The need to deepen genuine transparency culture in Nigeria to salvage the decay in the system has become quite imperative, writes Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU.
It has become obvious that unless there are coordinated efforts by committed stakeholders in Nigeria to ensure that much is done to move governments, businesses and institutions towards democratic principles of transparency and accountability, good governance from all sectors may continue to suffer.
The implication is that not much, in terms of real developmental growth, would seemingly be achieved from any segment of the society to guarantee lasting investment and frank development.
In developed societies, the issue of transparency and responsibility seems to have become a benchmark, as attempts to compromise them are distinctly met with stiff penalty.
President Muhammadu Buhari has not minced words vis-a-vis his commitment towards entrenching transparency and good governance in the country. For him, if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption may eventually kill Nigeria; so he has vowed to stamp it out.
Buhari has continued to contend that there can be no genuine development in the economic, political as well as in any other sector without good governance anchored on transparency.
The gathering steam
With a promise to tackle corruption as the central goal of his administration, the controversy that has erupted over Buhari’s decision to limit his audit of government to just the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan does not seem to go down well with observers.
Obviously, the audit, which is part of a national anti-corruption campaign, is expected to lead to investigations, arrests and prosecution of people against whom allegations of misconduct are made. The expectation is that all Nigerians would join the anti-graft agencies in this crusade.
But critics contend that what is not expected and would not be accepted is when such investigations are done in a manner that engenders impunity as being perceived at the moment.
The President has announced a series of probes to be undertaken, but critics perceive selective justice.
Informed analysts believe that if the arrest and investigation of officials of the past administration leads to illegalities, government agencies responsible for them would easily lend themselves to the charge of orchestrating a witch-hunt.
Of course, nobody but the president would bear responsibility for such conducts. To be taken seriously and be seen as doing a sincere work, the anti-graft agencies are expected to perform their duties without unnecessary publicity and controversy. They are expected to do a professional investigation and resist the temptation of resorting to public showmanship that traumatises the nation.
Wrong signal
Most Nigerians have continued to criticise the Department of State Security (DSS) operatives’ impunity on the treatment of some of Jonathan’s aides, fuelling the fear of a witch-hunt. For instance, the treatment of immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, and Jonathan’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Gordon Obuah, has continued to raise the dust of illegality, even with a court injunction to his favour on health grounds.
Most Nigerians at the moment say there seems to be a discreet agenda of criminalisation of most Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members who worked with Jonathan.
Such overzealousness that borders on impunity, observers argue, would not help the government, as they hold the potential of eroding the high moral ground from which the President intends to fight corruption.
Political watchers agree that, to help Buhari fight corruption, government agencies must operate within the ambits of the law, and manifest sincerity of purpose.
Constitutional expectation
The constitution deems any accused person innocent until found guilty by a competent court. Critics of the anti-graft and security agencies claim that they rather nibble away at their credibility by harassing and meting out other forms of indignity to citizens in a bid to show that they are working.
Asabe Matthew, legal practitioner, said the least the agencies can do to support Buhari’s corruption crusade is rather to be professional. And this should be strictly in consonance with the laws of the land. In his opinion, “Nigerians would be more interested in the convictions of corrupt persons than the travesty of disparaging suspects who are never prosecuted, nor sent to jail but blackmailed as criminals.”
TFI to the rescue
On Tuesday, Transparency Forum Initiative (TFI), at a media briefing in Lagos, said it was out to raise greater consciousness on the importance of transparency in all aspects of the political and commercial economy, advocating regulatory reforms around transparency and encouraging public-private collaboration on new approaches and actions required to embed transparency into the business landscape of the country.
Some of the member firms that would be working in Nigeria were represented by their partners at the media session. They included: Toke Ibru (The Guardian newpapers), Priscilla Ogwemoh (Olisa Agbakoba Chambers), Tim Newbold (Africa Practice), Gbenga Abosede (Control Risks) and Baba-Jallah Epega (EMC3).
