PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S GREATEST MISTAKE, AS ONE CAN NOW DEFINE IT - Emeka Ugwuonye

            

Looking back, it would seem that President Jonathan's greatest mistake was the manner his government handled the issue of corruption. But please stop: I am not about to say what you expect. My mind is reasoning differently.

Jonathan was too honest in the way he dealt with corruption. He simply left the subject and allowed his officers to help themselves. What made Jonathan different was not that he was more corrupt than Obasanjo or that he would be more corrupt that Buhari's regime. No! What made his different was that he failed to start some bogus war against corruption. He failed to fire up some propaganda and false war on corruption.

Come to think about it: Obasanjo waged war against corruption. Yet, he was the most corrupt. Sixteen billion dollars was squandered under the guise of reforming the power sector, and we got nothing from it. Obasanjo fought against corruption. Yet, he used Transcorp to steal billions. Obasanjo and his Minister of Abuja stole too much land in Abuja. Yet, he fought the war against corruption.

Now, Buhari is fighting his own war against corruption. Yet his officers were busy padding figures into the budget for themselves. On Buhari's war against corruption, they could tell every penny that went to Dasuki and how each money was split between Dokpesi and Metuh. Their focus on this money is so pin-pointely accurate that not a penny could escape their attention. But when it came to the national budget which would fund the administration, they could not add up the numbers. Billions of money appeared where they should not be on the budget. Yet, the war against corruption continues in high gear.

The louder the noise about the war, the better each corrupt administration is able to create a smoke screen that it is not corrupt. Jonathan was the only one who just avoided that pretension and propaganda driven war against corruption. And that was how Jonathan created the impression that he was the most corrupt deserving exclusively of investigations. If Jonathan had started his own war against corruption, he would have been able to use it as an excuse to jail his opponents. So, you can now see the folly in not having your own war against corruption, even a fake one.

Having said that, Nigerians are yet to see a war against corruption that is honestly fought. What we have had has been a pretentious war again corruption. Some lip service to this war. If Buhari means real war against corruption, just take back all the lands that were allocated without due process. From that alone, the government would realize all the money it needs for the budget. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying you should leave Dokpesi, Metuh, and Dasuki off. I am just saying you need to add the corrupt APC politicians and let them keep company with their PDP friends.