Corruption
Jibrin Ibrahim
Now that we know there is no more corruption in Nigeria!
Jibrin Ibrahim, Deepening Democracy Column, Daily Trust, 29th August 2025
The highlight of President Tinubu’s visit to Brazil was the announcement by our Oga that there is no corruption any more in Nigeria today. He claimed that: “The reforms I’ve embarked upon since I took over in Nigeria have been very impactful. I can beat my chest for that. It was initially painful, but today the result is blossoming. It’s getting clearer to the people. We have more money for the economy… no more corruption,” Tinubu told his audience.
This is not the first time this claim has been made. In May last year, President Bola Tinubu spoke of his administration’s unwavering commitment to fighting corruption and recovering looted public funds, declaring that there will be no safe haven for corruption in Nigeria. The event was the Ministry of Justice Asset Recovery Summit in Abuja with the theme “Synergising Towards an Effective Assets Recovery and Management”. The President announced that: “Asset recovery sends a clear and unwavering message: there will be no safe haven for corruption in Nigeria.” He added that: “It is about restoring the people’s trust and ensuring that every kobo of our national wealth works for the common good.” He lamented the detrimental effects of corruption on national development, particularly in health, education, and infrastructure, stressing that repatriated funds are being reinvested into critical sectors to rebuild trust and promote equity under his watch.
Such statements remind me of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 where truth becomes falsehood and vice versa. Maybe it is more relevant to recall Goebbels’s key principle of propaganda, that when you repeat a lie often enough, people will end up believing it as the gospel truth. Clearly, the President’s propaganda team has no hesitation about making claims without veracity. For the majority of Nigerians however, there is a strong opinion that the current regime is one of the most corrupt in the Nation’s history.
At the beginning of this administration, keen observers watched with consternation as a lot of former governors and officials investigated, and sometimes charged for corruption were appointed ministers by government. It was a clear message to the Nation that Nigeria remains on its trajectory of each government being more corrupt than the one it succeeded. In May last year, while trying to characterize the administration, I published a column entitled – “Under Tinubu, Corruption is Fighting Back with Gusto.” I referred to Nuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of the EFCC who told Nigerians so many years ago that if you fight corruption, it fights back. Today, as the same Nuhu Ribadu, supervises the security agencies, corruption has fought back with success.
The pattern is clear, there is an unfolding trajectory of backpedalling on the progress made by anti-corruption agencies previously. Essentially, the anti-corruption agencies have become weapons to bring down opposition elements rather than catch the corrupt. If politicians from other parties are moving in hordes to join the ruling APC, it is because the evidence is clear that government is determined to protect the corrupt ones. In addition, under Tinubu, judicial corruption has become a major challenge to anti-corruption work in Nigeria. The looters have repeatedly used their influence to manipulate the judicial process and system, to block and/or delay the arrest or prosecution of suspects. This blatant disregard for the rule of law has eroded public trust and reinforced the perception that Nigeria's democracy is nothing more than a facade. Clearly, the judiciary is not living up to its responsibility of ensuring that the rule of law and provisions of the Constitution are upheld. They are complicit in the pro-corruption commitment of the regime.
There have been several allegations of judicial officers receiving bribes from politicians and politically exposed persons in-order to circumvent the law. This has watered down the respect, trust and confidence of citizens in the judiciary and negatively impacted the fight against corruption. Nigerians have witnessed too many situations where courts have granted injunctions which deterred anti-corruption agencies from inviting and prosecuting corrupt government officials and politically exposed persons.
One of the most important signifiers of rising corruption under this regime is the procurement of political appointments by treasury looters serving under the current administration as ministers, legislators, or occupying leadership positions of the ruling party. They have exposed anti-corruption work to serious setback and deliberate sabotage that cripple the efficiency of the anti-corruption agencies. It is distressing to see people facing corruption allegations being appointed by the President to handle various positions of authority. This has produced a culture of impunity, where politicians engage in corrupt practices without fear of consequences.
We recall that at the beginning of the Tinubu Administration, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs was revealed to have simply emptied the treasury of her ministry and transferred the monies to private bank accounts. She was suspended but the promised prosecution never happened. That was a strong pointer that the new government was a deepening rather than rejection of public corruption. The President copied the tradition set by the Buhari Administration by retaining the Petroleum portfolio and the legendary mega corruption at the NNPCL has continued with gusto.
