There is a popular cliché that is attributed to the late leader of Zimbabwe, Sir Robert Mugabe, thus: “When you see guards guarding any Government building during working hours, tell them the thieves are already inside”.
Aside the humour contained in the message, the simple sense of purpose in the pronouncement is that, those placed in positions of trust, or those assigned the responsibility of protecting people’s wealth, because they are considered credible, most times, come out less clean on credence. This belief is particularly peculiar to leaders in Africa. According to the records, official corruption has been widespread in new African countries in the postcolonial period and has contributed considerably to political instability, public distrust of the government, and economic reverses and failure to attract foreign capital, or foreign investments.
Because of corruption, particularly African leaders’ attitude of direct thievery from the treasury, Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, placed Nigeria on a score of 25. Yes, 25 on a scale from 0 (“highly corrupt”) to 100 (“very clean”). It means, when ranked by score, Nigeria ranked 145th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. By this rating, Transparency International has done nothing but condemned Nigerian leaders, with regards the meaning of integrity. They did not mince any word, in saying that Nigeria is full of leaders that are thieves. But hold on, the present President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has challenged that submission, by saying, not every chief is a thief.
Last Friday, at a meeting with the Forum of Former Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, under the leadership of former Senate President, chief Ken Nnamani, President Tinubu distanced himself from the cliché of late Robert Mugabe, alongside the stereotyped opinion of many that, every leader in Nigeria is in the office to steal. He said he is not in office for personal gains, but simply to serve the country.
”I didn’t come to look for money and exploit the situation; I came to work. I asked for the votes, and Nigerians gave them to me,”-President Tinubu.
In Nigeria, where there is a strong conviction that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for people to know the actual net worth of their leaders, everyone is agreed on one thing-that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the richest president Nigeria ever produced.
Shortly after he was sworn in as the 16th President of Nigeria, and while speaking at the 2023 Presidential Inauguration Interdenominational Church Service, at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, his wife, Senator Remi Tinubu said, the wealth of Nigeria belongs to all and that they would use it for the right thing. The first lady said her family has been blessed by God and does not need the wealth of Nigeria to survive.
“Nigeria’s wealth is the commonwealth of all. It belongs to everyone. God has blessed my family. We don’t need the wealth of Nigeria to survive but to do the right thing. And I promise you on this altar, that with your help, with the help of God, who will set this nation on the right path.”
Clearly, this is an affirmation from the first lady, that, as far as theft from the public treasury is concerned, Tinubu is not going to be a partaker in the party.
All the searches I made on the internet, with regards the financial status of President Tinubu, have given one answer- the man is remarkably rich. So, no one is in doubt with regards his stupendous wealth. The question begging for answer now is, the relative position of this money with regards to his own concept of morality. Is he amongst those that believe in morality being more important in the society than money?
Going by his submission, and the submission of his wife, the first lady, methinks, Tinubu is telling the world that, contrary to the assumption of many, to him, money is not a moral value, because it is not a behavior. On the other hand, the accumulation of money or the love of money can be of moral value. If you permit your conscience to work, whatever material you accumulated, would not take precedence over your overall sense of judgement, particularly judgement with regards what is right or wrong. And stealing is wrong.
People that put money before morals, are more likely to feast on people’s pouch, because, they lack the morals that would help them differentiate between trust and distrust. Indeed upholding trust comes with severe consequences to the trustee. When a trustee misuses trust funds by unlawfully helping himself or his crony, without the consent of those that placed him there, his action is described by lawyers as the misappropriation of trust. In Nigeria, it is the least amongst the long list of corrupt acts. And President Tinubu has made it clear that he doesn’t belong there.
In other words, the country can go to sleep with both eyes closed, as Nigeria is in safe hands, because, the safe-keeper is not a safe-breaker.
