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The trails of corruption



As corruption runs rampant like wild fire across nation,  Nigeria   is being consumed to a near shattering  disaster.and collapse. There is such a wailing desperation on the faces of the people you see, they live in permanent pain and agony as  predation by the uncaring  ruthless and reckless  leaders continues to deliver far more abject and devastating poverty upon its people.
Undoubtedly Nigeria is rich, But Nigerians are poor. The profusion of wealth and the abundance of natural resources has never in any way profited or trickled down to the poor masses.
The physical condition of the nation is abhorrent  direct consequences of corruption and congenital incompetence. The roads are pitted with holes, They have no such things as pavement, no landscape architecture or urban planning, no water. Power failure had become so consistent that the national electricity board whose acronym was N.E.P.A was modified to mean "never expect power always" What comes to sight when a human- man steps into this  god forbidden nation called Nigeria  is the reckless abandon of virtually every things that makes possible the ease of life. The entire nation is reminiscent of a war zone with an endless list of  Nos - no water in the hotels or homes; no electricity at homes or even in the industries or government ministries ; no good roads for the transport of goods and services  from industries;  no health services of any kind; no sewage  or sanitary systems no public services,no schools, no sports centres or parks no cinemas or amusement centres.
Nigeria as it is now is not a state but a caricature of a state, an illusion that will never change into something Good as Ghana has done. Nigeria is Evil  and a threat to humanity. A kingdom overwhelmed in the darkness.


This is a nation where politics has become a metaphor for cynicism,  callousness, mindlessness  and brainlessness,  greed and rapacity.A former Governor James Ibori was recently jailed  by a British court for his part in a fraud totalling more than $250 millions.  An X ray of corruption shows that more than three quarters of Nigerian governors deeply involved in some scandalous transfer of public fund. The Goodluck Jonathan's administration  is annually facing a mounting scrutiny at home  over illegal payments to cronies and associates amounting to 155 billion Naira
But the political class is not alone in this collective merciless looting of their nation that should have been "our own dear native land". The civil service as inept and as unproductive  and impotent as it is, has  through out this period of unexamined Brainlessness inflicted the most devastating and deepest wounds to the nations economy through corruption practices. The notorious  keeper of the house of representatives, Dimeji Bankole, recently pointed out that the civil service agents has been probed for funds misappropriation of more than one trillion Naira. During the last five year the probe has  enforced the recovery of more 8oo billion. This aptly displays the degree of ruthlessness with which the civil service in Nigeria has so mindlessly looted and squandered the wealth of  our nation and the promise of our future.
In spite of what may be termed as oil jackpot  of more than $300  billions the economy is in a funk, all public services are in chronic deficiency and decay, schools and hospital are decaying, all communicational systems like postal services or telephone systems are inefficient. the very important institutions in the public services are expending a mind boggling amount of money while delivering zero services. The civil servants are not merely plundering the nations they are extortioners of the very poor they were mandated to serve.And yet the civil service employments are sold to the highest bidder between $3000 to $5000
 . Nigerians in the cities live in the slums surrounded by mounds of garbage without access to basic amenities. But through it all the and notwithstanding, so much pain and  agony  that  people of this country go through, . They  are consistently targetet by  the police or the armed forces  to pay settlements under gun points. several bus and taxi drivers and even common drivers have been shot dead for refusing to adhere. In every city in every town or village in Nigeria the predatory police continues to act routinely  as an occupying force. No attempts whatsoever have been made to crack down on such monstrous act of betrayal  on the part of the political class. Embezzlement and bribery is rife on any any grounds. On boarders of the country through the airports, the seas, and the ground boarders "with the customs it is  pay and go no matter with you are bringing in or out" says Ajakpoloha  who works at the ports authority. Every where people are on the look out for money making opportunities and careless about the collective development the prospective  future of their children or the devastating impact of kleptomaniac on their lives.
This is a nation where school pupil sit on the bare floor in a ramshackle classrooms with no adequate equipment for teachers whereas state governors fly  private jets, and senators elected to the house of assembly are doted with $1.5 million as monthly salary. General hospitals have been turned to hospices  due inadequate funding whereas the prominent families travel abroad for treatment. Nigeria is a nation of about 150 million inhabitants. And every member is a local government on his own as  every one should provide himself  with basic amenities including electricity, water, security, health and educational services. The roads pitted  with holes are generally paved by the inhabitants themselves.Every one is forced  digs a bore hole for water and buy generator for electricity. And when the night falls  in big cities such as Lagos, this is when you experience the trauma hell and the tragic lives of the Nigerians. who are subjected to go through out the night a racket of pandemonium hanging over the city  from the noisy generators.  
Justice is without doubt the noblest institution made by man. According to some schools of thought  it is the  distinctive factor between man and ape.It identifies society and characterises humanity's most valuable expediency for survival. However when that propriety is denied and expelled through corruption in any given society, all the surviving  relics of the ape and tiger we expected to have outlived come back in seven fold and the last condition of man will be worst than ever.
The condition of justice in Nigeria is an empirical evidence that when justice becomes thoroughly corrupted as it is today its evil is incalculable, its act are monstrosity. Justice in Nigeria is not merely an institution of perversion , a ruthless gender that has degenerated to a tragic level of inhumanity.The system itself is farce  in a state of lawlessness. Prisoners are massively detained  for  months  or years without trial some of  them, innocent, die in the jail before their sentence. The result of a court proceeding are more often a result of a financial transaction and bribery. Dangerous criminals who have money will have the protection of the court  and were never prosecuted as long as  they can line the pockets of the police and the judges. James Ibori, the notorious state governor's case is an epitome of Nigeria's  abominable system of justice. Released from  Nigerian courts on  150 counts of charges, he was found guilty in a London court and jailed after admitting  ten counts of defrauding and conspiracy. In one of those charades they call courts a very prominent man who enjoys the patronage of some powerful politician was involved in a crime of murder, his servant or house boy was sentenced to death and the wealthy  was mysteriously set free on the same charges of murder. This is where we are today. We can no longer reckon with our institutions of law and order due to extreme corruption and thefts
And this is just why we are there
Some people argue that there is a DNA of corruption among Nigerians or otherwise they are gullible enough  to ignore the horrendous trails of diverting public funds to selfish satisfaction and do not understand that those whom we love are the ones that are hurt. However there are justifiable evidences that more 95% of Nigerians of all genders have been  willing participants in the acts of corruption. basic daily transactions  are  realised through bribery, theft or corruption. it  goes from the exam cheating and out right certificate sales by teacher to bribery for passport or driving license delivery "corruption is so widespread that the citizens call it the Nigerian Factor" says Jordan smith. So it is the civil society that motivates corruption which is inspired by a pervasive culture of "Get Rich quick" and the celebration of the rich what ever the origin of the wealth. Convicts have found their to the parliament as deputies owing to their fortune which every one knows it was ill gotten.  
Aimless leadership and poor governance can only generate waste and pillage of an ignorant population that maintains the primitive culture of dancing to it irresponsible and perverse leaders who are accoutable to no one.  Leaders, incapable of motivating a collective  sense of  purpose, and a  greater sense of belonging  to the nation, like the Asia have done, are more on the look out for money making opportunities and obsessed by selfish satisfaction.


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