The level of corruption has become so high that the entire society is being sucked into massive engagement with the system. One of the most dangerous developments in the country is the massive recruitment of young persons into different forms of criminality. These include traditional sectors such as political thuggery and cultism but also new sectors such as cybercrimes and human and drug trafficking. More youth are daily becoming engaged in criminal activities including ritual killings, cyber-crimes, kidnapping, prostitution, robbery and banditry. In the process, the youth, whose collective future has been continuously mortgaged by our morally bankrupt and corrupt politicians are today taking their cues from the governing class and copying them.
To truly establish a flourishing democracy, transparency and accountability must be strictly adhered to in governance. This requires holding politicians accountable for their actions and inactions, strengthening institutions to combat corruption, and ensuring that the allocation of resources is done in a fair and equitable manner. Only through these measures can Nigeria overcome its socio-economic challenges and build a democracy that truly serves the interests of the citizens. This unfortunately is not the trajectory we are on.
The most accurate way to describe Nigerian politics today is that state and society have been captured by an efficient and ruthless criminal band that is recreating politics and the political economy in its image. On a daily basis, people are lamenting about the absence of rules, ethics and red lines in politics and the economy as the cabal in power do as they please and we the citizens watch and wonder whether it’s the new reality or a new rascally Nollywood production. The bold statement that corruption does not exist anymore is in a sense in character – promote falsehood without restraint.
Ibrahim Abdullah
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Emmanuel Udogu
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Emmanuel Udogu <udo...@appstate.edu>
Date: Sat, Aug 30, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Subject: Re: [External] [SOCIAL NETWORK] Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Corruption
To: <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>“THE TRUTH IS LIKE A LION. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DEFEND IT. LET IT LOOSE, AND IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF!”
“YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME!”
President Abraham Lincoln
“WHEN THE HEAD OF A FISH IS ROTTEN, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR ITS BODY?”
Professor Wole Soyinka
Ike Udogu
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAAtmTC9T0xG675HHFqVyKuwE%2BAAQOC8CGC%2B9f5NYJ7XZjLah6A%40mail.gmail.com.
Emmanuel Udogu
“THE TRUTH IS LIKE A LION. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DEFEND IT. LET IT LOOSE, AND IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF!”
“YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME!”
President Abraham Lincoln
“WHEN THE HEAD OF A FISH IS ROTTEN, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR ITS BODY?”
Professor Wole Soyinka
Ike Udogu
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAAtmTC9T0xG675HHFqVyKuwE%2BAAQOC8CGC%2B9f5NYJ7XZjLah6A%40mail.gmail.com.
Cornelius Hamelberg
On the surface and deep down, “There is no more corruption in Nigeria“ could only mean that it has ceased, that President Tinubu has killed corruption, wiped it out, completely obliterated it. Or is it merely a manner of speaking, as the English-man would say, ”wishful thinking“ ?
Poetically speaking, you may, if you like, deem the claim to be too “hyperbolic” even given that hyperbole is an essential tool in the tool bag of the average politician’s political rhetoric.
Transposed to dealing with the erstwhile Nigerian situation, slightly modified “I gave commands;Then all smiles stopped together.” could likewise have been uttered by President Tinubu and wielding as much power as he does he the all-powerful president, “he who decides everything”, and indeed any of his immediate predecessors in that office could have easily said calmly, matter of factly, " I gave commands, then all corruption stopped altogether” and still not have been telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because only an omnipotent God would be able to completely eradicate corruption in Nigeria, and that would have to be by some drastic measures as what was said to have been visited on Sodom and Gomorrah
But before we rush to any premature conclusions about what sounds like President Tinubu‘s bout of braggadocio we must first of all consider the stage and setting where the statement was made: He was guest of honour in Brazil, Nigeria’s best friend in South America and therefore a little upbeat; for full context we must look at President Tinubu's Full Address in Brazil and there we discover that only half of the sentence was quoted, because the full sentence reads,
If I were to reword the intentions that were meant to be expressed in that sentence, it would read thus :
“The reforms I’ve embarked on since I took over have been impactful; we have more money in the economy, we are doing our best to ensure that there is no more corruption in Nigeria, and everything is going well.”
Emmanuel Udogu
THe CANCER CALLED CORRUPTION THAT IS KILLING NIGERIA: What is to be done?
