This was not a good month for me and for Nigeria, corruption-wise. Why do I write so?
On Wednesday morning, September 13, I got a phone call out of the blue just as I was preparing to go to work.
The "419" phone call
Telephone rings: Grrrrnng-grrnnng!
Me: Hello, Aluko speaking.
Caller: (with a thick, detectable Nigerian accent, and speaking hurriedly) Give me your fax number. I need to fax something to you.
Me: (puzzled) How can I just give you my fax number like that? Who are you? I mean, you have not even introduced yourself !
Caller: This call is from Abuja, from the Secretary to the Head of State.....em, em, Secretary to the Senate Committee on Contracts..
Me: (shouting) Shut up, you 419! Go to ...well, wherever! (dropping the phone).
Caller: (quickly dropping the phone, and swearing in some language I will not disclose.)
My wife: Who was that?
Me: Some stupid 419 call from Nigeria - again!
So why did I quickly and so immediately shout "419" after this so-called "Abuja" call? I mean, can't some top Secretary from Abuja have been calling a whole me? I reacted that way because in fact I had indeed received unsolicited a fax on my home machine a few days earlier, using internet free faxing facilities! I am now copying from the paper in my hand the message identification first line of the fax:
"Page 1 of 1 7:35:35 AM /9/6/00 209-315-9373 Distributed by Fax4Free.comT"
I now reproduce the full document, originally all written in caps in the original faxed document, but here reproduced in more readable print:
QUOTE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
NATIONAL HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY - ABUJA
SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN CONTRACT PAYMENT
DIRECT TEL/FAX LINE: 234-1-7743689
Attention: Honourable Contractor Date: 06/09/00
Dear Sir:
RE: Payment of your contract fund
The incessant complaints of Nigeria's foreign contractors have reached and attracted the attention of Nigeria's House of Senate [SIC]. Such complaints have ranged from undue extortion of monies from our foreign contractors, illegal transfers, to diversion of contractor's monies to bank accounts other than those nominated by the contractors. We are aware that these practices have existed over a long period of time but worsened during the past inept military regimes and lingered on until the present regime as there still exist such elements in our parastatals, ministries and financial houses.
Such occurrences have remained painful sore points in the image of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and utter contracdition [SIC] of our efforts in laundering the international image of our dear country.
Consequent upon these and after exhaustive consultations with the president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the following ministries/parastatal, agencies and office, which have been hitherto involved in the above mentioned malpractices have been prohibited, forthwith, from carry [SIC] out the function of vetting approvals and payment of contract claims or any other duties relating to the setlement [SIC] of our foreign debts.
They include:
1. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 2. Federal Ministry of Finance 3. Office of the Accountant-General 4. Presidency 5. International Remittance Dept. 6. Officer of the Governor, CBN 7. All Task Forces 8. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) 9. Justice Ministry 10. Debt Reconciliation Ministry 11. National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON) 12. Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) 13. Office of the Deputy Governor (CBN)
You are therefore advised to stop all dealings and communication with the aforementioned offices. In their stead the Senate Committee on Foreign Contract Payment has been inaugurated and given the sole authority to vet, approve and pay all outstanding contract debts with all necessary despatch [SIC].
While we apologies [SIC] on behalf of the Federal Government for all the undue delays and inconveniences, you are advised to acknoledge [SIC] this letter reconfirming your bank particulars and contract details to this office immediately to avoid mistakes when remitting your fund.
The earlier you respond to this message, the earlier action will be on your contract file and the better for us.
Best regards,
Signed
SENATOR FRED BRUMEH [sic]
CHAIRMAN SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN CONTRACT PAYMENT
UNQUOTE
First, Senator Brume's name was spelt wrong, and I am certain he is completely unaware of this letter. Secondly, it does not take a rocket-scientist to discern that this sic-filled letter, however craftily written, is a "419" letter written to deceive, once again, the unwitting "contractor" to disclose vital information about himself that will then be used to extort him or her based on some desperate hope to get either something for nothing, or GENUINELY obtain some money owed him or her by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, if all 13 agencies named above are now no longer able to deal as stated, what would that say about our whole system? Should that not ring a bell?
Not so easy, I guess! In case you are wondering how DANGEROUS these tempting letters can be, let me relate another story:
On August 17, barely a month before this "419" phone call, I had gotten a call from an old friend from graduate school days in California, a White guy, now a businessman, a deep Christian fellow, asking that I call him.
We attended the same church in California, our families have exchanged holiday visits between Seattle and Burtonsville, his son and mine were born at the same hospital within a month of each other eighteen years ago, etc. So we have been in touch ever since, and we recently exchanged family pictures when our sons both graduated from high school within the past two months and are both now in college.
