By Bolanle Bolawole
“In Japan, a corrupt person kills himself. In China, they kill him. In Europe, they jail him. (But) In Africa, he presents himself for election!”- Prof. PLO Lumumba.
Why will a person accused of corruption in Japan kill himself even before he is hauled before the court, tried, found guilty, and sentenced? Personal dignity and integrity. A sense of shame. Regrets. How will I face my family? What will people say? How will I walk the street again? Where will I hide my face? What public opprobrium have I brought upon myself and what disgrace and shame upon everyone having one thing or the other to do with me? After this, how and where will I start all over again? Without dignity, good name and integrity, what is left of life? Life is no longer worth living.
The Yoruba of yore knew this when they counsel every child: “Remember the son or daughter of whom you are!” That was when we were told to uphold the “Omoluwabi” ethos; when death was preferred to shame; and when going into slavery to earn a living was more honorable than stealing to live a life of opulence.
Why do they kill the corrupt in China? The story is told of how China built its Great Wall to prevent invaders from coming in. In those days, Imperial Japan tormented China to no end. The wall was impregnable and the Chinese felt secure within it. But its enemies found a joker: Rather than belabour themselves to scale the wall or bore holes in it, they simply bribed the guards at the gate, who flung the doors open for the invaders! So the Chinese must have learnt a hard lesson of the evils of bribery and corruption.
Europe on its part gave the world the Latin legal maxim “Nullum crimen sine lege”, meaning “no crime without law”. Once there is law and offence follows, there must be consequences. The Bible in Romans 4: 15 put it this way: “Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.”
What is worse - and which is what operates here in Nigeria - is that where there is law and offence follows; no consequence follows the offence! Impunity! The rich and powerful; the high and mighty are usually above the law here. The law catches only the poor and powerless; the rich and powerful are not only above the law, they ride roughshod over it!
Let us recap the story of the power equipment that were imported but were then abandoned at the ports for decades; when we return, we shall pass comments. It reads:
“President Bola Tinubu yesterday ordered the immediate clearance of over 300 containers of electricity equipment stranded at Nigerian ports — some for 14 to 20 years — and the Minister of Power, Olasunkanmi Joseph Tegbe, disclosed it after the FEC meeting at the State House. Not empty containers. They are critical grid infrastructure— high-capacity transformers, cables, switchgears and other transmission equipment meant to strengthen the national grid.
Minister Tegbe said: "Those containers are not empty containers. It is appalling to see that we find ourselves in such a situation." They were imported by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Power/Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) under various power projects over the years — including NIPP (National Integrated Power Project), TCN donor-funded projects, and Presidential Power Initiative equipment.
The Minister confirmed these high-capacity transformers must (have been) manufactured abroad because Nigeria lacks the specialised industrial capacity to produce equipment of that specification. So they were imported from manufacturers in China, Germany and other countries.
They were meant for transmission expansion and grid stabilisation nationwide: The new East and West Super Grids to raise transmission from 5,000MW to 19,000MW; upgrades along Lagos-Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors; and substations like Katampe, Ikeja West, and many others that were completed but never energised.
The 20-year delay was due to pure administrative failure and wickedness. According to the Minister: the delay was attributed to previous administrations’ failure to settle outstanding port charges and complete routine customs procedures; unpaid charges at NPA; incomplete customs clearance at Nigeria Customs Service; and no coordination between the Ministry of Power, NPA and Customs. (The) equipment (were) just abandoned at Apapa, Onne and other ports while Nigeria was in darkness.
Some containers have been there since the 2006-2012 era — (during the) Obasanjo, Yar'Adua, Jonathan and Buhari administrations. We paid for equipment, borrowed money for it, then left it to rot at port and kept paying demurrage.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, ordered the Ministry of Power to work with NPA and Nigeria Customs Service to clear all charges. Technical experts will open and audit each container to check what is still usable and what is obsolete after 20 years. Usable equipment will be deployed to ongoing projects, obsolete ones disposed of.
Honestly, this explains why we have 13,000MW generation capacity but can only transmit 5,000MW. The equipment to carry the power has been locked up at the port for 20 years while we hold national prayers for light.”
The questions we need to ask ourselves include: Are we okay? Do we actually act as human beings with sense and sensibilities - both leaders and the led? Can you imagine that we are taking this scandal in our strides, as just another of the many scandals that daily assault our sensibilities here!
