Role Of Lawyers In Fight Against Corruption

“A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper, Guido, has cheated him out of $10,000,000. His bookkeeper is deaf. That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that Guido would hear nothing so he would never have to testify in court.

When the Godfather goes to confront Guido about his missing $10 million, he takes along his lawyer who knows sign language. The Godfather tells the lawyer, “ask him where the money is!”

The lawyer, using sign language, asks Guido, Where’s the money? Guido signs back, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” The lawyer tells the Godfather, “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to Guido’s head and says, “ask him again or I’ll kill him!” The lawyer signs to Guido, “He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him.” Guido trembles and signs, “OK! You win!

The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed at my cousin Bruno’s house.” The Godfather asks the lawyer, “What did he say?” The lawyer replies, “He says you don’t have the guts to pull the trigger!”

Introduction

The role of all professionals in fighting any social ill is well recognized. The level of expectation of a particular profession depends on the nature of the social ill. A few years ago, the Ebola scourge was on the rampage and the West Africa region was put on the spotlight but most notably Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

When the virus was imported to Nigeria by a desperate ECOWAS diplomat, Nigeria got a taste of the challenge. The whole nation was on red alert and a higher level of hygiene. Hand shaking, hugging and body contact became threatened modes of greeting.

The medical profession comprising doctors and other support service distinguished itself. Indeed, the first Nigerian victim and martyr of the times was a medical doctor who sacrificed her life to ensure the ebola virus imported by late Ambassador Patrick Sawyer and brought to her hospital was contained within the four walls of that hospital.

Had late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh due to personal considerations alone allowed Patrick Sawyer to leave her hospital and spread his virus beyond its four walls perhaps Nigeria’s story and history would be different today. It is no longer disputable that corruption holds the ace for the current sorry state of the Nigerian state.

Like cancer or the ebola virus, it has eaten deep into the organs of national physiology emaciating its victim to near coma until the election of President Muhammadu Buhari about 15 months ago.

Buhari’s surgical procedures have however so far been resisted by a vocal minority of “native doctors” suggesting somewhat hypocritically to themselves that the patient is not ill. And if ill, the sickness is not terminal nor life threatening or if life threatening, the treatment regime of asset recovery and prosecution of high profile cases and politically exposed persons is not the preferred treatment regime.

Let’s take a primer of the symptoms – 24 out of 36 states are technically insolvent due to the same malady; one geo-political zone was almost lost to insurgency fuelled and escalated by the same malady; dilapidated and non-existent key infrastructure in spite of increased revenue over the past 15 years; depleted foreign reserves in spite of providential increase in revenue in the past 5 years, high youth unemployment and destruction of social safety nets etc.

Recent revelations of mind boggling cases of corruption emanating from only two sectors of the economy so far has however kept most, but not all, ardent cynics and most probably collaborators of corruption, spell bound and grudgingly admitting that the role of corruption in Nigeria’s sorry state is not exaggerated but in fact understated.

However, like all cynics and selffulfilling prophets, once cynicism and prophecy fly in the face of reality, the cynical prophet shifts to the next absurd conclusion that nothing will change and socio-legal chemotherapy will not work.

Such a conclusion is fatalis- tic because if nothing changes the patient, the society, as we know i t cann o t and will n o t s u rvive.Fighting corruption is not known to be a tea party because corruption by its nature plays true to type. It refuses to accept noble values and strategies set to displace it because those values are antithetical to its character.

Thus, corruption fights back using different collaborators and strategies. Where it is systemic as in the case of Nigeria, it pushes back through passivity or activity of various frontiers – corrupt politicians, collaborating businesses and professional groups, insensitive and selfish elites etc. all indicating that there are more traitors in this powerful minority than patriots, more back stabbers than supporters.

The strongest indicator of such push back is in the contradictory desire of those who wish to eat omelet without breaking eggs or go to heaven without tasting death. Such people say they wish to see corruption diminished but not by punishing looters.

