This is an article written by Etcetera.
The APC is now being haunted by the saying, “When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you.” If it knew, it wouldn’t have accused Goodluck Jonathan of running a very corrupt government. Most times, we forget to listen to the voice of reason that says, “Look in the mirror, brother. You might just be talking about yourself.”
It is now clear that the APC focused on the speck in
Jonathan’s eye and ignored the log in their own eyes.” Who would have
thought that just few weeks into a new regime in Lagos State, Fashola
would be engulfed with the following accusations – Drilling of just two
bore holes with N139m, remodelling and equipping of the official
residence of the state’s Chief Judge at N510m, reconstructing of a car
park with N640m, spending N300m to relocate cables, N175m to replace the
railings of a pedestrian bridge, N220m on the facility management of
the Lagos State University College of Medicine, N619m on surface repair
of a road, N1.2bn on the construction of an unidentified multi-storey
building, N1.6bn on the construction of a 48-bedroom hotel.
These things don’t seem like what a person as intelligent as the former
governor would do; especially for those of us who regard him as one of
the very few bright spots of our democracy. In fact, I am still of the
belief that in the annals of corrupt governors in Nigeria, his place
remains to be seen. But the question here is, can the Lagos State
government come out with such weighty accusations without having
evidence to back them up?
It was in the papers that “some in the former governor’s circle” are
worried he might face charges. If that happens and if he is found guilty
and if it results in conviction and if he ends up in prison-yes, four
ifs-then considering his achievements in Lagos State, all other former
governors from other states (especially the eastern states) should have
long since been in jail awaiting his company. But yet again, does any
governor go to jail in Nigeria?
Over drinks at a bar around Omole Estate, Ikeja last Monday, a friend
who works in one of the ministries at Alausa laughed as he finished off
his beer.
“Everything’s messed up, and nobody goes to jail,” he said. “Etcetera,
that’s your whole article right there. Hell, you don’t even have to
write anything more. Just write that.”
I put down my phone. “Just that?”
“That’s right,” he said, signalling to the waitress for the cheque.
“Everything’s messed up, and nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece
right there.”
Sounds funny but sincerely, “Nobody goes to jail” should be the mantra
of our democracy, one that has seen virtually almost every public office
holder embroiled in obscene criminal scandals — and nobody went to
jail. Nobody, that is, except Alamieyeseigha, and that was probably
because of the attention he brought on the nation as a result of his
dress sense from the UK. And the Federal Government has apologised for
the mistake by granting him full pardon.
If Fashola is found guilty of these allegations, he should face the
music. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. But a veritable
mountain of evidence indicates that when it comes to government
officials, the justice system not only buckles at punishing criminals,
it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism for protecting
them.
This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who’s in office or which party is in power.
To understand how the machinery functions, you have to look back, at least, at Obasanjo’s time in Aso Rock, as case after case of financial malfeasance was pursued too slowly or not at all. Indeed, the shocking pattern of no enforcement with regard to corrupt public officials is so deeply ingrained in our democracy that it raises a profound and difficult question about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those misdeeds are.
The Justice Department has evolved into a bizarre species of social surgeon serving this untouchable class.
This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who’s in office or which party is in power.
To understand how the machinery functions, you have to look back, at least, at Obasanjo’s time in Aso Rock, as case after case of financial malfeasance was pursued too slowly or not at all. Indeed, the shocking pattern of no enforcement with regard to corrupt public officials is so deeply ingrained in our democracy that it raises a profound and difficult question about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those misdeeds are.
The Justice Department has evolved into a bizarre species of social surgeon serving this untouchable class.
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