The verity of the saying, “if you want to steal without being arrested, become a politician” is incontestable in our dear country, Nigeria.
Politics is rightly defined as a dynamic process whereby human and other human resources are managed, directed after due mobilization to ensure the enforcement of public policy and decision in the bid to regulate social order but in the Nigerian context, it is the art of diverting public funds for personal use while enjoying special immunity that places you above the law.
Over the years, politics in Nigeria has become associated with embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, bribery and corruption. You cannot be a politician in Nigeria without being fantastically corrupt!
When counting the problems of Nigeria, I count bad leadership twice. Bad leadership is the reason the giant of Africa has remained crippled after sixty (60) years of independence. Nigerian politicians see public offices as an avenue for self-aggrandizement and fattening of their bank accounts. This explains the reason they defect from one political party to another when their political interest is no longer guaranteed in the present political party. This is why indiscriminate party defection have become the hall mark of Nigerian politics.
In Nigeria, people go into politics and contest for elections into public offices for the sole purpose of siphoning the nation’s resources and looting the nation’s treasury. However, this selfish and greedy motive is hidden before the elections. During the political party’s campaign, they would make many promises that would portray them as the saviour of the people. The story changes once the mantle of leadership falls on them. The promise to fight corruption is forgotten and corruption gains momentum right under their nose. Misappropriation and embezzlement of funds becomes the order of the day. Policies that would favour their ethnic and religious groups to the detriment of other groups are enacted. They surround themselves with fellow thieves as ministers and advisers who would assist them to tactically divert funds to their personal accounts. Nigerian politicians are a cabal of criminals whose sole aim is to loot the nation’s treasury and they have been doing this wonderfully well.
It is ironic that the ones saddled with the responsibility of maximizing our welfare are the ones subjecting us to penury. Instead of representing the collective interest, they champion their personal and selfish interests. P.O.C Umeh rightly called them “Ambassadors of poverty”.
It is funny how Nigerian leaders frown at and commit themselves to fighting crime without realizing that the various crime being perpetrated by the younger generation reveals a failure of leadership. The youths steal because those at the helm of affairs steal. Corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society because the leaders are fantastically corrupt. Honesty is gradually going into extinction because those in authority are liars, deceitful and stifle the truth. In other words, the vices of the followers mirror the vices of the leaders. Thus, the frightening crime rate in Nigeria is only a symptom of the criminality of the Nigerian ruling class.
It is disheartening that our leaders are bereft of ideas on how to curtail the insecurity, curb the threats of secession, resolve the issue of epileptic power supply and improve the health and educational sector in the country but they are second to none in rigging elections to favour their political party, mobilizing thugs to fight their political foes and stealing from the nation’s treasury.
Politics in my country is an opportunity to get access to the vast resources of the nation and the art of mismanaging the resources, appropriating it for personal use thereby leaving the masses in squalor, penury and impoverished.
Politicians in my country are patriots in reverse order, having their head abroad and anus at home. They are merchants of loot who loot our treasury. They are barons of incompetence, position occupants and enemies of service. They are corrupt masters of the economy whose sole aim is to siphon the nation’s resources. They are kleptomaniacs who embezzle and steal public funds with impunity. They are office loafers who occupy positions they do not deserve. They contribute to the political, economic and social malaise of the nation by their greed, selfishness and ineptitude.
Ezinwanne Onwuka writes from Cross River state, Nigeria. She is a Corp Member serving in Cross River state. She writes informative, creative and research-driven contents on topics about life, politics, religion and more. You can reach her on ezinwanne.dominion@gmail.com and +2348164505628
0 Comments