Falana: Military incursion in politics is responsible for collapse of moral ethos

Femi Falana is a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He spoke to ODITA SUNDAY on corruption in the military.

The Nigerian military for decades now, has become a source of worry, given its propensity to produce officers and men who loot the country blind; what has gone wrong with military discipline?
The collapse of moral ethos in the Armed Forces is traceable to the involvement of the military in politics of the country. Ours was an apolitical military institution, which was influenced to hijack political power to settle scores along ethnoreligious perspectives. The politicisation of the military institution produced its own crisis for the country. Up till 1985, the armed forces tried to maintain some modicum of professional discipline and integrity.

It was during the Ibrahim Babangida era that the institution became fully enmeshed in corruption. That was when military officers were bribed with money and positions to prevent them from staging coups. The head of the junta could not explain the disappearance of $12.4b from the CBN. His comrade-in-arms and successor, the late General Sani Abacha, made away with about $5b. It was such brigandage by the military oligarchy, coupled with the total reign of impunity under President Goodluck Jonathan that encouraged service chiefs to engage in criminal diversion of huge funds earmarked for the procurement of armament for counter-insurgency operations,

What happened to the discipline, trust and integrity?
Discipline, trust and integrity were swept off, when a criminal political gang in the armed forces seized power in the country. From 1985 to 2015, a period of 30 years, the looting of the treasury by the military and civilian wings of the bourgeois became the order of the day. In particular, bandits in uniform were rewarded with positions of authority in the military and were decorated with national medals designed for heroes. General Babangida conferred even Sergeant Samuel Doe with the title of GCON.

In line with the centralised command structure of the military, the Federal Republic was turned to a unitary state. To compound the political crisis, the presidential system of government was imposed on the nation. Like parasites, the federating units were made to depend completely on the centre. Instead of building a self-reliant economy, the ruling class has handed over the economy to imperialism.

Progressive forces have a duty to mobilise the Nigerian people to manage the national economy as outlined in chapter 2 of the Constitution. For instance, the Buhari administration is waging a sustained war against terrorism and corruption. Without the support of the masses through the civilian JTF the war against terror cannot succeed. Ditto for the anti-corruption crusade. So far, corruption has been fighting back because the government has not reckoned with the people.

But if the people own the war against corruption, the government can be rest assured that it has won the battle. Look at the dollarisation of the economy by the CBN. How many Nigerians have any business with the dollar? How can a serious government be looking for dollars to fund the importation of consumer goods for a parasitic elite? How can an economy grow when goods that are produced locally are not selling, because cheaper brands are imported from abroad? If the government is asked by the IMF not to ban any good why have higher tariffs not been imposed on such imported goods? No doubt, the government has saved a lot of funds with the introduction of the TSA. But for goodness sake, why is all the money locked up in the CBN? Why has the CBN refused to rejig the economy by keeping the funds in the commercial banks? The other area has to do with recovered loot. Why is the fund being kept in the CBN? Let a committee of patriots be instituted to manage the funds to create jobs, fix hospitals, repair dilapidated schools etc. Keeping idle funds in a government bank is a primitive economic policy.

Some former military looters are still alive enjoying their loot; what should the present government do to such persons?
The war against corruption is not targeted at military officers alone. Politicians have equally been indicted. All of them should be made to account. There should be no sacred cows. However, the Federal Government is overwhelmed. The probe of the armed forces has not been concluded. There are other areas where massive fraud occurred. With encouragement, the Nigerian people are prepared to volunteer information on all public officers, who have stolen from the commonwealth. Since the government alone cannot cope, it has to devise means of involving credible civil society organisation and professional bodies in the probes.

What is your take on the Chief of Army Staff Dubai House story?
Having courageously led the army against the insurgents, the chief of Army staff, General Tukur Butarai, deserves the commendation of the Nigerian people. To that extent, his involvement in the Dubai property scandal is unfortunate. But since the government is also committed to prosecute the war on corruption, all suspects must be investigated and prosecuted if indicted. For the credibility of the anti-corruption crusade, the army chief should step aside to facilitate his investigation without any further delay. Since he has admitted that he bought the properties in question, what is left is to confirm if he actually bought them from his legitimate income.

The military is not worse than other institutions with respect to the diversion of public funds. The looting spree has affected all public institutions in the country. It is common knowledge that the virus of corruption has spread to the private sector. Even religious institutions have not been spared. Fighting corruption, therefore, goes beyond arresting and investigating a few people in a dangerously corrupt society. Apart from showing commitment to the fight corruption the government has not addressed the root cause of the menace of corruption. As you cannot make omelets without breaking eggs the government cannot fight corruption without challenging the peripheral capitalist system, which is sustained by fraud.

The legal system has to be changed because it has created a lot of loopholes for the escape of politically exposed persons. The tax system has to be made to work while a system is put in place to phase out the cash economy. Without a proper monitoring system the government cannot trace the movement of dirty money. The contract system has to be reviewed. Why should the ministry of works not fix our roads, as was the practice in the first republic? Why can’t the ministry of housing build houses for citizens? Why can’t the armed forces manufacture weapons and produce uniforms for their members? No nation has ever grown its economy through the indiscriminate importation of goods.

What counsel do you have for serving military personnel who live above their income?
We should stop stigmatising the Armed Forces. We should be asking all public officers and indeed all Nigerians to live within their means. But beyond preaching to people, it is the responsibility of the government to use public resources to monitor citizens to ensure that they don’t live above their means. Whereas the SSS operates in all local councils in the country, no report is made available to the ICPC and EFCC in respect of public officers, who are looting the treasury. So, there has to be a synergy among the law enforcement agencies to fight corruption.