I am inspired by the spirit of Easter to discuss the subject of sins and atonement in this week’s column. Of course, in examining such metaphysical matter, there is bound to be some preachiness and theologising. So, let me crave your indulgence, dear readers, from the outset. But my focus is the economic sins of Nigeria’s leaders. This has concerned me lately, and there is no better time to write about it than Easter when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who, through His redemptive work, gave man the opportunity to confess and repent of his sins and receive forgiveness! I believe that the principle of sins and atonement applies as much to a nation or a people as to an individual. In that context, let me discuss the economic sins of Nigeria’s political class.
Now, economic sins come in different shapes and forms. Some are sins of omission, others are of commission. Yet some are utterly odious or wicked, outright criminal, with harmful moral and economic effects on a nation. Corruption, the mindless stealing of public money by those in power, is one such heinous crime. And, sadly, for decades, Nigeria’s leaders have committed this terrible sin. They have perpetrated outrageous economic crimes against this country. Today, everyone talks about the effects of falling oil prices on the economy, but few ever mention that Nigeria is also in this situation because its leaders have almost bankrupted it through decades of corruption and other economic crimes.
Various estimates put the amount of money that Nigeria has earned from oil since the 1970s to date at about $500 billion. Yet the levels of infrastructural decay, poverty and inequality in this country are unbelievably high. Where, then, did all the oil money go? Why is it that Nigeria has no modern transport system and can’t power its industry or provide electricity for its people? Why is it that over 100 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty, and the country’s education and healthcare systems are among the worst in the world? Other nations are on the fast lane in the global race for technological development, but Nigeria is crawling on its knees. Why? What happened to the billions of dollars of oil revenues and other earnings?
Well, the common view is that Nigeria’s political leaders stole most of the nation’s money and unjustly enriched themselves, their friends and families with the collective wealth of the people of this country. Indeed, recently, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, gave a devastating indictment of Nigeria’s political leaders. In a statement, Osinbajo said that past Nigerian leaders enriched themselves with the nation’s commonwealth “in a shameful manner”, adding that “the kind of corruption we experienced in the recent past is the kind that, in any other part of the world, would be considered as a crime against humanity”. He went on to say: “I think it is one thing everybody should be ashamed of, if you consider what the leaders of this country had done”. Indeed, we should all feel a sense of injustice, a righteous indignation, about the economic crimes of Nigeria’s political leaders.
But, wait a minute, who are the leaders who committed these heinous crimes? Why, in a democracy, are they such mystery figures that the public doesn’t know who they are? Why are they not being brought to justice? As I write, the former President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, has been charged with corruption offences, and the Supreme Court of Brazil has thwarted every attempt by his successor, Dima Rouseff, to protect him from prosecution. But, for all the sound and fury over political corruption, the Lula experience can never happen in Nigeria! Why?
Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, once posed a very poignant question. “If corruption is so evil”, he said, “how come we are so much at peace with it?” Well, in my view, Nigerians are “so much at peace with” corruption because there is an elite consensus, and even public consensus, that it as an acceptable fact of life, a cultural reality in Nigeria. Indeed, virtually all political or public officers in Nigeria, and their private sector collaborators, who are beneficiaries of Nigeria’s crony capitalism and the cartelisation of the economy, have, to varying orders of magnitude, committed the economic sin of corruption. So, like in the Biblical story of the prostitute who was brought before Jesus and accused of “being caught in the act”, it’s the case of who will cast the first stone! Truth is: Nigerian politicians and their agents are having each other’s back when it comes to corruption and other economic crimes!
But corruption is a serious economic sin, and we can’t allow elite conspiracy and public acquiescence to ensure its perpetuation. As Vice President Osinbajo said, corruption could, indeed, be a crime against humanity, which the International Criminal Court describes as “acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civil population, with knowledge of the attack”. Surely, when politicians steal the resources belonging to a nation to enrich themselves, their families and friends, while condemning the mass of the people to extreme poverty and misery, then such acts are not just a violation of the economic rights of the people, they are also crimes against humanity. Yet that’s what Nigeria’s leaders stand accused of; that is, of inflicting economic cruelty on ordinary Nigerians by impoverishing their lives through massive corruption and greed. They must atone for their sins!
Let me put it this way. When a country so blessed by God, as Nigeria is, has been diminished through the corruption and avarice of those entrusted to lead it, things can’t be normal without genuine atonement. From a philosophical or spiritual dimension, there is a price to pay. The law of kamar (of action and reaction) and the biblical principle of sins and atonement clearly indicate that a nation or a people that ignore or condone systemic moral wrongs or sins may struggle to make progress. As the Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14: 34).
And corruption is regarded as a sin both in the Bible and the Quran. Indeed, the three components of the original sin of man, namely the lust of flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, which translate, respectively, into inordinate desires for pleasure, possession and position, are still the classic drivers of political corruption and, indeed, any form of corruption! And just as the definition of the sin of corruption hasn’t changed, so the principle of sin and atonement hasn’t either. For instance, in the Old Testament, man had to make sacrifice, by killing an animal, to atone for every sin he committed. Today, every year, the Jewish people still celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, during which they fast and seek forgiveness for their sins, in accordance with the Biblical injunction in Leviticus 23:26. For Christians, of course, and this is why the message of Easter is very inspiring, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ represent the cleansing, forgiveness and redemption of man’s sin. Yet, to benefit from Jesus’s redemptive work, one still has to recognise that one is a sinner, confess and repent of one’s sins, and believe!
What, then, is the point of all this theologising (I gave a heads-up, remember!)? Well, before I make my basic proposition, let me start with an analogy. In any country where there have been widespread political crimes, such as segregation and apartheid in South Africa, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission has helped to achieve atonement, justice and reconciliation. I remember watching a few sessions of the South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and seeing how genuinely cathartic and reconciliatory the process was. Now, I see the massive corruption and other economic crimes committed by Nigerian politicians and their economic agents over the past decades as the equivalent of segregation and apartheid because they undermined Nigeria’s economic development, created massive economic injustice and made Nigeria one of the most unequal countries in the world, with appalling levels of poverty and misery. So, in my view, Nigeria needs an economic version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I call it an Economic Justice Commission.
So, here is my proposition. President Buhari should set up an Economic Justice Commission, backed by legislation. The Commission should consist of men and women of impeccable character and discretion – retired judges, religious leaders, etc. Unlike the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Economic Justice Commission will not meet in public. And nothing said there will ever be made public. Once established, all past political and public office holders, regardless of how long ago they served, should examine their conscience and decide whether to appear before the Commission. Churches and traditional rulers should support the Commission and encourage people to appear before it. Those who appear should do two things: one, tell the Commission the economic crime(s) they committed, and second, make a sacrifice in the form of a substantial financial contribution to a dedicated national fund, and Nigerians should be told annually how much has been contributed to the fund without any information about the sources! Now, I said “contribution” because such an act must not lead to self-incrimination.
Indeed, the Economic Justice Commission (EJC) would be the “soft” version of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and both should exist together. But no one who appears before the EJC and makes genuine atonement, as judged by the members, should be prosecuted by the EFCC. The anti-corruption strategy should include both “soft” and “hard” instruments. President Buhari should then leave all issues about corruption to the two bodies, and concentrate on real governance. The president shouldn’t spend more than 20 percent of his time on fighting corruption. It’s a distraction!
Finally, let me say this: atonement isn’t the same thing as remission. For Christians, only Jesus can remit sins, and everyone must still find peace with God individually. But atonement, by way of economic justice, must be part of that.
Happy Easter Monday dear readers!
Olu Fasan
