IN a clear sense of desperation, calls for the introduction of capital punishment for corruption offences in the nation's legal system are becoming louder and forceful. The latest in the agitation came from the Arewa Consultative Forum who recommended that "corruption be recognised as a capital offence and made to carry capital punishment." Others, including the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher, have thrown their weight behind the campaign, insisting that whatever would be done to stop theft of public money in the country would be a welcome development. In 2009, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Farida Waziri, had stated that only the Chinese style of capital punishment for corrupt public officers would reduce the unending malfeasance in Nigeria.
Few issues engender as much debate as the death penalty. Most opponents of death penalty in general approach the issue from a moral and religious point of view by insisting that you cannot destroy what you cannot create. They argue, with some justification, that while it can result in the execution of innocent people, it does not deter crime. But the United States' National Research Council says research "is not informative about whether capital punishment increases, decreases, or has no effect on homicide rates." Others make clear references to global trend where more than two-thirds of the countries have now abolished death penalty in law or practice. On this strength, both international and domestic human rights groups have endlessly urged Nigeria to revoke capital punishment.
As of 2011, 97 countries have abolished death penalty for all crimes, 35 in practice and eight for ordinary crimes, leaving 58 countries that still retain capital punishment in their statute books. In the United States, according to its Embassy's Public Affairs department, Abuja, "capital punishment is reserved for violent crimes as upheld by the US Supreme Court in 1976 while 33 states still retain it." For the British High Commission, Abuja, as "a matter of principle, the United Kingdom government opposes the use of death penalty in all circumstances." The controversy is unending.
But how many people will have to die and how many jobs will have to be lost before we realise that fraud literally kills. Though corruption, which the World Bank describes as "abuse of public power for private benefit", is not strictly a violent crime, it kills, maims and destroys more than the vilest crime. Niyi Osundare, a professor and retired don, said in July, "If Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria." He had argued that "the interest of the executive arm in perpetuating corruption has ensured that every effort to unmask the monster was frustrated because Nigerian public functionaries steal so greedily while in office so as to stow fortunes away for the continuation of their extravagant lifestyle when their term is over. And the philosophy is 'steal all you can in preparation for the rainy day!'"
He was right. Acutely embarrassing scandals have plagued our politics since 1999, in spite of a series of laws and reforms directed at waging war on corruption. But instead of taming the monster, the miserable failure of government to deal firmly with the scourge has succeeded in escalating graft in all branches of government at the centre, states and local councils. The establishment of the two anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and even a freer media seem to have had no impact at all on the nationwide drive against corruption. According to the global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, Nigeria remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Right now, the country occupies the 139th position out of 176 countries.
Yet, the human cost of corruption has been staggering, with UNESCO naming Nigeria in 2010 as one of the nine most illiterate countries of the world. A former World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, describes corruption as a disease that threatens the hopes of the poor for a better future for themselves and their children. It also drains finances that might otherwise go to programmes that bring education within the reach of poor children, health care to an ailing farmer or a young mother, good roads for motorists, economic infrastructure for job creation and a whole lot of opportunities that make life worth living.
The World Health Organisation had, in 2008, named the country as having the highest maternal mortality rate with 144 women dying daily from pregnancy and childbirth complications. The gaping deficits in many aspects of our national life are traceable to the invidious impact of corruption. Most of the roads are in a terrible state today either because contracts for their rehabilitation have been awarded and the money released, but with no repair effected or the quality of repair has been so poor that they have quickly fallen back into ruin. The hospitals are useless because money that should have been utilised to equip and upgrade them has been diverted to private pockets.
The education sector has collapsed because funds that should have gone into revamping the system have been embezzled. The economy is in a shambles because funds that should have gone into the bridging of the nation's infrastructure deficit have been stolen. Recently, Jeffrey Hawkins, Consul General United States Consulate, Lagos, said, "It will be up to the very people in this room (Nigerians) to determine whether corruption will continue to leach away Nigeria's lifeblood, and not only your own futures but those of your children."
It's quite clear that the aim of a maximum punishment like the death sentence is to reinforce a deterrent effect. Technically, corruption may not be a violent crime; but it kills and destroys even more than terrorism. Undoubtedly, corrupt practices leading to extremely large economic losses for the state should constitute an extremely serious crime. In the aftermath of Jerry Rawlings' successful coup d'état in 1979, three former military rulers, General Kutu Acheampong, Frederick William Kwasi Akuffo and Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, along with four other Generals, were executed at the Teshie Military Range for corruption. Today, Ghana is better for it.
But in Nigeria, formers kleptomaniac rulers that institutionalised corruption and many former state governors accused of stealing their states blind are walking about free, receiving accolades from their victims – the electorate. Some are in the Senate while others are holding other political offices. Many cases are bogged down in the courts, victims of technicalities, incompetent prosecution and a corrupt judicial system. According to Musdapher, corrupt judges are also responsible for delays in the criminal justice system. Punishments for graft convicts remain too lenient and barely indicate a sense of justice. The trend, if not curbed, could prove fatal for Nigeria's corporate existence.
Corruption among high-ranking public officials must be severely punished. If all the existing measures have failed, then there is the need for extraordinary measures to address the culture of impunity. If death sentence is all right for violent crimes, then it is necessary for cases of major fraud involving high-profile public officials as a deterrent. Replacing it with a life sentence with no possibility of state pardon is one viable option. But as Akin Oyebode, professor of International Law and Jurisprudence at the University of Lagos, argues, since we have a drastic situation in our hand, we need a drastic solution to combat it. If murderers and other heinous crime convicts deserve to die, obscenely corrupt public officials do not deserve less.
