Is EFCC after Waziri?

WHILE relieving Mrs Farida Waziri of her job as the chairman of the antigraft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity had been quoted as having said inter alia that: ”It is part of President Jonathan’s determination to revitalise the fight against corruption. President Jonathan may announce further reforms and will be looking at other key areas to give more vigorous emphasis to the transformation agenda.” In simpler terms, the former chairman of the EFCC had ceased to be seen as part of the fight against corruption by the establishment. As a matter of proper reference, her sack was even seen as a process of “revitalising the fight against corruption”
TO be sure, President Jonathan reserves the right to, as it is, sack anybody in the executive without even giving any explanation to anyone but it seems the self-recommended sack of Mrs Farida Waziri from the exalted position of the chairman of the EFCC is atavistic, at least a little bit. With her exit, the anti-graft commission has lost two chairmen in less than savoury circumstances.
WITH the benefit of objective hindsight, even the appointment of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the pioneer Chairman of EFCC was short of propriety and due process. In the bid to make him fit the bill, he was given an undue accelerated promotion, an act which the Police Service Commission (PSC) eventually had to reverse after the administration which appointed him left the scene. This is however not to take away anything from whatever may have been seen as Mallam Ribadu’s achievements during his beleaguered tenure. How indeed, could the administration effect a credible fight against corruption if the appointment of the head of the anti-graft agency reeked so much of impropriety? Interestingly, the establishment here tends to see corruption only as graft and malfeasance, whereas at the abstract and normative levels, it should include such acts as crude imposition which the appointment of Mallam Ribadu then represented.
MRS Waziri’s appointment was attended by a heavier cynicism from the public. EFCC under her was indulgent in prosecuting the Ibori case almost to the point of crass unprofessionalism. The former governor of the oil-rich Delta State had been a key player in the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and it had been rumoured that her appointment had been at Ibori’s instance. If the people were not excited by Mrs Waziri’s sack, it was probably because of their calloused cynicism about the genuineness of the purpose of the government. She will be remembered as an articulate and passionate speaker on the subject of corruption. She once observed quite perceptively that “if you fight corruption, corruption will fight back with everything it has got.” We agree.
THE fight against corruption is certainly not a circus show and it should be expected that the beneficiaries of corruption will not sit idly by and watch as their livelihood is attacked by those they see as a whining and disgruntled mob. The fight against corruption should be both total and institutionalised. If the sack of just an individual is being regarded as revitalising the fight against corruption, then we are afraid, the fight has not yet begun in the real sense. EFCC as it is currently is a corrupt brand. Its operatives are on the take from its rich and opulent suspects and this is why many men and officers of the Police Force jostle desperately for a posting there. The EFCC is seen as a juicy agency!
FOR the fight against corruption to be credible and sincere, there is a need to make the EFCC powerful and independent, an agency before which nobody is a sacred cow and which does not see anyone that cannot be investigated and duly prosecuted regardless of his or her office. A lot of work still has to be done on reworking the EFCC Act, especially on the qualification of its chairman, the officers and men. Nothing says they must have a police background. As a matter of fact, from experience, only those officers who may have distinguished themselves within the police force as incorruptible need be mobilised and they must be well trained to acquit themselves creditably. As observed by the ex-chairman of the EFCC, corruption is the bane of the country and without keeping it in check, there can be no hope of development or progress. It is unfortunate that this monster is at the core of the essence of Nigeria now.
CORRUPTION is too institutionalised and entrenched in Nigeria for its gods to be propitiated by only Mrs Waziri’s head or that of Mallam Ribadu or both. After sacking them, corruption has remained inviolable, dogging the very essence of Nigeria.
WE believe that punishing corruption is the only way to stem its tide. Those who have profited from it must be found out, duly punished and the rewards of the illegal acts confiscated. The EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies must ensure that those beneficiaries of corruption are prevented from enjoying the proceeds of their graft. It is sad that the ethos of the Nigerian society has been so virulently attacked by corruption that it has almost become the norm and people can no longer see corruption as an anomaly even when it stares at them in the face. Bribery, nepotism, favouritism, exam malpractices, federal character, among others, are all corruption by finer names. We know and we have always recognised that corruption is universal in all human societies, the difference is in what societies do to it. Some societies repudiate it while others like Nigeria celebrate it. Nigeria should make EFCC strong and independent enough to repudiate corruption on its behalf.