among fereigners in our midst to lay the blame of corruption on the political unconsciousness of the people and the poverty of the politicians generally? I would also lay some of the blame on the extended family demands of our soceity on the man at the top. Full employment for all, a Welfare state for the aged and for students, may be one solution. "The battle against corrupt practices in politics must be waged vigorously along several fronts. First, the people must be less passive and more vocal in their condemnation of the evil. Second, a systematic diminution of the,politiciansl income must be pursued in practice. The aim is to make politics attractive only to those with devotion and to obviate that motivating impulse of profit - seeking. Third is to evolve a system by which correction, whether at local, regional or federal govemment level can be detected, and when detected, can be brought before the court. I am informed by my lawyer friends that a private citizen, armed with his tax-receipt, has the right to sue a politician - be he a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary for misappropriating his tax, if he can prove that to the court. "Last time, I suggested ruthless cuts in salaries, transport amenities, and I may here add, rents and even business rights. Should the people condone the practice by some politicians borrowing money (loans) from Government agencies for private businesses? I now begin to think that it is immoral. The loan-relationship between Governments and Government financial agencies on one hand and constituency representatives on the other has been largely responsible for the wanton movements of party loyalties across the carpet. �124 CONCLUSION "Carpet-crossing and loan-guided consciences are two related evils. The fellow who owes the Finance Corporation or Government-sponsored bank ceases to be a straight thinker the moment he gets himself into the obligatory position of pandering to the political dictates of the man who holds the purse string. That fellow has toppled governments without a coup. He has cheated the voters and sold the electorate to political slavery. The scene at present looks to me like a babel of money-grabbers, hurrying to make a life-long keep within the span of five years. And the scramble is too obvious an eyesore. "What then would I suggest as the best line of action for the people as a whole? First, the people should re-assure themselves that they are masters and not servants of politicians. There is so much fear of and respect for politicians in this country'that the people have almost come to accept the inferior but mistaken status of worshippers. This explains why some politicians can afford to defy the wishes and will of the people to the extent of audaciously breaking their standing contract with their electorate. They can across the carpet as many times as they are bribe-guided, leaving their crosses and their obligations to the voters behind. The people must square up to their servants - the politicians - and make enough effort to control their political behavious. There are many ways of doing this. One, and this is the time to plan for it, is to get every politician who wants to be nominated for the next elections to si*gn a contract or an agreement with the people of his constituency. The agreement should contain commitals to this effect :(a) That the candidate shall declare the state of his (and his wife's and children's) wealth on �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 125 winning the election, and shall declare this annually while he is in office as member of the House; (b) That the candidate, after winning an election on one party platform, shall not change to another political party without causing a plebisi cite to be held in hs constituency; Postscript: Some people have suggested bye-elections, I don't accept this because it would tax the purse of the government concerned. The plebiscite should place the financial liability on the party that woos a member. If a man fancies a woman, he has to pay the wooing and wedding expenses. The same argument should hold for wooing and wedding in politics. I hear that a party has in the past spent as much as £15,000 in the dark of night to buy members from across the carpet. My suggestion is that this money should be spent on the open business of consultation with the electorate concerned and with an individual member in the dark of night. This particular clave in the contract should commit the candidate or member to an agreement that he, autoi s matically renders h seat vacant by any single act of crossing the carpet without the consent of the people, via plebiscite. (c) That the candidate shall conduct his election , campaigns without the use of bribes. The people must resist all atempts by politicians to buy votes. It's often the very begging of political coruption. A politician who borrows, say three thousand pounds for the purpose of buying votes, goes into Parliament, a heavy debtor. If he is a debtor, what hope is there for you and �CONCLUSION me to stop him fom recovering that money by hook or crok? He must pay back what he borrowed, mustn't he? And from there starts the whole tale. From bribery for debt-paying to bribery for consolidating my constituency for the next election" and for re-imbursing party purse. So, we must be honest with ourselves by sending only solvent people to represent us 1n Parliament or Houses. (d) That a candidate when elected shall never involve himself in any loans transactions with the government or government finance agencies or party-influenced banks. Any politician who breaches this clause should regard his tenure of office as automatically breached. These are only a few clauses for the suggested contract. All candidates, no matter of which political persuasion, must be ~rwailed uuon to sien the contract if thev must get the ieople's voies. If th& refuse to sign it, VOTE THEM OUT, they are thieves. The situation in this country has gone so bad that the