I immediately called, and also left my email address to prevent phone tags. This is the email exchange, abbreviated:
QUOTE
EMAIL FROM FRIEND
On Thu, 17 Aug 2000, BD wrote:
> Bolaji, greeting to you as well. I hope you are well. The picture you
X sent of [YOUR SON] was impressive--he looks as tall as Hakeem Olajuon!
Materials deleted
> I am attaching a message that came in from Nigeria. It is seeking a
> relationship without specifically referring to our products and
> services. It may just be sort of a mass email looking to find someone
> to bite. However, I would value your feedback and how this might be
> cultural to Nigeria so I will know how to best respond. Thank you for
> your consideration.
>
> God's blessings on you and your family!
MY RESPONSE
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 19:52:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Mobolaji E. Aluko" <"mailto:maluko@scs.howard.edu">
ToBD <"mailto:bd.@..pr.com">
Subject: Re: Nigerian proposal
B..
Nice that you got back to me quickly!
The letter you received is a CLASSICAL INTERNATIONAL SCAM, called "419", for which my country, unfortunately, is infamous. I am sure that you would NEVER fall for such a scam.
To read more about the general scam, check these websites:
The 419 Coalition
Nigerian Fraud Letter Scam
--- materials deleted---
Best wishes, and God's blessings.
Bolaji
UNQUOTE
Another potential disaster averted, this time the scamming of a dear friend!
To cap this my "Nigeria-corruption" month up, two further things occurred:
First, Transparency International published its Year 2000 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of official, public-sector corruption. The new index is based on multiple surveys from 1998-2000 rather than just one year as previously done.
Unfortunately, it now lists Nigeria as moving from 27th most corrupt nation (last year 1999, out of 99) to being most corrupt nation out of 90 countries surveyed in 2000. See:
Transparency International
2000 Corruption Perception Index
The report could have come at no worse time than when President Obasanjo was state-visiting the UK, and talking about debt-relief and new investments in Nigeria.
It will also further devastate the psyche of Nigerians in the wake of the recent highly-publicized Senate contract probe, and question how much progress we have really made in this nascent democracy. However comfort must be taken that the data includes the year 1998, and Nigeria should insist that Transparency International ALSO publish what the list would have been IF only year 2000 had been used as done in previous years so as to discern the relative contributions of the intervening years.
I must tell a quick story here, most probably apocryphal:
A Pakistani taxi-driver's story is that Nigeria bribed Pakistan so that Pakistan would agree to be designated the most corrupt in 1997 and Nigeria, hoping to polish its image a bit, would be designated second place. Go figure who was really the most corrupt that year!
Finally, the second happening: I received a free copy of an interesting book on Nigeria sent by a good friend Charles Pascale of the 419 Coalition, a well-researched and author-autographed book called "Brian Wizard's Nigerian 419 Scam: "Game Over!" I could not help but chuckle at the title: "Chuck, the game ain't over yet!"
If, within a month, I can be faced with FOUR different encounters of "419" issues, I wonder what has changed?
Stemming the corruption
So how do we stop the corruption in Nigeria, including "419" scams? This is the million-dollar question, which needs a final answer, which I will attempt to give!
In international trade, "419" is particularly serious, because it is a death sentence like AIDS, a cancer that causes a violation of all trust in international commerce, and makes crooks out of innocent Nigerian people, casting them in bad light even before they open their mouths.
But corruption is like any other crime in Nigeria: there must be the motive, means, and opportunity, and a reasonable assurance by the criminal that he will not be detected, and if detected he will not be punished, and if punished it will not draw consequences which make the crime too expensive.
Therefore, if we systemically REMOVE - or seriously mitigate any of these factors: motive, means, opportunity, non-detectability and non-commensurate punishment - we will be well on our way to successfully combating corruption in our country.
Motive
The motives for financial corruption are GREED, POVERTY and FEAR OF RETURN TO POVERTY. Greed is a spiritual deficiency, and can only be removed by spiritual means. So a spiritual rejuvenation, hammered on by our religious institutions, must definitely be embarked upon. While government is made of men and women who should be spiritually upright, the promotion of religion by government can create its own problems, so it is the province of the religious instutitions, not the government, to hammer on this spiritual dimension of our crisis.
Poverty is another matter. Government has a primary responsibility of not only alleviating poverty but creating prosperity. Thus it must create the conducive infrastructural enviroment in society such that its citizens are gainfully employed and not roaming the street and not letting the devil find work for idle hands; that those working in government are paid living wages; adequate pay is paid for commensurate responsibility; and bosses do not award themselves such fat salaries as to make their underlings believe that they too are entitled to "government" money by fair-or-foul means.
