Combating impunity.

Deterrent in every aspect of life is always preferable to punishment. It saves everyone a lot of time, resources and emotional stress. Saying that, it is only too obvious that much more should be invested in having a credible deterrent system in place in order to stem corruption, theft, graft and other forms of negative activities that plague our societies today. 

Screaming and whining about corruption is and never could be the answer. It is just like standing underneath a leaky roof and complaining about getting wet. You try to mop up and keep towelling yourself dry over and over again. All the while you are still standing underneath the leaky roof which you have made no effort to fix and no effort to step away from underneath it. 

You would save infinitely more by just fixing the hole in the roof and moving on with your life. In a lot of third world countries corruption has become not just a monumental setback but it is also damaging the chances of the coming generation. Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan and Cameroon are a few examples. 

People in authority are constantly being accused of theft and bribery. Fact is they have the access and there is little or no deterrent in place to dissuade them. Making it difficult for politicians to steal should be a first step. Due process should be adhered to. Which is why in a few of these countries a variety of schemes have been put in place to ensure people become aware of proceedings and their duties. Although these schemes and processes like a whole lot of ventures before them have been warped and abused to benefit sitting politicians, I still do believe that they should be given a chance to work and a lot more effort should be put into them. 

Having said this the Nigerian Aviation ministry comes to mind. The checks and balances which were put in place to ensure the smooth running of the due process scheme did catch out the Aviation Minister. To the chagrin of many Nigerians and people who mean well for progress she is still a sitting minister. 

The Ministry of Finance has been feeding the populace with bogus figures and stats and hoping we would be too dumb to check and double check. The Petroleum Ministry has failed time and time again to remit funds from sale of crude to the Central bank and to cap it all up no one seems to know exactly what the President is doing or what his plans are for the development of the country.

This is a huge setback for the Nigerian state. A huge setback in the sense that one factor that can ruin any society, any institution, any organization is impunity. It is sad to say but the present Nigerian President is actually effectively promoting impunity by not taking action against his Minister. At this point his government has lost credibility hence all it has got to run up to the next election is just goodwill and the lack of appetite for anarchy from the populace.

All the same, we must support the present government as best we could to enable us exit this very dangerous period in our development.