Jonathan: Taking Nepotism To A New Height
Corruption, which is the biggest monster bedeviling the country comes in various form. In the book "Bureaucratic Corruption In Sub-Saharan Africa" an acclaimed authority on corruption, Professor Joseph S. Nye in an article entitled:"Corruption and Political Development: A Cost Benefit Analysis" describe corruption as the behavior which deviates from the normal duties of a public role because of private-regarding (family, close private clique), pecuniary or status gains; or violates rules against the exercise of certain types of private-regarding influence.
This includes such behavior as bribery (use of reward to pervert the judgment of a person in a position of trust); nepotism (bestowal of patronage by reason of relationship rather than merit); and misappropriation (illegal appropriation of public resources for private regarding uses).
In Nye's book, nepotism is one of the worst kinds of corruption that is very prevalent in Africa and nations committed to the creation of an egalitarian society, free from the vestiges of corruption tendency are always very quick to identify it in the corridors of power and nip it in the bud before it blossoms.
When French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a crass display of nepotism appointed his son,Jean,23 to be the head of the multibillion euro public agency that runs La Defense, the island of corporate towers in the west of Paris, it was condemned by the French public. Even members of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement balked at the act of raw nepotism in the appointment. Bowing to public opinion the senior Sarkozy ordered the junior one to find another thing to do with his time. But the embarrassment and damage was huge on the image of the French in Europe and around the world.
Here in Nigeria people often treat acts of nepotism with kid gloves, as if it does not matter or as if that is not part of the corruption that we confront everyday and hopefully pray to overcome when the true leaders of the people began to emerge in the political scene.
When the former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai was confronted with the fact that he allocated several choice lands to his family members and cronies, he defended himself by asserting that his family members are also Nigerians, so he cannot deny them the dubious allocations. Only in Nigeria can a public officer, serving or retired show such impenitence over weighty allegations of nepotism and yet get away with it.
Acts of nepotism was also rampant throughout the time of President Olusegun Obasanjo in power, as the doubtful privatization programme embarked upon by that administration,were hijacked by Obasanjo and his cronies who allegedly bought over most of the juicy privatized public corporations.Nothing has been done to make Obasanjo and his cronies accountable for close to four years after leaving office.
Now President Goodluck Jonathan is believed to have taken nepotism to a new height with the quick dispatch he handled issue of revenue derivation that concerned his home state Bayelsa. Bayelsa's problem is no different from that of other states that the administration has failed to do anything about. A few examples will suffice.
There has been agitation by the Abia state government to repossess its oil wells that were illegally taken away from it. This issue has not yet been settled because the president is believed to be insisting on following the due process over the matter.
For a very long time, the government and people of Anambra state based on the large deposits of oil and gas that God has blessed them with, have been calling on the federal government, including this one headed by Jonathan to explore and exploit it for the benefit of Anambrarians and the country at large. Nothing has been done about that. When President Jonathan visited the state recently, the Governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi once again called for Anambra to be included among the oil producing states. The President promised to look into it. That request will definitely pass through the due process.
Imo state is a major oil producing state and one of the states benefitting from development projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), but the people there have been complaining that the state has not been getting its fair share of development projects. When their complaint got to Aso Rock they were told that the problem is being looked into, even as the state was reminded that the decision to carry out their demands must pass through the due process.
The people of Cross River state know the consequences of losing oil wells to another state. When the state lost out some oil wells to Akwa Ibom state, it affected the amount of revenue accruing to the state and had negative impacts on projects earlier earmarked for development. When Cross Riverians complained they were told that the process of reversing the deal that handed down the oil wells to their neighbour must pass through the due process.
While the people of Abia, Anambra, Imo, Cross River and others have to wait for the due process to run its course before their issues are addressed, it took one letter from Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva alleging denial of revenue to the state for the president to allegedly alter the derivation sharing formula of the country. Sylva wrote the president on February 6, and by August 31, the president had allegedly granted Bayelsa the concession on derivation that it asked for.
The president thus granted a special concession to his native Bayelsa state to earn more from 13 percent derivation enjoyed by mineral producing states according to media report citing sources in the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
The concession allows Bayelsa to receive extra derivation revenue for offshore on the nine oil wells located beyond the 200 metre isobaths on ground of ecological damage to the state from the operation of those oil wells. This development is said to have catapulted Bayelsa state to the position of the highest revenue accruing state in the country.
Aready legal fireworks are feared as the action of the president has been described as illegal. According to knowledgeable legal minds such concession cannot stand unless the Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Abrogation Act 2004 is amended and that is the turf of the National Assembly.
Aside, the legal actions that it would trigger if it is implemented, another major concern is that the net revenue that would be available for distribution would be reduced. This is bound to have dire consequences for many states.