people must come together to combat corruption. I would be the first citizen to applaud anyone outside politics to form a movement dedicated to the massive task of putting politicians in their moral place. Statesmen, Churchmen, Students Unions, Market women, Trade unions, etc. cap form a common anti-corruption front. And if they can enlist the patronage of cleanminded and respectable leaders in other walks of life, they would beamassing up the greatest anti-corruption force on the land. People have made effects in the past to form anti-corruption leagues, e.g. "The League of �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 127 Bribe Scorners." The leagues are doing wonderful work in their own ways. But to my mind, the task ahead is greater than the support they now receive. Besides, they don't seem able to reach the high places where political corruption is now the vogue. "The battle against top-floor cormption demands the use of life, a social lift. As I see it, the League of Bribe Scorners operates mainly among the ground-floor residents as the Police X-Squad -operating mainly among two bob a go the underpaid junior policemen collecti~g from lorry drivers2 My respect for the X-Squad will triple the day they grab a senior Police Officer for collecting £50 to £100 bribe to promote a lance corporal. The movement of my imagination should be a socially powerful one. Such a movement, if powerful enough, can move the government to take steps that they are now afraid to take. The movement can set up its own CID (Corruption Investigation Department) and pursue specific rumours and allegations secretly with vigour and nationalist verve. It should grow large enough to encourage a Prime Minister or Premier to sack a Minister or discipline a guilty politician." (Don Nugotaf, Sunday Express April 26, 1964, Page Seven). Recently one of our newspapers carried the reports of various acts of stealing which involved the very citizens of this Republic whose duty, among others, is to check stealing. I mean our peace keepers - the Police. This is very disappointing and disgraceful. and shows a gross betrayal of trust on the part of the 'policemen involved. I am not convinced that the good old sayingUexamples are better than precepts" has lost its value. Almost every �128 CONCLUSION day the police issue out appeals to the members of the public to help them in reducing to the lowekt degree possible the rate of staling, bribery, corruption, nepotism and allied social evils in the country. And I think members of the public are co-operating wonderfully in this respec%. When the dreadful sin of 'theft' is committed in a place, the police are called upon to dig out the offenders. Now that some of shameless and malcontented members of the Force are themselves thieves, I wonder to whom the ordinary citizen should shout for help when he is at the mercy of a 'thief-man' since nothing could be more foolish than setting a thief to catch a thief. This is not all. Bribery and corruption are rife in the rank and file of the Force. Is it true that in the Police Force today some juniors are sometimes asked by some senior officers to pay bribes of between fifty and hundred pounds before getting good recommendations for promotion? Is it true that some of the juniors in so-called "lucrative" units (Motor Traffic, for instance) collect bribes which are not for themselves alone but also for some higher bosses who threaten them with disfavour if they don't "report" with part of their "takings" each day? If these allegations are true, what do we do to eradicate bribery and corruption in the Force? Presently the Inspector General of Police has taken up the matter in hand. We wish him a speedy success, but abolition of Traffic Police in the Rural Areas still will not stop bribery and corruption. What I will suggest is allowing some C.I.D. or X-Squad men to rover around such areas where the Traffic Men stop transport vehicles. T o avoid bribery and corruption in Land Department, there should be a prepared layout and development for �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 129 an area which is intended to be leased to the public. And due information should always be given to the public concerning all the requirements for application. This will obviate unnecessary trafficking in "stereotypted forms of application for land." This is an Honourable Memeber. He promises to get job for the daughter of his Jriend or type of friend. And she is not looking badly at all ! But the boys appear suspicious. About contracts, detailed check by an Examiner of Accounts should always be made of all payments, especially those alleged extra work on contracts, and surcharge those responsible for such payments. This will help eradicate the habit of "helping contractors to help some officials." T o a v i d bribery and corruption in employment and the consequent deliberate defiance of all Regulations, Rules, Instructions and Advice in the belief that 'fait accompli" will be accepted, stricter discipline should �130 CONCLUSION be taken against offenders, especially in the cases of retrospective approvals for appointments, whether of teachers in Council Schools or officials in Corporations or other Departments. In Councils, there should be a complete review of the allocation of functions of Committees with a clear-cut division. The members of some important Committees should be men of high integrity, men whose actions should be above suspicion. The present set up is not a good one. Most of them are presently very poor and this proverty adds to their being corrupt. There should be no dual responsibility for the staff and each committee should be responsible for its own staff, subject to overall control of establishments and general conditions of service by the Finance Committee. Finally, in the words of Sir Francis Iibiam, Governor of Eastern Nigeria "Nigeria needs leaders who will rise above corruption, avarice, nepotism and envy in our body politic. Indeed, Nigeria requires men