Other partners to be involved in the project are: The Business Year, a leading research firm and publisher of annual economic resources on national economies, as well as the Financial Times, one of the leading news organisations recognised globally for its authority, integrity and accuracy.
The objectives of the initiative, the group, disclosed are four-old. TFI’s core action would stimulate the dialogue needed to create a platform to enable discourse and negotiations between the private and public sectors with a view to identifying opportunities for collaborations centred on the aim of achieving transparency in key sectors of the economy.
Also, the group intends to build capacity – to educate stakeholders on how to develop and deliver transparency initiatives within their own organisations. Its third agenda would be to advocate solutions – to advocate changes in policies, laws and regulations that govern data transparency, regulatory reporting and transparency in decision-making.
TFI also said it would seek to protect the national interest to increase awareness on the role of transparency in economic development and attracting FDI.
Spokesman for TFI, Epega, explained further that the enterprise aims to redefine the term ‘Transparency’, turning it into a strong culture for corporate governance in the land, to attract direct investment, both foreign and local, for the nation’s rapid development.
Epega, a brand expert, said it’s essential to overlay a practical platform for the use of improved business training courses as well as other tools such as open data, communication, ethics, compliance and other best practice prerequisites.
“Part of the vision is paving a practical platform for the use of improved business training courses and tools i.e. open data, communication, credibility, visibility, data, reporting, corporate governance, ethics, compliance, tax and audit, best practice that are essential to succeeding in business as well as attracting investment.
“The medium to long term outcome is to develop private sector Transparency Baseline Index that reports credible data and information on Nigerian companies in all sectors,” he said.
Throwing more light on the pressing need to deepen the culture of transparency, The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs. Uju Hassan Baba, said the issue of transparency should be made the centre piece of the nation’s development drive, just as he urged Nigerians to embrace the orientation.
According to Hassan Baba, “A strong culture of transparency and corporate governance is imperative if Nigeria is to attract both foreign and local direct investment required to build sustainable economic development. It can be done through policy, collaboration and determination.
“This is what the Transparency Forum is about and why we are a part of it. We stand ready to apply our technical expertise and know-how to this critical agenda. We call on the broader private sector community to join us, making transparency a centrepiece of the development drive of the nation.”
The people’s verdict
Recently, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Isaac Adewole, also made a call at the sixth Ibadan Sustainable Development Summit (ISDS) hosted by the institution that without good governance ingrained on transparency, all efforts of any sincere development may come to naught.
For Adewole, the African continent stands to gain a lot from Nigeria’s political and economic success, hence the urgent need to integrate transparency in the nation’s system.
Renowned professor of law and civil rights activist, Itse Sagay, said “corruption is the greatest scourge confronting this country today” and that all hands must be on deck to tackle it.
Sagay, who heads the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption dismissed claims that the war against corruption was selective.
“As for the question of selectivity, let me put it this way: any person who has not been guilty of corruption, who has not looted the funds of Nigeria, has no cause for alarm. So, all this escapist attitude of talking of selectivity and victimisation cannot arise; you cannot victimise an innocent man,” he explained to TheNiche.
“If any probe of those alleged to have looted the nation’s treasury is to have any meaning and not be seen as selective witch-hunt, then President Buhari should start with all past civilian administrations beginning from 1999.”
This is the position of the Labour Party (LP) through its national chairman, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam.
PDP stalwart, John Okon Essien, disagrees completely that Buhari’s anti-corruption war is not selective. He said the Presidency is once again up to the game he knows better, and that is going after his perceived political opponents just as he did in 1985 by jailing people between 20 to 300 years on corruption charges.
Essien said: “Nigerians are not surprised because Buhari cannot change his style. He jailed people in 1985 and 30 years after, he has come back to continue jailing his opponents. All the people he has been going after since he assumed office are people who have had one business to do with the Jonathan administration and all PDP members. I challenge anybody to point out real APC or even ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) or CPC (Congress for Progressives Change) member that is on trial. None!”
Last line
There seems to be a general agreement by experts that the prospect of increased transparency heralds an exciting prospect for the future of doing business in Nigeria, as well as improved political culture.