Bearing in mind such a confounding dilemma, fighting corruption demands stamina and resilience. A strategy and determination to go the long haul claiming victory in silos of short, medium and long term impact, sector by sector focus and by separating the wheat from the chaff and isolating what works from what does not or will not.

Nigeria’s experience reflects that of other countries which have in recent times, fought corruption most notably Singapore, Botswana, Hong Kong, South Korea, Estonia, Georgia, Qatar, Chile, Uruguay, etc. just to mention a few as in each of these cases political will and leadership example ranked first in the factors that changed the matrix.

Next was pressure from citizens and the civil society on the leadership to continue to do what was right in the context of the society. In this group are professionals bodies especially role actors in the administration of justice especially lawyers and judges.

Finally is the role of the international community typified by Liberia as an example of a positive outcome in anti-corruption campaign in post war effort. Our focus today is focus on lawyers. However, I want to look at what has worked and what has not worked.

What has worked?

• Developing and implementing a credible strategy to guide the anticorruption agenda in a way that articulates the objective of the state and its ability to realistically achieve its goals and objectives using short, medium and long term milestones.

Such a strategy may select priority sectors or outcomes. In Nigeria, return of stolen assets is clear priority for the government given the dismal level of state finances.

This is not just by taking back from prebendal looters but also by blocking leakages in the system that hitherto enable illicit outflow of capital viz. eliminating ghost workers; avoiding double or over budgeting; reducing the cost of governance by reducing the size of government without sacking workers etc.

• Securing the cooperation of all arms and all levels of government is important. This should not be assumed in systems where one or more arms or levels of government prefers the status quo and will actively or passively hinder the fight either due to fear of the searchlight coming its way or due to chronic insensitivity to the effect of corruption to the polity. Given present economic realities in Nigeria we must accept that unless there is a paradigm shift there will be a catastrophe.

• To communicate the negative impact of corruption in a graphic and sobering manner to underscore the inevitability of a final outcome of the state failing if it does not fight corruption. • Unequivocal leadership examples to lead the fight upfront and by personal examples.

• Independence of anti-corruption agencies from political interference and manipulation. What ACAs need is information about illegality. Thereafter they are left to use best effort and judgment to prosecute the anti-corruption war.

• Transparency and oversight of work of ACAs especially in the absence of a Governing Board or management framework. Improving the sanctions and enforcement regime in anti-corruption campaigns is crucial.

It involves the commitment of all players in the administration of criminal justice viz. Prosecution, defence, Judiciary, prison authorities. In this regard however, the judiciary ranks far above other players in importance.

In Botswana, the judiciary played a salutary role in improving the ranking of the country in anticorruption initiatives. In Estonia, the judiciary was completely overhauled with new court systems created and all judges appointed anew.

a. Note the reported cases of drug convicts who negotiate their way out of prison sentences right from court premises with the collusion of the prosecutors, defence and prison warders who were supposed to take them into custody;

b. Prevalent use of restraining orders by judges to tie the hands of ACAs from investigating, arresting or prosecuting suspects is tantamount to giving judicial immunity to criminals.

Until the heat was increased in the current fight against corruption, the prevailing assumption was that suspects could procure judicial immunity where the price was right. c. Effective oversight of ACAs to avoid abuse of power and witch hunting

• Effective legal framework to tackle all aspects of the anti-corruption campaign including the sanctions and enforcement regime to a. Investigate and prosecute offenders. Weak investigation and prosecution undoubtedly leads to poor results.

However, a sensitized adjudicatory and justice system also recognizes the effect of impunity in the medium to long term. Therefore, the courts strike a balance not to tolerate manipulation of the criminal justice system by any segment no matter how influential;

b. Effective sentencing regime to punish offenders and assuage the society since every crime of corruption is against society;

c. Recover stolen assets. Hitting criminals in the pocket is important in the reform process. Having a robust NCB process with lower standard of proof alongside the full criminal process is also fundamental.

By Bolaji Owasanoye