and women whom the lust of office will not seduce to betray the confidence reposed on them. Let us take inspiration from our past achievements and learn thereby to appreciate that no sacrifice is too great for the unity of our people and for the unliftment of our great country. The cause of unity must not only be paramount in our minds, but we must be prepared to make the sacrifice needed to sustain it, and all our people must make that sacrifice not in pretentious protestations of affection, but in the deep knowledge that without it our nation cannot become truly great nor our people know true happiness. The adege, "Do unto us as you would have them do to you," is a saying we must assiduously learn to practise. Our Republican status is for the benefit of all its citizens. �131 BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION If you are in a place of authority, I implore you to use your authority and power wisely and impartially. The authority was.not given to you for your personal advantage and aggrandizement. It is the undisputed right of any citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to get to the highest goal of achievement of which he or she is capable. No one, therefore, because he or she is on top has any right to put any kind of illegitimate stumbling-block in the way of another. Let us ever remember that "what is sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose." ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to the following:- Mr. C. Osi-Iweh, Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, who typed the manuscript; F. 0.Ihenacho, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Eastern Nigeria, for a copy of his excellent lecture on Bribery and Corruption; many friends who gave me useful information, especially in the Police Force, Railways, Judicial Department, etc.; my legal adviser, . . who read the script fromlegal point of view. . �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bribery and corruption : bane of our society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nkwoh, Marius Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Aba : International Press Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3555 Description An account of the resource This serious political tract catalogues and analyzes many types of bribery and corruption. The author states that he has compiled a "compendious and imaginative headline under which he puts down his impressions and experiences gathered during a long period of research into the question of bribery and corruption, how they arose and how far they have putrefied our social system," (pg.v).&nbsp; The introductory chapter surveys what others have written about bribery and corruption, and the remaining chapters discuss the types of bribery and corruption that exist in different sectors of Nigerian society. Areas covered include: police and traffic, railroad and shipping, civil and criminal courts, and public officials. <br /><br />Each chapter develops Nkwoh's ideas about how greed and poverty serve as the two root causes of bribery and corruption. The author also argues that even though all would condemn bribery, few actually oppose it. He asks,<em>. . . but does experience not show us that all these public denunciations effect little, if anything at all? How can we condemn these evils in the daylight when so many of us are arch-givers or receivers of bribes in the secret of darkness?</em> (pg.vii).&nbsp;<br /><br />Nkwoh also deals with the possible consequences: the rich succeed, while poor do not; the incompetence of public officials; the loss of constituents' trust and the loss of self worth; smuggling; and the breakdown of the court system, the rule of law and the social contract.<br /><br />The author fears that a neocolonial state is the logical end to a political system that relies on bribery, nepotism and corruption. He cautions that corrupt officials "generally seek aid from their foreign paymasters, but the story of their end is invariably the same. If they succeed it is usually as captive to their foreign protectors and often at the price of their country's independence," (pg.24-25). Nkwoh believes that the current political system, c.1965, breeds corruption through its electoral practices. He asks, <em>"Imagine a candidate spending &pound;3000 for an election! He must recoup himself of his losses as soon as he succeeds. I wonder if Parliament is the way to make money anyhow," (pg.16).</em> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/3093a4c3eaeea5770f4ce6668754bc9f.jpg e1b8c4951f77f3de5d57b1eb9957721e Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Width 1116 Height 1581 Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bridesmaid helping bride adjust her veil, n.d. Subject The topic of the resource Johnson, ? Weddings. Description An account of the resource A black-and-white photograph of an unidentified bridesmaid helping an unidentified bride adjust her veil. Three other women are partially visible in the background of the image. The groom's last name has been identified as "Johnson." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Leon K. Hughes Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10407/1638225277">Finding aid for the L.K. Hughes Photography Collection</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <a href="http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/collections/kc/">Kansas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rosie E. Hughes Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/usingthelibrary/">Acceptable Use Policy</a> Relation A related resource <a href="http://www.lib.ku.edu/luna/luna/index/coll/L.%20K.%20Hughes%20Photography%20Collection/title/%20Johnson%20and%20unidentified%20bride,/id/ksrl_kc_rhph506_3.37.1.tif">Do you know more about this image? Leave your comments here!</a> <a href="http://luna.ku.edu:8180/luna/servlet/kuluna01kui~16~16">Click here to explore the complete L.K. Hughes Photography Collection.