No heads are rolling yet - and none may ever roll over this matter! No commission of inquiry will be set up! NLC and TUC cannot be bothered about this but are pursuing N70,000 peanuts that will keep them busy during this election window! No civil society group is marching on the National Assembly over this scandal! I am yet to see front page comments in any newspaper dripping with blood over this matter! Nothing! The whole realm is quiet and still! Life continues as usual!
Yet, the two major issues confronting us as a nation are the exorbitant price of fuel and epileptic power supply. As I write this, I do so in darkness. For two weeks running, there has been no light in my Agege, Lagos environment. At my church at Alapere, Ketu, the blackout has been on for months. Equipment meant to solve or ameliorate the power problem were left to rot at the ports for decades, spanning the tenure of five presidents and how many Ministers of Power!
Yet, there are no protests! No marches! It is as if we care less! Who did this to us! In our undergraduate days, we would be on the street protesting now - right under the nose of draconian military dictators! At Great Ife, we would have summoned “Congress”! And the rallying cry would have been “Lagos, Lagos, Lagos, Lagos, Lagos…” But today’s student union leaders have been sucked into the vortex of Nigeria’s corrupt system. They are busy collecting Prado jeeps and blood money all over the place. Labour leaders right from the days of Paschal Bafyau have become a caricature of vibrant labour leaders of the stature of Pa Michael Imoudu, Hassan Sunmonu and Frank Kokori. Where is ASUU in all of these? And where is CONUA or NAMDA?
I say every public-spirited Nigerian should be marching on this issue! We should demand a public inquiry! All those concerned - ex-presidents, ex-Ministers, ex-Heads of the parastatals concerned - should be called out. They all have questions to answer.
I can bet that the money used to buy the abandoned equipment was borrowed. We are neck-deep in debts; yet, the full benefits of the loans were cavalierly denied us! Why? Because those concerned do not suffer what we suffer. They run generators 24/7 at public expense. They fund themselves with money pilfered from the common till. The presidency itself has JAPA from the national grid - and we allowed it. That was the time we should have bombarded them and chased the bald-heads out of Aso Rock and out of town like Bob Marley crooned.
Oh my! Age is a terrible thing! In our youthful days we would storm anywhere with bared chests chanting, “How many people soldiers go kill oh/How many people soldiers go kill/I say you go kill us tire/Eh, eh, you go kill us tire/How many people soldiers go kill!
I suspect sabotage. The abandoned power equipment must be one of the reasons President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been unable to deliver on his promise to provide Nigerians stable power. To say he was misquoted or quoted out of context on this matter is jejune and hare-brained. Tinubu said it. We heard him. He promised it. And he added a caveat to boot: Don't vote me for second term if I fail. He meant well. But problems such as the abandoned power equipment must have worked against him; hence the reason he must get to the roots of this matter. If he fails to, then he becomes part of the problem.
There must be consequences for bad behaviour if we are to ever make any appreciable progress here.
Ondo state’s security vote: N3 Billion monthly?
When someone told me the security vote of Ondo state, my home state, is N3 billion monthly, I screamed. I disbelieve him, but without evidence. Such matters are kept as close secrets by those concerned, but they need not be. When we fail to disclose, we inadvertently create room for rumours. Fake and false news blossom in an atmosphere of non-disclosure. To dispel any rumors about the monthly security vote of any state, declare it! Say the truth and let rumour mongers be put to shame! So, how much is the monthly security vote of Ondo state? Like Jimmy Cliff crooned, I want to know/Everybody wants to know! I will walk tall, with springs in my heels, if my state has joined the league of the big states whose monthly security votes are counted in billions of Naira! Bragging rights!
FEEDBACK
Osun state pensioners are suffering…
As a State Contributory Pensioners' chairman in the past four years or more, I was privileged to have received my Bond in 2021, along with others, and the highest monthly pension that I have received is Fifty-One Thousand Naira only. Initially, it was #50,000.00 when I was with Veritas PFA for four solid years, after which I irritatedly moved to Custodian Annuity about two years ago with just One Thousand Naira increment, now making it Fifty-One Thousand Naira for more than two years.
No pensioner in Osun State, no matter how privileged, takes more than Eighty Thousand Naira monthly. Some even receive as low as Forty or Forty-Five Thousand Naira monthly. - Awodele Olusola Abiodun Eeegunjenmi, Coordinator, Independent Unbonded Contributory Pensioners, Osogbo, Osun State.
...Bola Bolawole is former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. He was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of The WESTERNER newsmagazine. Bolawole writes the ON THE LORD'S DAY column in the SUNDAY TRIBUNE and TREASURES column in the NEW TELEGRAPH newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television. Bolawole can be reached through his e-mail and phone:
