Since independence in 1960, the relationship between Nigeria and Britain has subsisted on a pretentious and lopsided colonial kinship destined to face, and has faced testy times in its historical development. Barely a year after independence, Nigerian students torpedoed the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact that allowed Britain to set up military bases in Nigeria. Another diplomatic row surfaced in 1975, when Gen. Murtala Muhammed launched a campaign against apartheid South Africa backed by Britain and other western nations. Following Murtala’s death, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo nationalized the assets of British Petroleum (BP) to protest apartheid and help pave the way for Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.
Still another diplomatic row followed in 1984, when then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari-led regime, after a failed attempt to clandestinely kidnap Second Republic minister, Umaru Dikko, who was self-exiled in London, engaged the British government in a shouting match that led to the recall of their respective high commissioners. Not long after, Britain imposed visa requirements on Nigerians after another diplomatic tension saw Nigeria walk out of the Commonwealth. In the same vein, Gen. Sani Abacha’s odious regime and his execution of human rights activist and environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others (Ogoni-9) resulted in Nigeria’s expulsion from the Commonwealth in 1995.
The reason given for the contemptuous arrest of Alison-Madueke is not only an affront to the sensibility of Nigerians; it once again, projects Britain’s insatiable appetite to embarrass Nigeria. How could anti-graft agencies in Britain open a corruption investigation into the activities of a cabinet minister since 2013 and the Nigerian government nor its anti-graft agencies were not kept in the loop? The question Nigerians must ask is: if Alison-Madueke was a Princess from Monaco; or a former Minister from one of the Gulf States, would the British authorities have even contemplated arresting her and subjecting her to such public humiliation?
Despite Britain’s holier than the Pope posturing against corruption; the international federation of investigative journalists ranks London as a tax haven for illicit financial flows and the capital of money laundering in the world. There are many Russian oligarchs, some of them fugitives from justice for corruption and sundry offences, who have invested heavily in London’s financial markets and real estate and even bought British Premier League football clubs with the proceeds of corruption. Not only has Britain not arrested them, some even hold British passports and are frequent guests at Number 10 Downing Street.
Given that Britain has made it an official policy to target Nigerian officials, the federal government should, in line with the Principle of Reciprocity, respond to the British provocation appropriately. Now is the time to make the point and ensure that this obnoxious practice of arresting and humiliating Nigerian officials is jettisoned. If British authorities are genuinely desirous of helping Nigeria’s anti-graft crusade, they have more adequate mechanisms in place to address the issue. Resorting to contemptible arrests and humiliation of erstwhile holders of high public office is cheap, demeaning and belittling of Nigeria. Being a member of the Commonwealth, Nigeria does not deserve this disrespectful treatment.
However, this should not be misconstrued as an uncritical support for the embattled former petroleum minister or the indefensible actions of corrupt Nigerian politicians, who often unconsciously transfer the accustomed culture of illegality, graft and corruption of their country into unfamiliar terrains. Desperate, ill-prepared and often averse to the organized structure of governance in which they find themselves in foreign countries, they, before long, fall foul of the law; and the backlash becomes the ill-treatment and image-battering that have befallen Nigerians.
But the dwindling reputation of the country abroad cannot be hinged on isolated cases of some dubious former petroleum minister alone. Since the return to democracy in 1999, successive governments have cumulatively made Nigeria a bad brand. Economic brutality, political emasculation, indiscriminate human rights violation and blatant primitive accumulation by their leaders have made Nigerians an embattled, impoverished species perpetually seeking refuge anywhere else. As a fallout of its profligate and inept leadership, which has crippled the economy and denied the people of simple basic amenities, Nigeria has unjustifiably become a land of suffering, poverty, anguish, pain and hopelessness, thereby forcing desperate citizens, especially the young, to flee the country at the slightest opportunity.
It is, therefore, hardly surprising that corruption remains business as usual. Foreigners indicted in their home countries on corruption perpetrated in Nigeria are tried, found guilty and sentenced to jail. But in Nigeria, their collaborators are not only free; they hold high public offices, and are celebrated as national heroes. James Ibori, former Delta State Governor, who was prosecuted but discharged and acquitted in Nigeria, pleaded guilty and was jailed for similar offences in Britain. These contradictions say something about the rot in our judicial system, as well as the moral decadence of our society.
Without equivocation, the fight against corruption in Nigeria stalled under Jonathan. And this is the tragedy of Nigeria. Once highly rated for its exploits in the war against corruption, the EFCC has since become a caricature of its old self. Unlike in the past when at the mere mention of EFCC, public office holders trembled, it has become commonplace for politicians to boast about their readiness to honor EFCC invitations with an aura of pride and arrogance, alluding to the impotency of the agency.
Nigerian leaders often seek to gain cheap publicity and international acceptability by tacitly or openly endorsing the actions of foreign countries to arrest and jail Nigerians suspected of corruption. Whereas other countries often deploy their diplomatic wherewithal in favor of their citizens in trouble abroad, the attitude of the Nigerian government seems to be one in which the nation sees nothing good in her citizens anywhere in the world, even when those Nigerians have not been convicted.
In the face of this embarrassment, however, the Nigerian government has its work well defined. A government that requires its citizens to be treated with respect by foreign governments must set an example by first protecting the interest of its citizens at home. With this arrest of Alison-Madueke, it should be clear to gullible and desperate Nigerian public office holders that there are no greener pastures anywhere. The grass is green only wherever it is made so. And so, as Nigerian leaders, they should create an enabling environment for things to work, so all Nigerians can join in making their country great. In reality, Nigeria is in dire need of integrity; when integrity is enthroned in national ethos, foreigners will be compelled to show more respect to Nigeria and Nigerians.