</a> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl_kc_rhph506_3.37.1.jpg https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/aefedc6a0ba3f89b49e05e7143136c28.jpeg def8b4c9260473c9a920bacce7656953 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource LibArt 2021 Subject The topic of the resource 2021 LibArt Exhibition images Description An account of the resource Student art submissions to the 2021 LibArt Exhibition Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bristlecone Subject The topic of the resource LibArt 2021 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rory Sweedler; Geology, Dance Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Held by creator Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Film, 12x14" https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/66b1bc192d367ed64c2762416bf27ac4.jpg 38d488047795d49283b5762bd6019832 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Silver Anniversary Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 18th Century Q6 Title A name given to the resource Britannia Excisa, London, 1733 https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/980a1d1c9ee3c9a5832f2527a0d06612.jpg 7c96674fcea3d465c713b20e5146f50a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource LibArt 2025 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Broken Robot Subject The topic of the resource LibArt 2025 Description An account of the resource I was inspired by the prompt, "meeting the oracle." To me, an oracle is someone who has special knowledge or experience. In this piece, the oracle is a spaceship mechanic who is interrupted from her work by a small child with a broken robot. I wanted to channel the feeling of an exasperated parent who loves her child but just can't understand why or how he keeps breaking things. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alice Wolfe Illustration & Animation major Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Belong to Creator Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photoshop, digital 10" 18" https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/73dcc15dd223be8f320be23f7926b038.jpg 86dafbbc27c3da6b1801f43c73bc2690 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brook Trouts Subject The topic of the resource LibArt 2025 Description An account of the resource In "Brook Trouts," the two fish, flipped horizontally, create balance inspired by yin and yang. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Natalie Slutsky Visual Art major Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Belong to Creator Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Linocut print 10" X 12" https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/87e609916d249a63b0e6bb988ca5d8f7.jpg 072478809d8f620e5c51e838ee967f3c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brown and Proud: Todos Somos Arizona Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available [Oakland, Calif. : Dignidad Rebelde, 2011] Language A language of the resource English / Spanish Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RH WL R53 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Visual Material https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/343e7829f2d0435942cd70e6feaad299.jpg 770fd114397fb1498b84c97d4d572fb7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brown cover https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/b691460c633b8fa5cbb06b002911b2f4.pdf 373ec78823aa253a2a8429fb305d5e6a PDF Text Text �� https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/8d496e786d62c3dd368ad9be4a6b6172.pdf f2d181a2ed418de53e6067a5baf99962 PDF Text Text Transcription – Black Student Union’s Statement on the Death of Rick Dowdell Note: It is hard to make out the wording towards the end of page one of the original document. There is a portion that is unreadable. July 16, 1970 TO ALL BLACK PEOPLE The words on this paper are being written because Black people will never get the truth about the death of Rick Dowdell from “white” newspapers, “white” television or “white” radio stations. He was murdered by racist white policemen. He was shot with a sawedoff shot gun at close range. Earlier that evening a white female had been shot by who the racist white policemen believed to be a black man. Before his death Rick was at the AfroHouse and asked a female to take him some place, then in route happened to pass the scene of the shooting of the white woman. The police began to follow their car for reasons we do not know. Rick decided to leave the car and walk down the alley. The policemen: (1.) Did not fire a warning shot (2.) Did not ask him to stop (3.) Did not let Rick know he even wanted to stop him What he did do was to fire one blast from his riot or sawedoff shot gun striking Rick about the head & shoulder region. He died moments later. The police made no move to call [an ambulance?] until he had been lying on the ground approximately 10 minutes. This has been on [large portion is unreadable]….attacker and his skin happened to be the same color. �[Page 2] Remember he was not stopped. He was not questioned. He was not told he was under suspicion. He was murdered because of the color of his skin. This means as you read this paper the white man ca just as easily murder you. Black people we need to unite against whit oppression. Please when you are not sure about something come to the Afro-House and talk to the people there about it. We need your strength! The life you save is your own and your children. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1970: The Year that Rocked KU Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BSU Statement on the Killing of Rick "Tiger" Dowdell Description An account of the resource Black Student Union Dowdell, Richard "Tiger" Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Black Student Union Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG 67/13, Black Student Union Records Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 16, 1970