Who wins the Battle: The Corrupt System or the Fight against Corruption?

Who wins the Battle: The Corrupt System or the Fight against Corruption?

A few weeks from now, we shall be celebrating the 1st year anniversary of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president of Nigeria.
Despite all the hurdles the President faced before winning one of the most competitive elections in recent history, the country has united behind a man with an impeccable track record of choosing leaders. He mentors them young and smart and tilts towards the empowerment of the feminine gender.
Nobody second-guesses President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s boldness, daring, and resolve as a leader.
No wonder he received many praises globally when he identified and chose Dr. Betta Edu as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs. Making history and breaking the jinx. He prioritized a proven track record, competency, positive energy, and affection for the vulnerable over the easy choices.
Betta Edu is a vibrant, compassionate extraordinary performer who has experienced the rudiments of leadership from her days as the vice president of the Student Union Government, Special Adviser in Cross River State, to the Pioneer Director General of Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Commissioner of Health Cross River state and Chairman of all Commissioners of Health in Nigeria. She was elected the youngest National Women Leader of any political party in Africa and galvanized women’s support all over the country, then to be appointed Honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The youngest in the history of 4th Republic of Nigeria.
It is no wonder the president chose such a consistent performer despite political and perceived opposition from the older generation, and those aware of Dr. Edu’s seriousness and technocracy to that very sensitive ministry which is the human face of the Renewed Hope agenda for the poor.
Getting the ministry’s workings right would have solved Nigeria’s problems by over 70 percent, with 133 million people living below poverty line and an additional 10 million people thrown into poverty between January and April 2024 according to World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook for Nigeria: April 2024. That was the least deliverable Dr. Edu promised to deliver, and she was all hands-on deck from Day 1. Below are just a few achievements she had achieved within the first 140 days in office before the suspension.
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While shattering glass ceilings, doing the impossible for the Tinubu’s Renewed hope Mandate, going down to the very poorest at the remotest areas in the country, managing Internally Displaced Persons, Disable and the Vulnerable at large, the corrupt system orchestrated ways to force her out of office. Little wonder that by the end of December 2023 an international Paper The Guardian UK and several organizations rated her as the Best Minister for 2023 after 4 months of a sterling performance.
The Young Minister who was everywhere both within and outside the country Nigeria, campaigning with the President during the elections, believed strongly in his 8-point agenda targeted at reducing poverty and fighting corruption, among other points. She was diligent enough to expose a 44.8 billion Naira unapproved transfer in December 2023 by National social Investment Program Agency under the supervision of her Ministry. The Principal took a positive step in line with his determination to fight corruption by suspending the Government official (National Coordinator) involved. Little did he know that the large network of prospective beneficiaries from that unapproved transfer which is part of a systemic corruption will come fighting back with false propaganda to remove the Minister at all cost and tarnish her image.
How else can we explain the suspension of someone who exposed the fraud that occurred in a ministry? 44.8bn Naira was transferred without approvals from the president, Federal Executive council or even the knowledge of the Minister; Dr. Betta Edu queries this action, and off she goes suspended in 7 days? How does that make any sense? Regular and new social media were heavily paid to run propaganda for days, internal persons were also planted to put required pressure on the President to ensure the Minister was suspended, just to teach her a lesson never to report fraud when she sees one. This large network of prospective beneficiaries had concerted efforts to defame a minister whose passion and policies were focused on the grassroots and who has shown poise and action to weed out corruption and irregularities within the ministry. This is a young woman with an impeccable track record of over 20 years in leadership roles and public service. Have we lost our conscience? Can we quantify the untold hardship that sometimes irreversible, vulnerable people across Nigeria must have gone through and are still going through because of this action of allowing the plans of the corrupt people to prevail?
Of all the 8-point agenda the president campaigned on, weeding out corruption, Poverty alleviation, women and youth empowerment were the core. Have we asked ourselves, how has the continuous suspension of the best-performing Minister, as per the Guardian UK in 2023, correlated with this agenda?
While the President intends to suspend the minister so that the system can be investigated, the period concerning the suspended minister was barely 4 months. Given that all the projects she achieved were legally genuine with due approvals and the said transfer of 587 million Naira which she wrote officially to the Accountant General and payments were made from the accountant general office, Given that she followed a laid down regulation from Chapter 14 section (iii) of the Federal Government Financial regulations, which states clearly that “ in the disbursement of funds for non-personal advance for project/special programs, the leader of the project/special programs shall be the accounting officer, while an accountant of an appropriate grade shall be attached to each project/special programs and have responsibility for the disbursements as well as retirements of the non-personal advances”. According to these financial regulation guidelines, the so-called private account to which funds were transferred is a qualifying account, which is managed by the Project accountant and there is evidence to show that the funds reached the intended beneficiaries in different states.
If anything, Dr. Edu proved she is a staunch advocate for the rule of law, takes the President’s directives seriously, and operates in accordance with the shared vision the president campaigned on. The least she deserves, the least people whom she has reached out to within her first 140 days in office deserve, the least the poor and vulnerable deserve, the least young productive minds with high-value-addition deserves and the least Nigeria as a Nation deserves is that the President, as the Commander, push aside completely the false narrative, boldly speak to Nigerians as a great leader, who have been misled by some disgruntled persons around him and some media houses, and without delay re-instate Dr. Betta Edu as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Anything short of this result leaves more questions than answers. The effect of this action or inaction is so enormous that it determines the effect this will have on young people or women globally who are being forced out of positions of leadership and relegated to the back burner.
We have seen presidents claim they are fighting corruption; this is a clear case study. Is our President Truly fighting corruption? Is he laying the groundwork for corruption to win? Are we adopting the saying that says if you can’t win them, you join them? What precedence are we laying here? Be bold, be courageous, and take the fight against the corrupt system until they bulge or simply succumb to their tactics and let corruption consume our beloved country.
I wonder who Dr. Edu is protecting. In all of these she has said nothing! Who is she scared of? Why is she not defending herself with facts? Is she being made to keep mute? Is she being bullied by a corrupt system into keeping mute, does she regret her actions of exposing corruption? The facts are clear that she is not part of the corruption in the system. Rather, she raised the alarm to call out this corruption.
In other climes, in line with ethics, the Minister should be praised, promoted and awarded so that other young women in power or aspiring to take up leadership roles in our country can confidently maintain impeccable service and commitment to our dear Nations development.
This battle must not be lost because she dared ask questions about people using stolen funds to hijack the media. The battle must not be lost for the sake of the reputation Dr. Edu has built over the years. This battle must not be lost for the sake of all she has achieved within the first 140 days working tirelessly for the renewed hope agenda and Humanity. This battle must not be prolonged or lost for the sake of the vulnerable, the biggest losers in this time of freeze action. The battle must not be lost to those intentionally allowing the investigation to drag on. The battle is for us all, and this is how to win: Re-Instate Dr. Betta Edu.
Our own President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, did not bow to pressure when he was the Governor of Lagos State, and the state was starved of Monthly allocations. You did not bow to pressure when the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigerian redesigned the Naira to decimate your presidential race. You did not bow to pressure when your adversaries were using fake edited memes, fake propaganda and all sort of lies to defame your character all over the media. Our Dear President, under pressure, you always come out victorious. Please make history again. Re-instate Dr. Betta Edu today and let the good work continue.
Kayode Michael Arimoro.
USA Civil right Analyst; Founder- Sustainable National Movement
Author, Entrepreneur, Systems and Automation Subject Matter Expert.