Almost all Nigerian politicians have the badge of a public verdict against them. That is to the extent that it may be easier to convince a Nigerian that a month-old baby can walk than try convincing him that a politician is innocent; it is that bad. Successful politicians: those who have gone through the rigor of winning an election, are seen with complete distrust.
Hence, it is a common saying that a Nigerian politician will promise to build a bridge where there is not even swamp, much less a river; an old saying that depicts desperation and utter dishonesty on the part of the politician as well as proportionate distrust from the people. But what many Nigerians do not know is the role of some Nigerians whom they neither see nor hear, in the thriving business of corruption in public offices, all over Nigeria and at all levels.
These professionals, proficient experts, or whatever else they may be called, appointed into one ministry, agency or department of government as Minister, Managing Directors, Commissioners, Consultants, etc., in conjunction with senior civil servants; particularly Permanent Secretaries, Directors in government offices, most of which are worse than these politicians. This is the fact many Nigerians do not find fanciful and so still see them as saints, yet they have continued to live above their means while enjoying stupendous opulence that is especially comparable to the lifestyle of Nigerian political elites and other members of the top class.
The corruption that is characteristic of Nigerian professionals and public intellectuals in government service and public institutions, in part, account for the disappearance of the Nigerian middle class. Today, people argue, there is nothing like the middle class in Nigeria because none exists. The middle class live almost the same standard of living as the elites and so cannot be said to be intermediating between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
Instead of calling them middle class which they have since outgrown, many agree they can be called the petty-bourgeoisie class. Although it is not entirely a secret that senior civil servants and professionals under any kind of service in government and public institutions in Nigeria at all levels have continued to illegally exploit their positions for their own personal gain.
Hundreds of them pay school fees that run into several thousands of dollars in American and European universities, which their salary and other entitlements for life, cannot afford. They live in choice areas and build mansions as well as acquire other properties both within and outside Nigeria, just in the same manner after many office holders in Nigeria.
The fact of the matter is that these experienced civil servants and their cohorts in government share some percentage of the loot which enables them to continue work and perfect loots by public office holders, such that it is not readily exposed.
Without the aid and support of senior civil servants along with other accomplices, it will be practically too risky and outrightly a dicey option for politicians who serve in public office to temper with public funds. The fact of the matter is that these experienced civil servants and their cohorts in government share some percentage of the loot which enables them to continue work and perfect loots by public office holders, such that it is not readily exposed.
Civil servants are the ones that help politicians ‘retire’ government funds that have been altogether embezzled or misappropriated, in such a smooth way that it raises no question at all. This is common knowledge in Government Houses, Local Government Secretariats, Houses of Assembly, National Assembly, government departments, ministries, and agencies, at all levels. This is well-coordinated and seamless that once a new political office holder comes in, he makes an inquiry and he is directed to a senior ranking civil servant that will “make his work easy”. Making his work easy includes showing him how to embezzle public funds successfully.
Most politicians are inexperienced in public management and are usually completely bereft of ideas; what to do or even how, much less how to milk the system successfully and smoothly.
Most politicians are inexperienced in public management and are usually completely bereft of ideas; what to do or even how, much less how to milk the system successfully and smoothly. This alliance is what ultimately leads to the reckless embezzlement of public funds that are meant for the public good. These funds are caused to disappear largely into private pockets and neatly explained away, with the help of the nefarious schemes of experienced civil servants most of whom live well above their known income, without any credible explanation.
Even beyond these civil servants, professionals, and intellectuals within government and public institutions cycle that help to perpetuate looting in governance. Their counterpart middle class in entertainment and other areas are equally culpable in the social malais. A case in point comes to mind; Funke Akindele of Jennifer’s Diary fame was reportedly back from London, around the peak of the spread of COVID-19 in London and did not isolate or quarantined herself. Then just yesterday, despite the lockdown in Lagos and clear rules on social distancing, she threw a party for her husband in her residence around the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos.
This reckless demonstration of middle-class pretensions at this very critical time in Lagos with serious concerns over the possible spread of COVID-19 is truly dangerous. This attitude is typical of many petty bourgeoisies in Nigeria, irrespective of occupation. In the entertainment industry, they constitute a nuisance and try to mess with people’s minds with their mediocre message and misplaced feeling of importance, laced with a false sense of success which they so proudly showoff.
Nigerians will have to come to terms with the fact that many of these middle-class personalities are some of the major enablers of poor leadership at all levels of government in Nigeria; local, state and federal.
Nigerians will have to come to terms with the fact that many of these middle-class personalities are some of the major enablers of poor leadership at all levels of government in Nigeria; local, state and federal. These set of Nigerians are further responsible for the chaos, social decay, general incompetence, mediocrity that symbolizes Nigerian society. Senior civil servants are not innocent government workers who are at the mercy of the ruling class necessarily; rather, they rely on their experience and connections to benefit illegally in ways that negate good governance and accountability. Nigerian entertainers and other cadres of the pretend middle class are not bystanders but accomplices.
If eventually Nigerians successfully dismantle this crop of ruling class in their country and install new kind of leadership, but fail to equally undo its pretend middle class that has now become a major problem of governance, then the leadership deficit in Nigeria only has been addressed by half.
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