EXTRADITION TREATIES AND ANTI CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA

THE WAR SHOULD REALLY BE ON POVERTY,  FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE,  EFFORT ON QUALITY OF EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE,  NOT CORRUPTION.

If corruption is seen as  an industry,  the worth will be well over  2 Trillion Dollars today.  This includes corruption and monies spent on the war against it.  Ironically,  the more money spent on fighting corruption, the more corruption grows.

Though the world Bank has a zero tolerance for corruption, evidence before us shows that corruption on the  global front has only increased  since its creation.

The bank itself, set up to help the world's poor,   is not free of corruption. The Bank’s previous approach to corruption was described by an ex-Bank staffer as the “three-monkey policy”: see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. Despite progress questions remain about whether the Bank is really able to keep corruption at bay from its own projects.

NIGERIA

Nigeria has extradition treaties with quite a number of countries.

Chief among them are:

United States of America ( The oldest treaty we have with any country which is now 84 years old)

South Africa
Liberia
Britain
United Arab Emirates (UAE the most recent in 2017 or so signed by President Buhari)
It is the treaty that enumerates what offences the two countries consider extraditable.

I am not a lawyer,  but I do know that anticorruption in the modern day,  has great international role play.  And in the fight against corruption,  this appears to be the first sign of seriousness if you want to know how your government is doing on the war on corruption as it concerns the international movement of stolen money and fugitives.

If you follow the cocaine wars well enough,  you will know that the war on narcoterrorists started gaining grounds when Colombia signed an extradition treaty with the United States.

You cannot win the war on corruption if you dont use your treaties or follow through with the processes.

No amount of allegations,  in the eyes of the law,  carries any weight or meaning,  where extradition are not in place to tackle the international connect. This is even more so in a developing economy with weak laws and institutions.

On the treaty between the United States and Nigeria,  the agreement is about 84 years old and many citizens of Nigeria have been extradited to the United States for fraud,  drug trafficking  and other financial crimes.

One of such is a Nigerian man, Emmanuel Ekhator,   who fled to his homeland  after being accused of defrauding dozens of lawyers and law firms of more than $31 million dollars. He was arrested in Benin and extradited to the U.S in 2011.

The other,  though not directly as a result of a treaty with the UAE at the time,  was the case of James Onanafe Ibosi,  the former Governor of Delta state who fled to Dubai and was arrested there before he was sent to the United Kingdom to face trial for which he was convincted and later sent to jail.  He has since been released to wild jubilation and celebration back home.

It is interesting to know that we not however know of a single case of any American who has been extradited from the USA to Nigeria for any crime for obvious reasons.

One citizen who is also believed to have a case of extradition hanging on his shoulder ( I can't truly confirm this for now)  is Senator Buruku Kashamu,  who is also running to be a Governor of Ogun state under the platform of the PDP.

If we look at the case of Diezianni Alison -Madueke,  you will wonder why Nigeria is not following through on the extradition request it made to Great Britain.

On the case of Atiku Abubakar,  the United States Senate only indicted.  The case has not been handed over to a judge for prosecution,  neither is the matter before any court of competent  jurisdiction  in the USA.

What any serious  watcher or citizen interested in assessing the anticorruption  push must always not is the international political connect to corruption.

Many citizens who have stolen the common wealth or committed crime live abroad because they have access to those countries and enjoy the political covering of their host countries.

Corruption is probably the biggest industry in the world and there is no nation that is free of corruption.

In the last few months and years ,  I have seen documentaries on global corruption and also read books on organised crime.  Powerful politicians and oligarchs play key roles.  Stolen monies and corruption proceeds  are used to fund wars,  pay bribes and fund elections of people who are suppose to be the one to maintain law and order,  as well as administer justice.

Some economic and development economists at The world Economic Forum has since said that monies wasted on corruption is better used for other things,  if antcorruption is to have meaning.

Some of those areas in need of funding instead of putting it on corruption includes:

1. Hunger
2. Education
3. global infrastructure
4. Eradication of malaria

The place where corruption is most misunderstood is in Africa.  Corruption,  no doubt,  impedes growth and development.  It scares investors and also brings about poverty to the majority as it enriches the minority.

The best way to fight corruption has never been to declare a war on it.  The best way has always been to declare war on poverty,  illiteracy, focus on  infrastructure development and access to healthcare services.

The most corrupt countries are so because the above variables are beyond reach.  If we are serious about fighting corruption in Nigeria,  we must focus on building strong,  functional and inclusive institutions,  provide education that grows knowledge,  skill and attitude,  make healthcare available to the people and ensure that we bridge the infrastructure gap.

This is the missing link.  We don't need to declare a nonexistent war on corruption.  Corruption is a part and parcel of humanity.  you can't eradicate it,  you can only manage it.

Worldbank
IFC
CFC
TI

©Ogedengbe Ayo Moses

@ayoozovehe