Of course, there is also a spiritual dimension to poverty, for from Proverbs we read the prayer that "God, please do not make me poor such that I will steal, or make me too rich that I will forget thee..."" Thus both the poor and the rich have the propensity to be corrupt, but for different reasons.
Finally, fear of the return of poverty is due to the lack of job security and social security (insurance) when work is no longer doable. This could also account for the greed and the outlandish accumulations of wealth that characterize our nation. Consequently, the laws of the land should protect indiscriminate job firings, and, like in other developed countries, social security monies should be BY LAW be put aside for one's sunset years.
Means
With $1-N100 exchange, a visitor to Nigeria is bound to be shocked at the amount of hard currency one has to carry around! Our society is still a cash-and-carry society, with "Ghana-must-go" bags being the means of money transportation. In fact, I understand that as much as 60-80% of the cash in Nigeria is in circulation among its citizens, and not in banks! It is more like 20-40% in developed countries, maybe even much less in the United States. This large proportion of money in circulation (and hence low savings) not only encourages home burglaries and highway robbery, but also affects interest rates offered by banks, making them unreasonably high.
Until and unless cash is de-emphasised in transactions - and this can best be done by government by insisting that it will deal only in checks or money orders as much as possible - the ease with which bribery and corruption via exchange of cash can be done will overwhelm hopes of stemming corruption. This is where user-friendly BANKING REFORMS, as well as technology, particularly ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION of the citizenry and NETWORKING of ELECTRONIC DATA BANKS will be of the greatest value.
Opportunity
There is too much DIRECT contact between the citizens and bureaucracy:
You must go to this office to get a form, go to that office to get a vital document, return several times because a particular official, the ONLY official designated to handle your interest, is not in. The service centers themselves are few and far between, increasing the level of desperation among patrons. All of this leads to greater opportunity for desperate people to offer bribes, and bribe-takers to be able to demand them with impunity.
The recent Senate contract scandals, despite serious misgivings about the probe itself, is symptomatic of the contracts scandal that pervades the ENTIRE public sector of Nigeria, and would no doubt contribute to Transparency International's CPI on Nigeria. It appears that there are no standards of contract and purchase in government, and if there are, they are not widely known; there are no published lists of customary prices of items to be contracted or purchased, to serve as guide for easily determining whether a quoted price is high or low.
A government list depicting accredited suppliers and contractors should be maintained for each government agency (this should be a subsection of the general government list), and this list should not change within the fiscal year except for unusual circumstances. Use of open tender should be the rule, not the exception. For example, the US General Services Administration has a website.
See also
Vendor Guide - Multiple Award Schedules
Federal Supply Schedules
Environmental Purchasing
Federal Supply Service - Terms & Conditions
We should not have to re-invent the wheel all over again. Since we are yet an import-dependent country, nothing stops us from negotiating with BOTH local AND foreign companies, as well as friendly foreign governments so as to obtain the same or even better published favorable terms with which we get some equipments and supplies (with possible consideration for our poverty, plus insurance and freight).
Finally, contract and purchase administrative officers - as well as the government's Auditor-Generals - MUST be given adequate salaries, independence and such security of position that they cannot be overruled by those who might request them to do things fraudulently. Even the president should not be able to say, "Buy this - or be fired!" The law should protect such contract overseers, who should themselves be subject to periodic audits.
Furthermore, government should look into ALL of its operations to see where it can cut out the need for citizens to go distances to get essential services. Churches, schools, non-governmental organizations and others must be used wherever possible.
I cannot leave this section without relating an incident that I witnessed in Ile-Ife on my way to Ibadan/Lagos about August 1 of this year when I last visited Nigeria.
From the center of Ile-Ife to its outskirt, over about a five-mile distance, the car I was in followed directly behind this one packed commercial "Danfo" bus that was also travelling to Ibadan.
Because of the recent Ife-Modakeke "troubles", there were mobile police checkpoints at about every half-mile, maybe less. AT EVERY ONE OF THESE STOPS, THE DANFO DRIVER, IN A PERFECT WELL-CHEREOGRAPHED MOTION, HANDED MONEY TO A MOBILE-POLICEMAN, WHO SWIFTLY PUT IT IN HIS POCKET! They did not even seem to care who was watching in the next car. At every single stop!
