Anti Corruption Crusade: The
Kano Example
By Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi
The simple way to fight corruption
is this; "Don't ask, don't give".- Anonymous.
Corruption is undoubtedly the bane of
development in our society, the ugly monster is entrenched in our daily
life which resulted in us leaving in abject poverty and our society
synonymous with corruption and fraud in the midst of international
community. All this stem out from the long days of military rule in the
country which saw Nigeria been featured for years as one of the most
corrupt countries in the world.
Dr Gabriel Ogah, a resident of Lagos,
Nigeria once wrote that "There was a time (1960 - 1980) when there was
negligible corruption in Nigeria. At that time, there was security of
life and property, there was rule of law and there was job security in
government service. My salary as a young doctor in a Nigerian Teaching
Hospital, in 1981, was more than that of my equivalent colleague in New
York. There were no incentives to corruption at all. But from the mid
1980s, the rule of law vanished and the private sector was deliberately
annihilated by the military in power. The main source of money became
the government. Since then, incentives to corruption have been at a
peak."
With the coming of democratic dispensation
under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo war against
corruption became one of the cardinal principles of the government which
culminated in the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices
commission ICPC and Economic and Financial Crimes Comission EFCC.
Because corruption undermines economic
growth, creates institutional mismanagement and hurts society by holding
back economic development at all levels, while the Federal Government is
hell bent on fighting corruption at the national level some states in
the country also borrowed a leaf from the practice with states like
Zamfara and of recent Kano state taking a cue.
French writer Victor Hugo said "there is
nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come" in case of Kano
state the anti corruption crusade gain momentum as the Kano state
Governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau known for his record of transparent
leadership devoid of corruptive tendencies and in his determination to
promote accountability in public and civil service and his mission to
guarantee social justice and the rights of the less priviledge
established an agency shouldered with the responsibility of fighting
corruption christened as Public Complaints and Anti Corruption
Directorate to meet the yearnings and aspiration of the people.
This in addition to his determination to
fight attitudinal corruption as it is believed that there is no way you
can do away with the institutional corruption without wiping away the
attitudinal couption first; this manifested in him establishing the
Societal Re-orientation Directorate popularly known as A Daidaita Sahu
and The Public Complaints and Anti Corruption Directorate established on
August 2005 under the able leadership of Mallam Aminu Inuwa Muhammad a
seasoned civil servant as it’s Director General and chief Executive.
Fighting the great monster bedeviling our
society which is anti national, anti poor and anti economic development
is undoubtedly a great task and any agency that suceeded in curbing the
menace or reduced it to a bearest minimum deserve accolades and
commendations a feat which Kano state Public Complaints and Anti
Corruption Directorate strives to achieve as fighting corruption in
Africa is a complex project, it can only be reduced but cant be
completely eradicated.
Mallam Abba Anwar the public relation
officer of the directorate once wrote "Corruption beign a pregnant of
all irregularities has many negative impact or destructive implications
to both the society and what it contains. It retards development, kills
efficiency, frustrates productivity, promotes laziness, intolerence and
many more vices. I think the fruits that this Anti Corruption
Directorate would produce should be unmissable to all"
Indeed his prediction is becoming reality as
The Directorate mandated with with the mediation of disputes between
individuals and corporate bodies, investigation and redress of
complaints from the public has from its establishment to January this
year received over 254 complaints and petitions and has treated most of
them with huge succees.
The Director General of the Commission
Alhaji Aminu Muhammad Inuwa was quoted saying "A total of 167 cases of
Public complaints were received which bordered on matters affecting
family, land, housing, bussiness, contract, civil service and civil
society among others.
"The Rights, Promotion and Protection
Department (of the Directorate) has similarly received 25 petitions,
most of them on police brutality and human right abuses while the Anti
Corruption Department received 42 petitions mostly against local
government councils, government agencies and departments and few
government officials.
As it is with any agency engaged in the
fight against corruption, it hasn’t been an easy ride for the
Directorate as there had been so many delibrate attempts to frustrate
the activities of the Directorate.
The Directorate was instrumental in the
removal of the Provost of Aminu Kano School of Islamic Legal Studies a
task that generated a lot of hiccups for the commission as highly
established individuals in the government were said to have made
attempts to disrupt the smooth running of the Directorate’s invetigation
into the allegtions leveled against the Provost, The Bursar and the
Registrar of the school. But as resolute as it is the Directorate persue
the case to its logical conclusion which saw Dr. Nuruddeen Musa emerged
as the new Provost while new Bursar, Registar and HODs were also
elected.
Another instance of the Directorate's
commitment to fighting corruption is the removal of the Chief Medical
Director of Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital popularly known
a Nasarawa Hospital Dr. Bello Umar Dikko and his subsequent replacement
with Alhaji Abdullahi Zango led interim Management committee which was
also not without constraints and problems, but as usual the Directorate
suceeded in discharging its duties.
As the Directorate forge ahead in its
resolute to fight corruption, it needs the continuos support of the
state government especially the Governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau who is
known to be prudent so that it can meet the yearning and aspiration of
Kano people by cleansing the society from corrupt elements and instill
transparency and accountability in the public service The Directorate
also ought to be financially bouyant if not independent for it to be
able to deliver as expected as such it need more funds from the state
government, because you cant fight corruption in the midst of poverty.
The fight against Corruption is not a job of
a single organisation or body, all hand must be on deck to see that the
anti corruption cusade spearheaded by The Anti Corruption Directorate in
Kano state succeeded as it will be of immense benefit to the common man
and the society at large.