Please permit me to share this video with you. This was how President Obasanjo claimed he tackled this cancer with respect to a Governor of the PDP during his term in office.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R6Hvw5vIUNs
It is proper for ex-governors of Kogi and Delta States, for example, to be asked to refund their alleged loot to the citizens of their states, for robust development, with immediate effect. It is the right thing to do.
To economic and political leaders, civil society organizations, (NBA), Kings, Chiefs, academics, religious and ethnic leaders, and Nigerians in the diaspora, here is our challenge:
“THE WORLD WILL NOT RESPECT AFRICA UNTIL NIGERIA EARNS THAT RESPECT. THE BLACK PEOPLE OF THE WORLD NEED NIGERIA TO BE GREAT AS A SOURCE OF PRIDE AND CONFIDENCE!”
The IMMORTAL NELSON MANDELA (our late Brother, and Former president of the Republic of South Africa).
YES, NIGERIANS, LIKE CHINA , WE CAN DO IT!!!
Ike Udogu
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/34c8cb9f-e880-4d2f-b9a2-dda90173b627n%40googlegroups.com.
Sayo Ajiboye
Dr. Oohay
Cornelius Hamelberg
Dear Ike Udogu,
Many Thanks for the clarion call - in the truly patriotic Nigerian spirit, and the spirit of Pan Africanism . Indeed, there should soon come a time when this kind of claim would be true 👍
With regard to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged success with recovering some of the $200 million that was alleged to have been “misappropriated” by the notorious James Ibori , a “seasoned professional crook”, if only the same method could be adopted by President Tinubu to recover all or at least the greater part of what has been looted from the people's patrimony, money that rightly belongs to the national treasury, then what he said in Brazil, that “we have more money in the economy” would be ringing even more truly today.
Clearing the field: Indeed “ a week is a long time in politics" and with approximately 537 ( 5-7-3) days to the next Nigerian Presidential elections, since Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is already very much in the news as a potential frontrunner, on the pivotal subject of corruption, it should be interesting to know whether or not the former General Olusegun Obasanjo who became two-term president Olusegun Obasanjo and in his golden years is now Pastor Olusegun Obasanjo, to know if he has any regrets or if he still stands by what he said about his former vice President Alhaji Atiku who he knew so well: “God will never forgive me if I support Atiku for president”
537 days to the Nigerian Presidential Elections and you must agree that things are already hotting up, if these three videos on Nigeria are anything to go by: (1) The speculative self-exonerating spinman Nasir El-Rufai who in the name of exceptionalism claims that he is “probably the only Nigerian politician who is not ambitious” (2) Fulani Man CONFESSES on National TV (shocking) (3) This faultline is catching international attention : Terrorism - based on “religious hatred" in line with Oluwatoyin Adepoju’s hobby horse prevarications ( he could even declare it’s a vindication of his worst nightmares about a possible” religious war” looming in the air…
Sadly, it looks like we will not be reading an essay titled “The Birth and Death of Corruption in Nigeria” by Dr. Oohay, any time soon, since among the wannabes among the older cadre of recycled Nigerian politicians, neither Peter Obi nor Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,two wannabes who have the advantage of name recognition who would be re-entering the race with so much unhelpful personal baggage already weighing them down and hindering their chances, there does not seem to yet be anyone on the apocalyptic horizon who could be assuming the title of Messiah of Nigeria , ready and able to lead Nigeria, one nation under God - the God of Christianity ,the Universal God of Islam, and the various traditional Gods and Deities of Nigeria's indigenous peoples, leading Nigeria to her destined eventual unity and collective redemption…
Even as they ask for our forgiveness, the looters who belong to various denominations probably proffer this New Testament verse as an explanation that if corruption is indeed the the warp and woof, then their accusers should also understand that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory”and also remember what Jesus said to those who were eager to stone a woman who had been caught in the heinous act of adultery: “Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone”
Hopefully, the moral majority /minority, as the case may be, and the victims of corruption, are also petitioning the Pentecostals, prayer leaders etc to turn their fervour and their fire to praying sincerely,“ God bless Nigeria”
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Cornelius Hamelberg
Correction :
Not sure that two-term president Olusegun Obasanjo is now Pastor Olusegun Obasanjo, but he is now certainly Dr Olusegun Obasanjo with a PhD in Christian Theology
Also, apparently James Obori did not "misappropriate” he only inadvertently “kidnapped” the $ 200 Million…
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