Ladesope Ladelokun
It is no fairy tale that when President Muhammadu Buhari conquered Nigeria’s highest office in the 2015 presidential election after three unsuccessful attempts, hope was birthed among millions of his supporters who liberally blessed him with their votes. It was hope anchored on the believe that the one who will take Nigeria to the Promised Land like the biblical Moses after our long sojourn in the wilderness had come.
While some of us, though erroneously, believed his emergence would bring about a period of moral renaissance that would redefine how we are perceived as a country among the comity of nations still have disappointment boldly etched on our faces, there are Nigerians who strongly believe that we expected too much from the Daura- born Nigerian leader ,likening our expectations to wanting him to turn stone to bread and water to wine. They argue that the damage of 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) misrule cannot be reversed in four years.
Much as one would agree that it is in fact easy to destroy than repair, Nigerians are not asking for a Pellar-like magic from their leader. He was sold to Nigerians as an upright Nigerian with rock-solid integrity. A no-nonsense General whose golden voice would make sleazebags shiver.The one who would make corrupt people develop apoplexy in a fair war against scourge of corruption
No doubt, Nigerians did not vote for a magician. So, it will be out of place to expect magic.We voted for a leader who is expected to provide leadership when it matters the most and truly be for everybody and not for anyone, especially when he rode on the crest of integrity to power.
But,truth be told, there are a thousand and one reasons to wonder if the man who occupies Nigeria’s highest office is the same retired General with the the sobriquet Mai gaskiya’ (purveyor of truth). Apart from hounding and jailing journalists and anyone perceived be too critical of the present government to kill dissent, nothing else casts Buhari as a no-nonsense General despite the phoney claim of being a converted democrat.
When he said corruption would kill Nigeria if Nigeria does not kill corruption, many had expected a total war to crush the monster. Today, one of the many ways the Nigerian leader has failed Nigerians in his graft war is his failure of the present government to stamp out corruption in the public service hiring processes.
Over four years after Buhari assumed office, recruitment scandals that advertise how corruption and manipulation have destroyed the public service have remained unceasing, especially when there are no consequences.
For instance, in 2016, in spite of the hue and cry that greeted the illegal recruitment at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when sons, daughters and relatives of the rich and mighty, including the president’s friends got engaged without due process, that questionable recruitment has been allowed to stand.
The dust raised by the nepotistic CBN recruitment had not settled when the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) secretly employed 350 new staff. And, just like the CBN, it was neither advertised nor approved by the Federal Character Commission as stipulated by service rules. In defence of its action, the CBN argued that they were ‘targeted recruitments’, leaving one to wonder why ordinary Nigerians were not targeted for the same plum positions. It is instructive to note that the same ordinary Nigerians are not forgotten during electioneering. They are shepherded to polling booths to fulfill the aspirations of their oppressors
Or who will forget the nepotistic recruitment into the Department of State Services, in which Katsina state alone, which happens to be the home state of the President and then Director-General of the agency, Lawal Daura, reportedly got the lion’s share with 51 recruits out of a total of 479 recruits. While the entire South south got 42, Lagos and Kano got 7 and 25 slots respectively. Is someone feigning ignorance of the fact that nepotism is in fact corruption?
In 2019, nothing appears to have changed in the fraud associated with recruitment processes in the public service. But it is not unexpected especially when previous questionable recruitments were allowed to stand.
Only recently, the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission (PSC) were locked in a battle over the recruitment of 10000 cops. The IG had awarded 528 slots to his Nasarawa State with 13 Local Governments when it was actually meant to have 156 slots based on the statutory twelve candidates per Local Government.
The PSC had revealed that, of the 528 recruited from Nasarawa, 372 candidates did not apply for the job but were allegedly included in the job list. Interestingly, even after a court orders that nullified the recruitment, they were disregarded by the IG – something the present government has gained notoriety for.
More ridiculous are the pesky tales of how some government agencies sell employment slots at humongous prices and how lawmakers are pained that their leaders allegedly shared slots given them by the FIRS among themselves.
But, in all of these, ordinary Nigerians who are only seen as instruments of fulfilling the aspirations of heartless politicians are the losers.” The Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, Danjuma Laa’h, hit the bull’s eye when he said, “ Some have become bandits and terrorists because the jobs meant for them have been cornered by some greedy people. Young educated Nigerians are joining Boko Haram because of a lack of jobs.”
With the gale of illegal recruitments sweeping through the public service with no consequence, it is not unexpected that more would still happen on the watch of Buhari. The unceasing recruitment scandals tell a sad story about the failure of institutions and why development may continue to elude us when merit and due process are thrown overboard.
It is time the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission( ICPC) and other relevant agencies beamed their searchlight on the decay that mocks Buhari’s fight against corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Ladelokun writes via [email protected]