Nigeria Suffering From Stage III Corruption-Cancer

Nigeria Suffering From Stage III Corruption-Cancer

The Maina Saga has impudently displayed Nigeria's current position on its fight against corruption. The fight which has been ongoing since time immemorial is one of the priorities of the Buhari-lead administration. The anti-corruption movement, however, has been snail-paced for some time with little or no proof of the prevalence of justice upon the baboons feasting on the meal of the masses.

While the Maina arrest and conviction is a breath of fresh air and hope among the people in the capabilities of the judiciary arm in dishing out justice to corrupt felons, a further insight into the whole saga extracts a nerve rattling thought.

Abdulrasheed Maina was convicted for having several accounts containing billions of naira for which, he had no explanation of the source, thereby leading to the conclusion that the monies were diverted funds from the Pension Office. Maina had been the embodiment of a sybaritic personality, hoarding and feasting on the earnings of millions of pensioners who have been abandoned to starve.

Preceding this, Maina was appointed in 2010 by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to cleanse the corruption-ridden pension office. However, three years later, he was alleged to have misappropriated pension funds amounting to billions. A senate committee set up to investigate the allegation, summoned him, and issued a bench warrant for his arrest, but to no avail. Although no court conclusively prosecuted him, the charge of impropriety must have weighed on him thereby causing him to flee the country, and he was thus dismissed from the civil service and declared wanted.

Despite the fact that various law enforcement institutions such as the Senate, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Federal High Court, the Nigerian Police and the Interpol had been on Maina’s trail for years to cause him to defend himself, Maina, somehow, found his way back into the country and into the civil service. Not ending there, he was further promoted from his former level 14 to level 16.

As a result, he was, shockingly, put in a position to divert whooping sums back into his pockets, all over again as though the warrant for his arrest never occurred.

Recently, however, he was arrested for possessing billions of diverted funds. however, this is merely what was discovered at the time of his arrest. Maina had been in the Government for years. How much more wealth had he amassed from underneath the nose of the President and his corruption-fighting officials? How was he able to carry out his parasitic activities for so long without being brought to book? Who in the top echelon of power aided him in his endeavors? As Maina could not have achieved all he did without aid from his exploitative partners in power who are yet to be discovered and brought to book.

All these bring to light the cancerous state of the nation. If Nigeria were to be diagnosed, it would most likely be having stage III corruption-cancer. This is because the cancerous lump is so embedded into the system that it is near impossible to uproot and as if it was not gloomy enough, the corruption has spread to all sectors of the Government and it's arms.

One disheartening thought is that the only surgeon who has the potential of curing Nigeria of this dastardly disease, is Nigeria herself.

In Maina's case, it took the tenacious and investigative ability of the media to bring the case to limelight. After the information of Maina's impunity reached the public, the media became the straw that stirred the administration into enforcing the law.

To totally free Nigeria of her plight, the citizens must refuse leaving the corruption-fight to those 'appointed' to deal with it as we have seen repeatedly, even the monitoring and supervising officials are not free from the infection.

The people are encouraged to report hints of corruption if discovered in any sector. Citizen journalism is key in fighting corruption as the hands of every Nigerian must be on deck to bring forth the Nigeria, governed by integrity and fairness.

Despite its tardiness, the Buhari Government is commended for having begun carrying out its promise of eradicating corruption. However, we are of the hope that Maina's case will be seen through to the end and aggressive efforts be made to hunt down his partners in corruption.

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