By Okoi Obono-Obla
The Hypocrisy of Outrage Over Corruption in Nigeria-
I find the outrage over the numerous properties attributed to a former State Governor—revelations that came to light when his survivors began fighting over his Last Testament (Will)—deeply hypocritical. This particular man spent almost all his life as a public servant. Before becoming Governor, he was a police officer. The Nigerian public service is not a place where an honest person can legitimately amass great wealth. Therefore, when you see a former public servant with so much wealth, it is almost certain that he helped himself while in service. But are Nigerians truly revolted by corruption?
My answer is in the negative. Nigerians are not only tolerant of corruption; many even celebrate it. If you serve in the public sector or hold an important position and emerge poor, woe betide you. Nigerians—whether relatives, friends, or members of your community—will scandalize you, deride you, humiliate you, disgrace you, and dismiss you as numb, stupid, or a fool. But when you accumulate wealth primitively, in quantum, and on a grand scale, you are loved, celebrated, and elevated to folk-hero status. People will fall over themselves to associate with you, hoping that crumbs from your ill-gotten wealth will fall into their laps.
In politics, such wealth becomes a tool. You dip into it to bribe your way through party structures, and party oligarchs will promptly hand you a ticket. Once elected or appointed, everyone expects you to accumulate more money to dole out. During Christmas or Sallah (Eid) celebrations, you are required to distribute food items and money to your constituents. You are expected to award scholarships, pay hospital bills, and sponsor birthdays, marriages, thanksgiving ceremonies, and burials. If you fail to do so, you are quickly dismissed as wicked, selfish, or someone who does not want others to grow. As long as you keep doling out money, you become the darling of everyone. No one cares where the money comes from, as long as their insatiable appetite for lucre is satisfied.
Therefore, when I see people expressing outrage over the gargantuan wealth accumulated by this former Governor who has since joined his ancestors, I am neither moved nor impressed. To me, such outrage is nothing more than crocodile tears.
Conclusion: Until Nigerians stop being endemically, fantastically, pathologically, and compulsively corrupt—or stop craving and coveting wealth overtly and in deed—I will never be moved by public expressions of outrage over corruption.
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