The Nigerian Situation and a Philosopher’s Audacity -By Tony Osakpamwan Agbons

In the year 336 BC the Emperor, Alexander the Great visited the sprawling Greek City of Corinth. He met and asked the philosopher, Diogenes why he was sifting through a garbage heap on the outskirts of the town. Diogenes responded calmly “I am looking for the bones of your father, but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves”. Those twenty words are ladened with eternal truths which no mortal can dispute. No ifs, no buts. That classic response from the wise mind of the famous sage has continued to echo down the tunnel of history and remain sacrosanct till this day.

Just last week our media space and the eyes of the watching world were inundated with the disgraceful drama unfolding in Abuja, Nigeria`s federal capital. It was between the `white lion`, Yahaya Adoza Bello and the country`s anti-sleaze agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. What a bad and shameful optics! The import of this piece is not to examine ipso facto the merits or otherwise of the `legalese` from the case involving the former Kogi State strongman and the anti-corruption czar. It is essentially to x-ray the societal value and moral calculus of the entire melo-drama that is the N84 billion-naira Yahaya Bello-EFCC imbroglio and its subterranean impact on what remains (if any) of our moral nexus as a country. This is not the first of such optics and certainly won`t be the last. Come with me on the journey dear reader as we zoom through the `national pages` of our chequered annals of previous soap operas.

Take a bow the Owelle Rochas Okorocha – EFCC face-off, and cheers to Senator Godswill Akpabio of the ‘honourable minister, it’s okay, it’s okay. Off your mic!’ movie. Enter, the fainting scene of the former NDDC Acting MD, Prof. Pondei during the probe hearing of the Niger Delta Development Commission in July 2020. This list of soap operas will be deficient without the drama of how N36 million naira was devoured in the office by a `rattle` snake as reported by the sales clerk of JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board) Ms. Philomena Chieshe in February 2018. Another amazing phenomenon was the report by Mr Michael Akabogu, managing director NSITF (National Social Insurance Trust Fund) before the Senate public account committee hearing that termite ate N17.1 billion naira vouchers inside a container in their office. These paranormal abilities of Nigerian termites came to light when the senate committee was investigating the illegal transfer of the sum from First Bank and Skye Bank to personal accounts and companies in 2013. Fast forward to January 2024, we had the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister Betta Edu-gate over the alleged diversion of more than 585 million naira of public money into personal bank account of her staff, Bridget Oniyelu. There is also the alleged matter of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, involvement in the N438.1 million naira consultancy contract between New Planet Project Limited and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. The Interior Minister however denies any involvement. Also, in line is the alleged N8 billion naira money laundering probe by the EFFC of the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika. This list is ad infinitum and the soap opera performances unending. We can go on and on until thy kingdom come.

The question on the lips of well-meaning Nigerians is why those entrusted with the responsibility of superintending over our collective national resources appropriate such for themselves. What on earth is a sane human being stealing hundreds of billion naira for? Are these homosapiens going to be spending these monies after their death, in the afterlife? Are they going to be throwing parties for the Angels in Heaven or will they be paying the demons in hell to buy water to make it cooler? Your guess is as good as mine? What exactly do these folks need the stupendous acquisition and illicit wealth for? As it is, the competition for `money grabbing` has become an Olympia of who gets to the finishing line first and gets the gold medal. To me the penchant for cash and material acquisition (land, houses, cars, jets) by these dangerous grabbers is becoming somewhat of a mental health issue. The wanton, ruthless and reckless profligacy in our polity, governance and eco-system at all levels is just out of this world. There is sleaze all around from the political leadership to business executives, civil service, and other vital organs/institutions of state at all levels. Our judiciary, legislature, police, military, traditional, religious, and even the citizenry are not left out in this race to demolish our collective patrimony. It has become a free for all and a battle to grab and take what you can. A case of ‘you chop, I chop’ and survival of the fittest.

There must be a scientific explanation somewhere for the high levels of greed and embarrassing stockpiling of stolen money that has crippled the terrestrial called Nigeria. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer is an aphorism attributed to Percy Shelley. In his unfinished essay, A Defence of Poetry (1821, not published until 1840). Shelley remarked that the promoters of utility had exemplified the saying; “To him that hath, more shall be given; and from him that hath not, the little that he hath shall be taken away”. The rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer; and the vessel of the State is driven between the Scylla and Charybdis of anarchy and despotism. Let the search begin. I was in a conversation with a friend recently and he stoutly reminded me that `in Nigeria, those waiting and patiently awaiting their turn to loot our commonwealth are more than those looting it now`. I heaved and held my breath for a moment and quickly went for a glass of water to recover. The inference I could muster was that the moral barometer of our nationhood has been shattered and broken in pieces. Imagine what an impressionable 10 or 15-year-old would be thinking and feeling with all the shenanigans that was the recent Yahaya Bello and EFCC optics. Like many others before it, this circus show will dazzle for a little while and fizzle out of public view into oblivion. Values, it is often said, change human progress. In Nigeria the greed of the political class and elites is snuffing the life out of it. A society that celebrates, honour, reward men and women of graft/unexplained wealth gotten without industry have no premium for values and virtue. These have to change.

The fact that critical sectors of our country are moribund, comatose, and non-functional is not by happen chance. Ask yourself if the education, health, power (electricity), housing, agriculture, tourism, aviation, petroleum, transportation, security systems are working as it should be. The answer is obvious owing to decades of inflation of projects, underhand dealings, and other unprintable jungle stuff. In the final analysis, those stealing the wealth meant to develop Nigeria forget one thing. The Holy Book, stated in Job 1 verse 21; “Naked we came from our mother’s womb, and naked shall we return” (emphasis mine). That was the famous words of perhaps one of the richest men that ever lived on the surface of the earth. No mortal leaves this world with money, cars, houses, gold, silver, diamonds, or other material possessions at his or her burial. It is therefore vanity upon vanity for just a few individuals (less than 5%) in the society to keep looting, stealing, accumulating resources meant for the wellbeing of everybody. The looters of our God-given wealth in Nigeria should realise that Elysium awaits all mortals at an appointed time. None is going to dwell in this firmament forever. Like Diogenes the philosopher posited why sifting through the garbage heap wherein mortals lay, “I am looking for the bones of your father(s), but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves” (unquote). In Nigeria, we will look for the bones of the looters, but we will be unable to distinguish them from the bones of the masses. Remember, bones will be bones; will their final resting place be a dump heap or a mausoleum. It is idem eiusdem as we say in Latin.

Dr Agbons is Lead, Institute of Leadership and Good Governance @www.twin2.org