Promise Adiele
Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, relives the life of Bigger Thomas, a black young man, who grows up in a racially prejudiced, poverty-stricken American environment in the 1930s. Growing up, Bigger confronts racism in a society established in the promotion of white supremacy. In response to the racially stratified American society with its misbegotten, reprobate policies, Bigger embraced multiple vices which culminate in his becoming a robber, a cheat, and a murderer.
Although Wright does not exonerate Bigger, the writer, however, implies that Bigger is a native of the society that produced him. He is a product of the brutal racial onslaught which in turn is a native of the American society. In living a life of hate, bitterness, robbery, and murder, Bigger was only responding to the endemic racial tensions in his society. Racism was native to America, therefore Wright rightly calls Bigger the native son.
In different ways, corruption is entrenched in Nigeria. The vice has become a native of the motherland. Our country produces very corrupt people whose convictions and worldview are shaped by a desperate resolve to acquire materiality through cheating and diverse fraudulent means. It is impossible to turn to any aspect of Nigerian society without an audacious confrontation with corruption. Perhaps, it could be because the original foundation of Nigeria by Lord Lugard was primordially shrouded in fraud and corrupt intentions. If we agree that the initial template for the creation of Nigeria as a country was subsumed in fraud, should it extenuate our continual frolicking in the cesspool of corruption? Unfortunately, when corruption is mentioned in Nigeria, government establishments and officials come to mind. Every day, the media is awash with stories of corrupt practices by public officials. The amount of money involved is mind-boggling. It becomes more benumbing when the embezzled funds are meant to improve the lives of millions of suffering Nigerians. According to the former British Prime Minister David Cameron, “If the amount of money stolen out of Nigeria in the last 30 years was stolen in the UK, the UK would not exist again”. Yet, Nigeria has existed despite daily pillaging of the public purse. It defies reason why some people, who have been involved in public service for many years, benefitting from the largesse of office, will continue to steal with compulsion. For these people, the appetite for lucre is infinite. They steal even what they do not need.
While corruption at the government level immediately arrests our attention, drawing vile remarks, corruption in Nigeria is everywhere. When corruption gets to government circles, it is already an adult. If you check government officials involved in corrupt practices, they didn’t develop the attitude while in government. It has always been a part of their growth, from primary school days to date. Many Nigerians are born into corruption, they see it every day. Unfortunately, our society celebrates those who rise to stardom riding at the back of corrupt practices. If corruption is not destroyed from the roots, the fight against it at the public service level will only be lip service. Look around the society, the garri seller in the market manipulates her instrument of measurement for selling her wares because she wants to cheat. The man who sells rice and beans in bags mixes them with pebbles for gain. The petrol station attendant wants to cheat. The salesperson in the store is determined to cheat. The motor mechanic is only concerned with cheating. In every office, in every market, cheating is the order of the day. Many businesses in Nigeria thrive on fraud and corruption. Remove corruption from the Nigerian menu, many businesses will ultimately collapse. Our financial institutions indulge in subtle criminality by remote deductions and because these deductions are very small, the customers do not worry. The importer imports fake products into our country and somehow, our customs department watch and pray.
It is impossible to turn to any level of our society without confronting corruption. It is only when people have grown up and developed through a culture of corruption that they perfect the act when they get into public service and began to steal in billions. Check the record of all the people indicted in corrupt or fraudulent practices. Their lives developed through the rank and file of corruption. The student wants to cheat to pass exams. Parents are determined to see their children pass exams, therefore they offer money for cheating, compromising the teachers. The engineer will build with sub-standard materials because he wants to cheat. The electricity distribution company will fraudulently give people outrageous electricity bills even when the people did not use electricity. I call it official corruption. Our law enforcement establishments are a haven for corrupt practices. Daily, people recount their experiences in the hands of those who should ordinarily protect them. The way money changes hands in various police stations reminds one of a typical banking hall in Nigeria. Indeed, corruption has become a native of the motherland, therefore produces native children.
Given the above analogy, it becomes ridiculous to read and hear that the present government is fighting corruption. Although many people have submitted that the fight against corruption by the present administration is skewed to protect some people, it does appear that the fight is only targeted against those outside the protective shield of the present government. While I support every attempt to arrest corruption, a more proactive fight against the scourge should be adopted.
It is against the grain of moral rectitude to expect someone with questionable personal life to be a decent public figure. I always hear Nigerians make a distinction between private and public life and I ask, what is the difference? A thief at home will inevitably steal in public but with more sophisticated machinery. It is immoral to expect people who lied about their educational, professional and other qualifications to fly the flag of integrity in our country. To turn a blind eye or ignore a corrupt person on the grounds of a party, ethnic or business affiliation is in itself a corrupt practice. It is an act of corruption for the electorates to vote a man who has completely impoverished his state as a governor to becoming a senator. Also, it is an act of corruption on the electorate to support such persons to the office of the president in 2023.
To save our country from the throes of corruption is going to take a gradual but determined process and not a knee-jerk approach. There should be a massive orientation and sustained media campaign against all forms of corruption no matter how little. Children should grow up knowing that corruption is not a native of Nigeria. When they do, as adults, they will not become natives to corruption. Also, there should be stiffer penalties against corrupt practices in our country so that those we love to call the leaders of tomorrow will grow up to imbibe the right values. For now, let us agree with Ayi Kwei Armah that The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born.
Dr Adiele teaches in the Department of English, Mountain Top University via [email protected]