In 2015, a friend drove me to a house in Maitama Abuja. When we got there, the gate man refused to open the gate. What was the problem? He responded that he could not allow the car – a fairly decent Honda Accord – to enter the compound, because it was a “small car”, based on the instructions from above. The compound was like a village square for political heavyweights, and a senator had invited me to speak on the procurement anti-corruption tool which I had suggested for the nation.
Watch this video for that tool which I had written in the past until I realized that I got it all wrong: how do you expect them to block leakages and score own-goals?
Pillar 1 – Anti-Corruption & Business Reform: We will build a corruption-free nation where it would be extremely impossible to perpetuate corruption because technology will make things obviously transparent. All government systems must be structured to be corruption-resilient so that people that want to perpetuate corruption will fail. We will publish any government expense that is more than N10 million in a web diary which all citizens will have access to. This applies to all levels in the federal government, from ministries to agencies. For national security reasons, a segment will be available to the civil society and accredited press team. Our government will improve business systems and make doing business in our nation easier.
My thesis remains that EFCC is spending so much time prosecuting corruption where it could put 25% of the efforts to prevent corruption, and still have better outcomes. You can cut public procurement corruption in Nigeria by 90% if we digitize and have more corruption-resilient workflows.
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Back to the small car, we had to disembark outside the gate. Good enough, he allowed us to walk in when I authenticated the invitation. A week later, my friend – a CEO of an oil servicing company – drove me with a G Wagon and the gate opened one-time. With that experience, I got the message: cars open doors in Nigeria. And if you do not have a big one, you may not be lucky. That is why the Nigerian Senate has been upgrading since ages now. Yes, more cars for the senators!
Money voted for vehicles by the Senate:
2011- David Mark = N3.5 billion;
2015- Bukola Saraki = N4.7 billion
2019- Ahmad Lawal = N5.5 billion
2023- Akpabio = N40 billion.
With these bigs cars, all gates will open – and they can serve you well. Lol
(On the tool, many liked it but some said it was “dangerous”. Since I did not go to be awarded any contract, I did not know what happened to it. I simply offered my time to explain a new thesis of preventing corruption, over too much fixation on fighting it.)
Comment on Feed
Comment 1: Sir, this is a Nigerian mentality unfortunately, the same in business circles. Not really about the government spending. Again a people make those who govern them, the same mental thread runs through every fabric of the society. Packaging!
My Response: That is the word “Packaging” which means in physics “optical illusion”
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Our senators upgraded their own dividends of democracy to A++.
They said they considered the state our roads before making their car choices. Yea, even your senators have given up on our roads.
They are doing what Nigerians want, and Nigerians are very happy with their leadership. The system is working as designed, and those yammering from outside power are only waiting for their turn.
The politicians reflect the thinking and desires of an average Nigerian, don’t bother about the fake anger and pontification.
We die here.