Just Asking, “Are Women ‘Betta’ Corrupt Than Men As They Don’t Steal a Little?” -By Isaac Asabor

It is not an exaggeration to opine that one of the funs aunties, mothers and grandmothers cheerfully exhibited to the admiration of teenagers under the moonlight in the past, particularly before television and internet became commonplace was the telling of stories purposely aimed at the younger ones in order to share a common history to them, to either reinforce cultural values, or highlight important traditions.

Personally, this writer as a teenager in the mid to late 70s was wont to gather with his siblings, cousins, and other relatives and playmates around either his paternal grandmother, aunties or older cousins who by each passing evening, particularly under the moonlight, listened to folktales from older ones.

Whoever is to tell the story would start off by yelling thus: “Story, Story”, to which we would reply, “Story”, and the storyteller would in turn yell, “Once upon a time”, and we would in eagerness howl back thus: “Time, Time”.

And then the storyteller would begin the story, and we would all be magically transported to the story world, where actors, majorly animals, would be mentioned to tell the wonderful tales that are always didactic as they convey moral values. Being folktales, there were many animal roles, of which Mr. Tortoise always made star appearance, and by the end of the story we would learn the lessons that are inherent in whatever story that was told.

At this juncture, it is expedient to opine that the story of the Tortoise and the yam thieves is illuminating enough in this context to express one’s view on the scandal over which the humanitarian affairs minister Dr. Betta Edu was few days ago suspended as a result of her approval of payment of humongous N585.2 million into a private account of a civil servant.

The story goes thus: “In Aniri village, there was a lion who ruled over the village. In the village also lived Tortoise who was hardworking. He had two wives and four children.

One day, Tortoise was working on his farm. He heard a voice in the bush saying, “Pack those yams.” He tried to run to where the voice came from. He was too slow, and the thieves made away with the yams. In fact, Mr. Tortoise was sad because he could not catch the thieves. He told himself, “A thief has ninety-nine days. One day is for the owner!”

At the end of the day’s work, Tortoise went back home, and immediately went to the king’s palace to report the theft. The king and his cabinet made plans on how to capture the thieves.

Another day, Tortoise went to the farm. He heard the same voice saying, “Let’s go, let’s go!

Given the foregoing untoward development, Tortoise shouted loudly, “Thieves oh, thieves oh!” The king had ordered the villagers to hide in the bush nearby. They all came out. They saw that it was the female hyenas. The thieves were taken to the king. Consequently, having being found culpable, the king sent them away from the kingdom. They had no yams to eat. According to the moral lessons that are inherent in the story, that is why hyenas, particularly the female hyenas, eat leftovers of what other animals eat.

However, despite the lessons that are inherent in the fable, the king (the Lion) demanded from Tortoise and other animals what they think should be done to stop stealing in the animal kingdom. While majority of the animals suggested that any animal caught to be a thief should be tried, and jailed base on the quantity stolen if found culpable, Tortoise differed in his suggestion as what other animals unanimously suggested was that thieves that stole much would be sentenced to a longer term in jail than the animals that stole a little.

Tortoise in his own advice told the king that since female hyenas are known to steal humongous tubers of yam from his farm, the King should commissioned the town crier to announce that female hyenas should “Please, Just Steal a Little” whenever they steal.

Without resorting to pointing accusing fingers at this writer that he is gender biased, it is expedient to recall in this context that a branch of the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) through a report that was prepared by its Data Development and Dissemination Section of the Research and Trend Analysis a concluded in a research that men are not “Betta” than women when it comes to taking bribe, which is also an hint of corruption. The report is titled, “Gender and Corruption in Nigeria December 2020”

However, before the publication of the UN Report cited in the foregoing, it is expedient to recall that Mr. Ibrahim Magu, then the Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in 2017 stirred a gender controversy about corruption as he said that corrupt tendencies are more pronounced among males than females.
While unarguably exonerating women from being purveyors of corruption, He said, “Looking at the number of people that have been apprehended by the commission, the men involved outnumbers the women,” Magu said in Abuja.

Unfortunately, hs did not mentioned the humongous amounts which women had allegedly stolen from Nigeria’s national treasury in one fell swoop when he made the statement before the executive committee of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), which paid him a courtesy visit at the time.

For instance, Nigeria’s former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was few years ago arrested in connection with a British probe into international corruption and money laundering as she was accused of diverting state funds, awarding multi-billion naira contracts without regard for due process, as well as recklessly spending government funds.

Ostensibly shocked by the ginormous amount of money allegedly being stolen from Nigeria’s national treasury by the now suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation after she allegedly diverted more than 585 million naira ($640,000; £500,000) of public money into a personal bank account, Timothy, a private security personnel based in Ogba, Lagos State, hysterically laughed to the admiration or condemnation of no one in particular, as he intermittently screamed, “Obirin”, “Obirin” “Obirin!” in Yoruba, which literarily means, “Women”, “Women” “Women!”

In fact, if the allegations levelled against Dr. Betta Edu, is humongous enough, it is not an exaggeration to opine that that of the former minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq is more humongous in the actual meaning of the adjective. Little wonder she is been questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of corruption in the handling of N37.1 billion social intervention funds during her tenure.

Timothy, who now moved close to this writer continued to scream as he showed his phone that conveyed the sleaze story to this writer, and asked, “Can you imagine? We pay taxes, I can barely eat, and now this?” He said, “If you’re going to steal,” he said, echoing the famous words of Mobutu Sese Seko, the former dictator of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), “please, just steal a little.” Just like the Tortoise had said in the fable cited as an anecdote earlier in this context, I concur that women in government should please steal a little as not a few Nigerians are at the moment struggling with the thoughtful question, “Are women ‘Betta’ corrupt than men as they don’t steal a little?”