Can death penalty end corruption in Nigeria? By Ochiaka Ugwu

By Ochiaka Ugwu

Last week, the Nigerian workers under their umbrella bodies of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) staged a protest to the National Assembly to prescribe death sentence for corrupt office holders. These workers who described the anti-corruption laws in the country as too weak to stop potential treasury looters maintained that sending them to execution ground will be most appropriate. It literally means advocating death penalty for those found guilty. While demonstrating its support for Muhammadu Buhari intensified anti-graft war, they also with their rallies picketed Government Houses in state capitals.

In Abuja, the workers led by NLC President, Ayuba Waba marched on the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) and the National Assembly premises. Presenting a letter to the SGF, Babachir Lawal, Waba said: “Gone is the day when people that are corrupt will get perpetual injunctions restraining EFCC from prosecuting them. If we have such cases, Nigerian workers are ready to go to their residences and bring them to court and also interrogate

the judge” he said.

It was also noted that a similar rally was replicated in Lagos with the same gospel of death for treasury looters being preached. Though, it is not the first time this call is being made on the face of frustration Nigerians are facing on this evil called corruption. Sometimes in 2008, Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district at the nation’s upper legislative chamber, Smart Adeyemi called for a law prescribing death penalty for public officials found guilty of corrupt practices, saying such stiffer punishment would encourage the ongoing fight against corruption.

Senator Adeyemi call then received mixed reactions from cross sections of Nigerians. Many welcomed his proposal given the fact that it was the first time someone in power is voicing out the collective frustration of Nigerians which was poured out without fear or favour by the newsman turned politician, while others dismissed it with a wave of hand being very cynical of our politicians which he was part of. They described him as one just playing to the gallery with the feeling that he was not sincere, coming from him, himself a beneficiary of a corrupt system of politics and governance. Upon this however, it was a most noble and a brave call made by a distinguished gentlemen.

Despite Previous administration’s pledge to end the scourge of corruption ravaging the country, Nigeria only performed marginally better than its 2014 rating in the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI.

Out of 174 countries evaluated for corruption, Nigeria ranked 136th alongside Russia, Cameroon, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon, as the least transparent. That means the six countries, Nigeria inclusive, are the 15th most corrupt in the world.

The most corrupt country is Afghanistan, which ranked 172nd, while the most transparent nation in the world is Denmark. Nigeria was 14th most corrupt in 2013. On per 100 score, Nigeria totaled 27 aggregate points, better than 2013 when it scored 25.

Though still woeful, the country’s scant improvement from last year’s survey may be because fewer countries were surveyed in 2014 than 2013. Last year, a total of 177 countries were surveyed as opposed to the 174 countries surveyed in 2014.

Indeed, corruption is a problem for all countries. According IT, a poor score is likely a sign of widespread bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs.

This is particularly true of Nigeria where several public institutions are a cesspool of fraudulent activities as proven by multiple investigations and reports. This may have prompted these workers to embark on this widespread protest calling for the hanging of corrupt persons.

Nigeria is widely considered among the world’s most corrupt places, a factor seen as contributing to the stunted development and impoverishment of many of its citizens. Some economists argue that Nigerian government needs to fight corruption instead of relying on foreign aid. But anti-corruption efforts on the country have shown mixed results in recent years, and analysts fear that major international partners are unwilling to exert leverage over Nigerian government. An initiative for transparency in the extractive industries shows promise, but is mostly untested. United States government only recently suggests Nigerian interest in attracting foreign investment will serve to spur more substantive efforts to fight corruption.

The truth is that corruption in Nigeria ranges from high-level political graft on the scale of millions of dollars to low-level bribes to civil servants, police officers or customs officials. While political graft imposes the largest direct financial cost on a country, petty bribes have a corrosive effect on basic institutions and undermine public trust in the government. Over half of Nigerians polled paid bribes to access public services that should have been freely available, according to study. Graft also increases the cost of doing business.

Opinion moulders have said that many public officials in our nation seek reelection because holding office gives them access to the state’s coffers, as well as immunity from prosecution.

But the truth is that most Nigerians strongly oppose the effort by Nigerian workers to amend a Section of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act to impose the death penalty on those who are found guilty of corruption. While they appreciate the zeal of these workers, they find it misdirected and diversionary.

Their reason being that imposition of death penalty for any offence has been a divisive issue in Nigeria. Even though the death penalty is still in our statute books, there is very strong sentiment against it. So strong are these sentiments that despite the legality of the death penalty in our laws, only few have been executed for any offence.

Moreover, the debate on the death penalty unnecessarily diverts attention from the important work of strengthening our justice system to ensure there are no gaps that the corrupt use to escape justice. So far, the frustration of many Nigerians which must have made the workers to act this way is that there are very few people who are being held to account successfully through the legal system. The effectiveness of any legal system is founded not on the extremity of the sanctions thereof, but on the consistency of enforcement. There is very little utility in allowing for extreme sanctions even if the seemingly lenient ones are hardly delivered. The sanctions for corruption in our statute books if stringently enforced, coupled with upholding the principle of equality before the law are sufficient in helping President Muhammadu Buhari succeed in fighting corruption.

What is important for us is that corruption is a reality in Nigeria, it is a reality within the system, and the President has made it very clear that this needs to be dealt with by forming an anti-corruption unit that’s going to focus exclusively on addressing criminality within the system.

Financial managers around the world are advocating for a crackdown on illicit financial transactions and the use of shell companies to hide the identity of people trying to launder stolen money. A court in London convicted James Ibori, former governor of Delta State, for money laundering and corruption. Cases like this should also be tried in Nigeria and those suspected of trying to steal from state coffers brought to justice. That is why we need to strengthen our justice system instead of embarking on another fruitless search.

Ref: http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/can-death-penalty-end-corruption-in-nigeria/