By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
I have
said it so several times that when Nigerian politicians converge to map out
plans for acquiring power, which, in most cases, practically translates to
securing unlimited access to unearned wealth, they do not usually remember that
they came from different ethnic blocks. At such gatherings, they will all think
alike, talk with one voice and even look and laugh alike. They will speak the
same language.
Indeed, illicit accumulation and all forms of corrupt activities do not have tribal marks. The colour of graft is the same any day, no matter who is involved.
At such
times, the masses are hardly remembered. They do not matter at all. Everybody
is preoccupied with the much he or she would be able to accumulate and cart
away for his personal luxury and that of his family and cronies.
In the introduction to my book, “Nigeria:Why Looting May Not Stop,” I maintained that corruption became very monstrous in Nigeria “when public office gradually ceased to be a platform for rendering selfless service and transformed into the easiest route to criminal accumulation of wealth. And the law, too, became increasingly very weak in the face of the overwhelming sleaze. Since then, generations of public officers have passed through this route, looting the country blind with utmost impunity and quitting office into incredible abundance, without any fear of anyone ever prying into the clearly unearned wealth they flaunt with revolting fanfare…”