I was so incensed that I took out my camera and said that I would take a candid picture at the next stop, but our own driver "begged" me not to do so, that if we were caught doing so, it would be trouble. I insisted (saying that I would be careful), but at the fourth mobile-police stop, the fluidity with which the driver handed the money to the policeman was so smooth that even a nano-second shutter camera would not be able to snap it! At that point, I asked my driver to speed up, and I caught up to the side of the Danfo driver, and spoke to him in Yoruba, shouting why he was handing money to the policeman even without them asking! He said, smiling "Eh, e ma binu, won o ni je ki nko ja ti mi o ba fun won!" -"Don't be angry, they will not let me pass if I don't give them something!"
We fell back and continued to follow the Danfo bus. At the next two stops, he continued with his nefarious act, and when finally we sped past him for the last time, he just looked at me smiling as I shook my head! I could not cry, so I smiled too!
Detectability
I believe that detecting most of the crime is easy IF THERE IS A WILL! One is therefore forced to believe that in some cases, there is just a plain, conscious aversion to detection. For example, the mobile police men taking money so brazenly on the Ife road could be easily detected, but they seemed to care less!
For example, the 419 merchants of shame use ACTUAL PHONE NUMBERS in Nigeria that you can call and fax responses to - how did they get these numbers, and how come the givers and the takers cannot be shut down RIGHT AWAY? I mean the Lagos number "234-1-7743689" at the head of the 419 letter from the "National House of Assembly" - WHOSE NUMBER IS THAT, AND WHERE AND HOW WAS IT OBTAINED? Why can the authorities in Nigeria not track this particular number down and determine who obtained it?
Also, of course, the low level of technology usage in our country makes detectability of most financial crime - and hence the ability to even begin to punish the criminal - extremely difficult. Again, one must emphasize, as I wrote above, that ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION of the citizenry and NETWORKING of ELECTRONIC DATA BANKS will significantly aid in this respect. This is where the much-discussed multi-billion-naira ID Card project is more important, in fraud detection, rather than the much-touted use in census or in elections: after all, in Nigeria, it is not the voting or counting that matters, but the announcement of the numbers and winners! <grin>
Punishment
No number of new anti-corruption laws written in the books will succeed if the JUDICIAL SYSTEM itself is corrupt. There are already enough laws in the books, but unfortunately, one often gets the feeling in Nigeria that the people feel that the personnel of our very judicial system - or more precisely the arresting policeman, or the judge in a particular case - has his or her price, and hence ultimately justice can be perverted. Consequently, corruption and crime continue with impunity.
In respect to judges, the Justice Kayode Esho report, the work of a panel on the judiciary inaugurated by (of all people) the late Gen. Sani Abacha on December 29, 1993 has so far has been secreted away. It is reported to have case studies allegedly showing the indictment about 47 judges caught in various forms of judicial rascality. A full disclosure and implementation of the report's recommendations would go a long way to sanitizing our judicial system.
It is pertinent to quote the erudite Justice Aguda here from a recent speech: "A country can still do well with bad laws but it cannot do well with bad judges. This is because if the judges are upright, they can mitigate the injustice, inhumaness created by people who made bad laws. But when judges are corrupt, even with good laws, development, justice cannot thrive".
The size of our police force, their minimum level of education, the resources available to them and the salaries must all be revised if we are truly concerned about making our society safer for the citizenry and for investment purposes. [See, for example, my essay "MONDAY QUARTERBACKING: How many policemen do we actually need? However, the corruptibility of law-enforcement officers is a spiritual issue, but it also has its means, motive, opportunity, detectability and punishment components.
Finally, when those that have been found guilty of egregious corruption in government still get recycled to government, or deal with government, it speaks little of our values. This again is essentially a spiritual matter, but a graduated five-year-by-five-year-to-life ban scheme by law on government positions can be placed such miscreants have been fairly tried and indicted.
EPILOGUE
One is painfully aware of the disincentive of the perception of our country as a chronically corrupt one - disincentive to new investment, to debt relief and to self-esteem as we travel around the world.
However, I have always held, sometimes to the annoyance of some of my compatriots who think that I am minimizing issues, that the Nigerian, as a human being, is no less corrupt or more corrupt that the Englishman, or American or Japanese or Ghanaian. The problem is that over the years we simply have not addressed our corruption in a systemic manner, and we have had governments themselves, both military and civilian, that have encouraged the corruption and hence have not sat back FULLY to address it.
I hope that by breaking the problem down into means, motive, opportunity, detectability and punishment components, and by putting the feet of our civilian governments, present and future, to the fire, we all can contribute to the ongoing attempts to holistically and systemically address solving this major problem of our country.
Guides
