The war against corruption, Which way forward? By Lesley Chimezie

One word that has remained on the lips of many Nigerians in recent times is corruption. No discussion of a socio-political nature is ever complete without a mention of the word.

Corruption has been identified by different successive government as being the bane of national development. They also have come up with several policies to reduce the menace of corruption. In fact the Muhammadu Buhari led government rode to power on the wings of the promise to fight corruption ruthlessly. And as promised, since inception of office the current administration has embarked on what it calls war against corruption that has seen many officials of the preceeding administration being locked up and charged to court on accusations of various corrupt practices. Though after over one year there has been no convictions yet.

One thing many people would agree to is the fact that corruption is a cancer that has eaten deep into the fabric of our nation and threatens our very existence. We will also agree that corruption has to be tackled really soon if Nigeria is to make any progress as a nation. But the big question is how do we fight this corruption? Where is the fight supposed to start from? Who should spearhead the war on corruption?

It is generally believed, especially amongst the citizenry, that the political class and law enforcement agencies are corrupt. That they are only there to steal and loot. The political office holders blame the civil service and civil servants for the rot in the system. And so the buck passing and blame trading goes on.

To the citizens the required change can only come by changing those in political offices. But indeed corruption transcends just the political class and office holders. It goes beyond the civil service or even the public service and law enforcement.

Corruption runs deeper than that. It is a deeply rooted malignancy with tentacles running across every sphere of society. Tackling the menace of corruption must start from the very root. From the women and men in the market, to the driver and conductor on the road. From the teachers and students in the classrooms as well as the parents of these students. The artisans and various professionals are not left out. Each one has been tainted one way or the other by corruption. Unfortunately no one is willing to take responsibility, it is much easier to shift the blame to next person.

No house is built starting from the roof neither does a tree grow from the top. Since corruption is a societal problem, dealing with the problem must begin from the foundation of society; the individual.

From the beginning of time, society has developed several punitive measures aimed at ensuring law and order and deterring wrongdoers and offenders. Some offences carry punishments as grave as death sentence. However this has done little to reduce the rate of criminality and offences in the society. Same is obtainable in the issue of corruption. A lot of people have been arrested, prosecuted and some jailed on corruption allegations, yet corrupt practices thrive daily in the society.

In fact in Nigeria there is a new slogan by the government and ruling party; "Corruption is fighting back". They say those who are guilty of corrupt practices are employing unwholesome maneuvers to stifle and frustrate the government's efforts at fighting corruption. There have also been accusations from some quarters that the government has been partial in is fight against corruption, wielding heavy hammers on the opposition while patting party faithful on the back.

The truth is with all these back and forth swinging between the various stakeholders, nothing meaningful can come out of the war against corruption.

The question pops up again. How then do we solve the problem of corruption?

The average citizen will tell you that the political leaders are the problem and should be removed. If we remove all these leaders, where will the next set of leaders be taken from? Nobody will come from heaven to govern Nigeria. Whoever is taking over from the so called corrupt leaders will also come from the same society with the same foundations as the ousted ones. If the pool is dirty, changing the drawing pail would not make the water clean. The source of the pollution must first be discovered and taken care of if clean water is to be drawn from the pool.

A wrong doer will always have a justification for his wrong deed. And if he is being punished for it he most likely take offence and seek means to get redress.

Therefore rather than emphasise on the punishment for wrong doing, more efforts should be made to recondition and reposition the minds of the citizens by making them see the importance of being free of corruption.

From early ages, concise efforts must be made to teach the younger generations the virtues of integrity because where there is no offence there will be no need for punishments. Once we imbibe the habit and principles of integrity, naturally, corruption will reduced.

A change in attitude is the effective way of solving societal crises. One can only make a child do something forcefully for a time, after a period, the child becomes accustomed to the punishment and develops a thick skin and heart of reprobation so that he feels he can commit the offence and face the punishment without remorse. But when the child is taught the importance of doing the right things, he/she would naturally abhor the wrong things.

So rather than spend so much on punitive measures, more investments should be made on strengthening institutions;especially educational institutions.

 Because almost all leaders who direct the affairs of the country pass through one educational institution or the other, if their minds are put aright on time, there would little or no need for punishments, there would be no need for fighting corruption.

Integrity is the natural antidote for corruption.

Let us all imbibe and cultivate attitude of prudence and integrity as we all look forward to a corruption free Nigeria and society as large.