Governance has failed in Nigeria, says Clinton

Here is an article from Nigerian newspaper, The Nation, on Hillary Clinton's visit...



United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke last night on Nigeria’s crisis of growth, saying corruption has caused a failure of governance.

She said at a town of hall meeting in Abuja:

"The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, state and local levels."

Mrs Clinton added: "Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state".

She said contrary to the belief in some quarters, the US had been providing information on the Halliburton bribery scandal.

Mrs Clinton, the most senior official of the Obama administration to visit Nigeria, said her country also shared with Nigeria other information needed to address corruption.

She lamented that despite Nigeria’s potentials and resources, it had nothing to show for the welfare of its citizens, adding that it is up to Nigerians to fix their country for the betterment of the majority.

Mrs Clinton said: "We want to see the reinstatement of a vigorous corruption commission. The EFCC, which was doing well, has kind of fallen off in the last one year. We will like to see it come back to business to be able to partner with us."

She said the fight against corruption was necessary for the creation of the kind of business environment needed for the growth and development of Nigeria, adding, "We think it is good business to eliminate corrupt practices. It is better for competition, it is better for trade and investment environment, it is better for Nigeria’s reputation as a place to do business without heavy transaction cost".

To underscore the importance attached to fighting corruption by the Obama presidency, Mrs Clinton said the US was willing to assist Nigeria with information in its anti-graft campaign.

Her country, she added, is also willing to help in zeroing in on specific individuals responsible for corruption rather than a sweeping action against Nigerians in the US.

The lack of accountability and transparency, according to her, has eroded the gains Nigeria ought to have from its enormous resources.

"We are sharing information with the Nigerian legal system, as we want to cooperate closely. So we will do all we can to prosecute whoever crosses the line who has an American connection. American companies were made to sign up to an anti-corruption standard and we would punish any company found to have violated the standards," she said.

This is the second time in less than one week that Mrs Clinton has spoken harshly about Nigeria. "Nigeria is the fifth oil producer in the world and it still imports oil. This is an example of bad governance," she said on CNN last weekend.

On how to sustain democracy and ensure good governance, Mrs Clinton said proactive steps must be taken that include the establishment of a credible system of registration "that keeps track of those eligible to vote; it is essential and must start soon if a fair and credible election is expected in 2011".

She added: "There must be a truly independent electoral system run by independent group of people. There must be political parties that are rooted at the grassroots for party internal democracy to be enshrined"

She said the use of technology to organise people must also be put in place and that the people along with the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) and others must be able to convince the parliament to pass strong Electoral Reforms Bill.

"There is a need to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic institutions for credible elections," Mrs Clinton.

Mrs Clinton said the condition is meant to protect developed countries’ investments abroad.

The scrapping of subsidies she said, would keep their industries afloat as well as be able to invest more and export to other countries.

She said it had become imperative for the global financial institutions to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

Nigeria, she said, ought to be part of the G20 but that corruption has robbed it of its potentials.

Mrs Clinton promised that as Nigeria moves towards the realisation of its potentials, the US would give maximum support.

The World Bank, Mrs Clinton said, recently concluded that Nigeria had lost well over $300billion during the last three decades of corruption and mismanagement".

On the Boko Haram sectarian crisis, Mrs Clinton warned that Nigeria could be a target for al-Qaeda.

"Al Qaeda has a presence in Northern Africa. There is no doubt in our minds that al Qaeda and like organisations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find one, and whether that is the case here or whether this is a homegrown example of fundamentalist extremism - that is for the Nigerians to determine," she said.

The meeting was attended by various groups including Transparency International, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Campaign for Democracy (CD), West African Bar Association (WABA), and Media Rights Agenda (MPA) among others.

Among those who asked Mrs Clinton questions were Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin of CD, Mr Femi Falana, WABA’s president, and Dr Jibrin Ibrahim of CDD.