News
Corruption in Nigeria and Sycophancy of Benefitting Nations
By Joel Popoola
Nigeria has lost an estimated $600bn to corrupt officials, but we rarely consider where that money has gone.
The truth is, it often ends up being laundered in the countries who lecture us on corruption.
We cannot escape the fact that Nigeria is ranked 149th out of 180 countries for corruption.
One study suggests that out of all Nigerian citizens, who have had contact with a public official in the past year, one in three paid, or were asked to pay a bribe – with the average bribe nearly 6000NGN.
Another suggested that corruption will be worth 37% of our entire economy by 2030!
But so much of this would be impossible where it not for countries who claim to know better but look the other way when it benefits them.
This week saw the UK government return $5.8m of Nigerian public money stolen by former Delta State governor James Ibori in the first such deal between our two countries.
But the recovered cash is just a fraction of $222.4m allegedly laundered by the disgraced former governor and his cronies.
All too often, money stolen like this ends up being laundered in countries like the UK where it is used to invest in property and other assets like luxury cars.
Other nations are all-too-often happy to profit at the expense of the Nigerian people by turning a blind eye to the flow of money into their countries which they know all-too-well has sprung from dubious sources.
And then they lecture us on corruption!
This is no different from you or I robbing a bank and using the money to buy our mothers a new car. Your mother then scolds you for bringing shame on your family – but she’s happy to keep the car! It’s the same as telling your children off for stealing from the sweet shop, then eating the sweets!
Yes, Nigeria is a corrupt nation. But we could not be so corrupt if it were not for supposedly honest nations being happy to pocket our misappropriated money.
International governments need to do more to ensure that Nigeria’s most dishonest politicians and public officials are not free to spend their ill-gotten gains in their countries.
This does not change the fact that we have to get our own house in order.
The memorandum of understanding signed between Nigeria and the UK in 2016 that facilitated the Ibori deal, sets out that proceeds of bribery or corruption seized in the UK will only be returned if Nigeria can demonstrate total transparency with regards to the use of the returned funds.
This is something Nigeria needs to anyway – sunlight is always the best disinfectant. And digital technology makes that transparency so much easier to deliver.
At the digital democracy campaign I lead we are committed to supporting Nigerian politicians and public officials to improve transparency and trust with the use of everyday digital technology.
The same survey which laid bare the scale of corruption in Nigerian public life also showed that almost 40% of Nigerians have not had any contact with a public official. That needs to change for trust to grow.
One of the projects we have developed is a free smartphone app called Rate Your Leader, which puts politicians and the people they elect in direct person-to-person contact. Think of it as being friends on Facebook with your local representative – except unlike other social media platforms Rate Your Leader insists both sides can prove they are who they say they are, and makes abusive communication impossible.
A direct line between electors and elected helps both sides better understand each other, and collaborate to make our communities better.
Rate Your Leader encourages politicians to do everything out in the open, and rewards them in the form of positive feedback and ratings from the people they serve, improving their reputation amongst their contacts friends, peers and neighbours – the people whose opinions they trust the most.
Building trust in the political process has to start person-to-person, politician to voter. And digital technology can deliver that change at the touch of a button.
Wider systematic change – the kind that will see that $600bn of Nigerian money spent on Nigerian schools, Nigerian roads, Nigerian digital connectivity, Nigerian hospitals, Nigerian social care for older citizens and Nigerian jobs, not on overseas mansions and sports cars for the very worst of us – will require international co-operation and commitment.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and creator of the Rate Your Leader mobile app. Follow Joel on Twitter @JOPopoola
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Eric Elezuo
The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
