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Wiki-d Corruption

Jan 07, 2011 Editorial

While we await the release of the alleged 300-odd US cables on Guyana that were pilfered and delivered to WikiLeaks, we have a very clear picture of what may emerge: tales of corruption. This is not to pick on our country or its administration. The cables expose the sad but sordid reality that evidently it is corruption – greased of course by money – that makes the world go round. No one country is spared – even the US, whose diplomats originated the cables.
It is revealed, for instance, that the US used its aid program to coerce small and vulnerable states such as the Maldives to go along with the Climate agreement at Copenhagen. This is corruption of the entire Climate Change process by the nation that historically has been the largest polluter on the planet, and one that has done more than any other country to bring us to the precipice of uncontrolled global warming.
But we have been more titillated by the corruption of those in governance, who are expected to be working for the development of their countries. These stories resonate more closely with our reality. Recently Foreign Policy highlighted some of the more blatant examples of official corruption.  Heading its list was Nigeria with a Transparency International Corruption ranking 134 of 178 countries. It demonstrates the importance of “friends”.
“The Deal: There is, no doubt, more than one way to smuggle contraband into Nigeria. But if you’re in the presidential palace, things get more complicated. That’s apparently one reason that former Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua stayed close to Dahiru Mangal, a businessman from his home state of Katsina. In a 2008 cable, a “longtime mission contact” tells the embassy that Mangal is “Yar’Adua’s ‘go-to man’ to accomplish ‘anything filthy that Yar’Adua needs done’ … and also the ‘go-to’ for any wealthy Nigerian, who wants to import ‘just about anything’ into Nigeria.”
It worked this way: Mangal owns a warehouse across the Niger border in which he stores hundreds of 40-foot shipping containers. XXX claimed Mangal is able to import goods from around the world, including China. In return, Mangal requests a flat fee of 2 million naira (USD 17,000), excluding the cost of goods. Approximately 100 containers per month are brought into Kano, and goods are then delivered to clients or sold in Kano’s Kurmi market.
The Dirt: Yar’Adua kept up a front of enforcing the rule of law while in office (he reportedly asked Mangal to sever his illicit ties when Mangal became an official presidential advisor, according to the cable). His wife, Turai, however, is rumored in Nigeria to be pulling no such punches.
One embassy source noted the following incident: XX said XXXX had been approached recently by a man claiming to speak on behalf of First Lady Turai Yar’Adua. The person, who arrived at the meeting with XXXX, in a Peugeot with a “presidential” license plate, told XX the First Lady would “allow” them to construct the homes, so long as she is given an advance payment of 250 million naira (USD 2 million). XXXX said he was willing to offer the First Lady twenty plots of land instead, to which the presumed emissary grimaced.
This anecdote merely touches on the massive scale of corruption in Nigeria, which has been well-documented elsewhere. Suffice to say that after the ex-president declared his assets at the beginning of his term, many wondered in what other country a chemistry professor turned rural outpost governor could earn $7 million. (Plus, the cable actually suggests that he underestimated his wealth, excluding “an USD 10 million house in central London.”) Turai Yar’Adua has not responsed publicly to the allegations in the cable.”
What is extraordinary is that the US embassy officials in the implicated countries were able to secure the evidence of corruption so completely while the opposition figures stood silent. Maybe they are merely waiting their turn. In our country, there has been too much smoke for there not to be some serious corruption fire burning from the highest levels. Later this year, let us ensure we do not “exchange” for “change”.

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