Do Looters In NDDC Want Their Names In The ‘Hall Of Faint’ Or Hall Of Fame? -By Isaac Asabor

Without sounding sanctimonious, our life as leaders in various spheres of life is about the conscious and unconscious choices we make. The choices that we make by each passing day as leaders determines how high or low we are rated by our respective followers, admirers and antagonists. Against the backdrop of the foregoing view, there is no denying the fact that as leaders that we do not have much control over our backgrounds, looks, genes, circumstances of our upbringing, and the inevitable events we at different stages passed through in life. However, all these do not rule out the fact that we have the choice to evoke the change and lead a life that we envision.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is germane to admit in this context that though leadership is a complex activity but that should not deter us as leaders not to always strive to demonstrate the right leadership qualities whenever we are given the opportunity to serve; particularly as regard the opportunities given to us by the government through election or appointment.

Though most of us as leaders usually entertain fears that we will fail when given leadership responsibility but we should not be ignorant of the words of Ronald Reagan that says “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Simply put our focus as leaders should be how to better the lot of the people; starting with those that directly work with us. In doing this, we should be able to be empathetic in leadership.

For the sake of clarity, empathy is a leadership competency, like no other skill, that can make a big difference when it comes to leadership. Empathy means being able to understand the needs of others. It means the leader is aware of their feelings and their thinking.

Analyzing this piece from the foregoing perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that democratic leadership in Nigeria, since 1999, has being chock-full with a literary gape-mouthed corruption that is ready to swallow any amount of money it comes across. In fact, the quality of political leadership in the country today is as low as you may deem to imagine. With only a handful of exceptions, leadership from both political and corporate leaders in the country has passed through the trajectory of the underwhelming to the desolate, and reprehensibly to the appalling.

Just about every ministry, department or agency one pries his eyes into, what one would regard as the essential attributes of responsive and effective political or political leadership would be found to have gone missing.

Of more worrisome to virtually all Nigerians; both at home and in diaspora, and investors in the international community is the soaring rate of political corruption that pervades in the country. Political corruption, which is the use of powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain and an illegal act by an officeholder, has now become the order of the day. It constitutes political corruption particularly when the act is directly related to their official duties, and is done under the hue of law or involves trading in influence. It is expedient to add in this context that forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and embezzlement.

However, permit me to say that this piece is primarily concerned with financial malfeasance or corruption as it has ignobly become the collective Achilles’ heel of our contemporary political leaders. As it is, it appears none of them wants his or her name to be entered in the hall of fame. Rather, most of them want their names to be recorded in the hall of shame which in this perspective is in a phrase, metaphorically referred to as “hall of faint”.

Yes, why won’t anyone opine that some of our shameless politicians being witnessed in the recent time are literarily deeping their itchy fingers into public funds in order to occupy the topmost position in the hall of faint?

Without any iota of exaggeration, Nigerians are at the moment are witnessing an unprecedented grand level of corruption in the form of bribes and kickbacks at the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) paid to politicians and public officials in exchange for large public contracts.

There is no denying the fact that NDDC was established in 2000 with the mission of facilitating the rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful.

In a similar vein, the vision behind the establishment of the NDDC is to offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the region and to integrate its rapid and sustainable development into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful.

At this juncture, it is germane to take a retrospective look at the magnitude of the sleaze that has been going on in the NDDC, particularly since a forensic audit exercise commenced in the commission. Shockingly enough, the House of Representatives, precisely on July 15, 2020, discovered that the Commission has spent N81.5 billion on frivolous items from January to May this year.

Olubumi Tunji-Ojo, Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, who disclosed this at the investigative hearing on alleged Financial Malfeasance in the NDDC, said the discovery was made after going through books submitted by both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF).

He gave breakdown of the expenditure as follows: Community relations -N1.3 billion, Condolences- N122.9 million, Consultancy: N83 million, Covid-19- N3.14 billion, DTA (Duty Travel Allowance) – N486 million Impress- N790.9 million and Lasser fever- N1.956 billion.

Others are: Legal Services- N900 million, Maintenance- N220 million, Overseas travel- N85.6 million, Project Public Communication- N1.121 billion, Security- N744 million, Staffing related payment- N8.8 billion, Stakeholders engagement (February 18- May 31, 2020 N248 million.

It was also gathered that the Commission received a whopping N946. 91 billion as budgetary allocation in 18 years, and that the sum is part of the N9.43 trillion allocated between 1999 to 2019.as 13 per cent derivation to the nine oil producing states and other agencies of the Federal Government involved developing oil producing communities.

Against the backdrop of the colossal height of corruption that has been going on in the Commission, it is expedient to ask, “Do looters in NDDC want their names in the ‘Hall Of Faint’ or Hall Of Fame?”

The foregoing question which is invariably the headline of this piece, has become apropos when visualized from the somewhat apprehensive way and manner the acting Managing Director of the Commission, Prof Daniel Pondei, fainted where he was seated after the members of the House Committee on NDDC grilled him for about 45 minutes.

To many Nigerians, our leaders, not just in the NDDC, should always ensure that their names are entered in the Hall of Fame and not the “Hall of Faint”.