With the president's inane display of nepotism in this matter, the hapless states that would bear the burden for Bayelsa' increase in revenue derivation may have to rely on the judiciary and the National Assembly to correct the insensitive action of the president, so that it is not implemented. And if it implemented, Bayelsa state must be made to make a refund of the monies to the federal government once the law court and the National Assembly agreed that the action of the president was an illegality.
This includes such behavior as bribery (use of reward to pervert the judgment of a person in a position of trust); nepotism (bestowal of patronage by reason of relationship rather than merit); and misappropriation (illegal appropriation of public resources for private regarding uses).
In Nye's book, nepotism is one of the worst kinds of corruption that is very prevalent in Africa and nations committed to the creation of an egalitarian society, free from the vestiges of corruption tendency are always very quick to identify it in the corridors of power and nip it in the bud before it blossoms.
When French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a crass display of nepotism appointed his son,Jean,23 to be the head of the multibillion euro public agency that runs La Defense, the island of corporate towers in the west of Paris, it was condemned by the French public. Even members of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement balked at the act of raw nepotism in the appointment. Bowing to public opinion the senior Sarkozy ordered the junior one to find another thing to do with his time. But the embarrassment and damage was huge on the image of the French in Europe and around the world.
Here in Nigeria people often treat acts of nepotism with kid gloves, as if it does not matter or as if that is not part of the corruption that we confront everyday and hopefully pray to overcome when the true leaders of the people began to emerge in the political scene.
When the former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai was confronted with the fact that he allocated several choice lands to his family members and cronies, he defended himself by asserting that his family members are also Nigerians, so he cannot deny them the dubious allocations. Only in Nigeria can a public officer, serving or retired show such impenitence over weighty allegations of nepotism and yet get away with it.
Acts of nepotism was also rampant throughout the time of President Olusegun Obasanjo in power, as the doubtful privatization programme embarked upon by that administration,were hijacked by Obasanjo and his cronies who allegedly bought over most of the juicy privatized public corporations.Nothing has been done to make Obasanjo and his cronies accountable for close to four years after leaving office.
Now President Goodluck Jonathan is believed to have taken nepotism to a new height with the quick dispatch he handled issue of revenue derivation that concerned his home state Bayelsa. Bayelsa's problem is no different from that of other states that the administration has failed to do anything about. A few examples will suffice.
There has been agitation by the Abia state government to repossess its oil wells that were illegally taken away from it. This issue has not yet been settled because the president is believed to be insisting on following the due process over the matter.
For a very long time, the government and people of Anambra state based on the large deposits of oil and gas that God has blessed them with, have been calling on the federal government, including this one headed by Jonathan to explore and exploit it for the benefit of Anambrarians and the country at large. Nothing has been done about that. When President Jonathan visited the state recently, the Governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi once again called for Anambra to be included among the oil producing states. The President promised to look into it. That request will definitely pass through the due process.
Imo state is a major oil producing state and one of the states benefitting from development projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), but the people there have been complaining that the state has not been getting its fair share of development projects. When their complaint got to Aso Rock they were told that the problem is being looked into, even as the state was reminded that the decision to carry out their demands must pass through the due process.
The people of Cross River state know the consequences of losing oil wells to another state. When the state lost out some oil wells to Akwa Ibom state, it affected the amount of revenue accruing to the state and had negative impacts on projects earlier earmarked for development. When Cross Riverians complained they were told that the process of reversing the deal that handed down the oil wells to their neighbour must pass through the due process.
While the people of Abia, Anambra, Imo, Cross River and others have to wait for the due process to run its course before their issues are addressed, it took one letter from Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva alleging denial of revenue to the state for the president to allegedly alter the derivation sharing formula of the country. Sylva wrote the president on February 6, and by August 31, the president had allegedly granted Bayelsa the concession on derivation that it asked for.
The president thus granted a special concession to his native Bayelsa state to earn more from 13 percent derivation enjoyed by mineral producing states according to media report citing sources in the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
The concession allows Bayelsa to receive extra derivation revenue for offshore on the nine oil wells located beyond the 200 metre isobaths on ground of ecological damage to the state from the operation of those oil wells. This development is said to have catapulted Bayelsa state to the position of the highest revenue accruing state in the country.
Aready legal fireworks are feared as the action of the president has been described as illegal. According to knowledgeable legal minds such concession cannot stand unless the Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Abrogation Act 2004 is amended and that is the turf of the National Assembly.
Aside, the legal actions that it would trigger if it is implemented, another major concern is that the net revenue that would be available for distribution would be reduced. This is bound to have dire consequences for many states.
With the president's inane display of nepotism in this matter, the hapless states that would bear the burden for Bayelsa' increase in revenue derivation may have to rely on the judiciary and the National Assembly to correct the insensitive action of the president, so that it is not implemented. And if it implemented, Bayelsa state must be made to make a refund of the monies to the federal government once the law court and the National Assembly agreed that the action of the president was an illegality.
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