ARTICLE: On Nigeria's Current Anti-Corruption War By De Norsemen Kclub Incorporated

Corruption, according to Transparency International, is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This has been a bane in the Nigeria’s society. It is so pervasive that it has eaten deep into the fabrics of virtually every aspect of human endeavor in the country. Accredited international institutions and their likes had even rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Since the establishment of modern public administration in Nigeria, there have been cases of this abuse of entrusted power to satisfy personal interest by public officers. The rise of public administration and the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria are two major occurrences that have resulted in the increase in corruption in the country.

The Nigerian government has established structures aimed at tackling corruption and bring it to a halt through the formulation and the enforcement of laws, but the success recorded has been very slow. As at 2012, Nigeria is estimated to have lost over $400 billion since independence as a result of corruption.

However, this present government has emphasized on the fight against corruption as one of its cardinal objectives. On assumption of office, it has probed into the spending of $2.1 billion appropriated by the previous government to prosecute the war against the Boko Haram insurgency. The fall out of the probe is the arrest and subsequent prosecution of some top Nigerians by the anti graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). These Nigerians  are mostly members of the present leading opposition party in the country and some even served under the previous government.

Aside this, there has also been the arrest and prosecution of some other top Nigerians by the EFCC and other anti graft agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on allegations of offences of corrupt practices with most of the suspects also falling under the class of being  members of the current leading opposition party and or have served the government under the previous administration.  This anti corruption crusade has been seriously criticized as some believe that it is a one sided fight. There has also been this accusation of non-compliance with the rule of law on the part of the government as it tries to fight corruption.

De Norsemen Kclub International (DNKI) will not jump into conclusion in saying that it is one sided or not. As we know, law requires that the security agencies suspect, investigate and then arrest for further investigation if need be and if the suspect is found culpable, he will be prosecuted, but if not he will be freed. It is based on this that we cannot conclude at this point because we are not sure who and who would have been evidentially traced to any corrupt practice by the security agencies to be able to know for sure if the government is selective or not in this fight. The truth of the matter is that if the present government is one sided in this fight against corruption or not, time shall tell. On the issue of non-compliance with the rule of law, it is only the law courts that have been constitutionally empowered to determine that. If anyone feels that the rule of law is not being followed in dealing with him in this fight, he can always approach the court for determination.

This notwithstanding, corruption has been a bane in this country and it is something that every patriotic citizen should support it being completely eliminated. Thus, any government that will show the will to fight it, we will support it, but we will always encourage it to be done following due process of law as our constitution has expressly stated.  
 
Tony Ebri Eteng
President, De Norsemen Kclub Incorporated.