By Okey Ndibe
Before the 2015 presidential
election, Candidate Muhammadu Buhari essentially advertised himself as a
magician. Even though oil prices were tumbling, Mr. Buhari promised to pay
N5,000 a month to unemployed youth, make the country more secure, fix the perennial
electric power crisis, root out corruption, strengthen the naira against the
dollar and reduce the price per litre of fuel.
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| *Buhari |
Once elected, Mr. Buhari began a serial retreat from his promises. Nigeria Nigeria
The war against corruption has targeted some well-known persons, among them
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, former National Security Adviser, Sambo
Dasuki, and the spokesman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Olisa Metuh. Even so, the war appears imperiled in several ways.
One is Mr. Buhari’s failure to devise a fresh, innovative approach to combating
corruption. The cases currently in court are making plodding progress – and are
likely to drag on. Given the sheer number of suspects out there, the lesson is
that the prosecutorial route is not particularly promising.
Besides, as I suggested shortly after his inauguration, Mr. Buhari is mired in
an ethical bind: As some of the financiers of his campaign are perceived as
plunderers of public funds.
More troubling still is that the president has paid scant attention to ways of
plugging the loopholes that permit public officials and their cohorts to loot
funds. What we have, then, is a policy of patching a system that demands an
overhaul.
