What did we do to Amnesty Transparency International?

By Dons Eze, PhD

Every time, Amnesty International, and Transparency International, will be on our necks, writing nonsense reports about Nigeria. In spite of the labourious efforts of our government, these two foreign agencies will not leave us alone. They will always portray us in bad light, paint us black before the international community.

Look at what Amnesty International recently wrote about Nigeria:

“Nigerian authorities have failed to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence.

“The bloody events of 20 October 2020, when Nigerian security forces killed at least 12 people during the violent dispersal of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki and Alausa, have cast a shadow over Nigerian society that lingers to this day.

“Instead of bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and prioritizing genuine police reforms, Nigerian authorities have been abusing their powers by subjecting those who supported the protests to intimidation, harassment and smear campaigns.”

Haba! Amnesty International, wetin happen? What did we do to you? Why are you lying against our humane and kind-hearted government? By alleging that authorities of our government had failed to bring to justice those who perpetrated the October 20, 2020 mayhem at Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, you are indirectly accusing our government of having a hand in those killings. This is unfair.

In 2018, Amnesty International equally issued a damning report against Nigeria, alleging that at least ten thousand civilians had died in military custody in the war-torn area of the North East, where the Nigerian military were prosecuting war against Boko Haram, and also that there were sexual harassments in various Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) camps in the country.

These reports had negatively affected our country, and made Nigeria look bad before the international community. The reports had equally demoralized members of our fighting forces, which perhaps, was responsible for our armed forces not being able to defeat Boko Haram. You can see what Amnesty International has done to us. That’s bad.

Look at Transparency International. Hypocrites. They will always allow themselves to be used by enemies of the administration. Since 2015 when the present administration came on board, Transparency International has consistently scored Nigeria low in its corruption perception index, not minding the labourious efforts of our government in their fight against corruption.

Is Transparency International blind, and not seeing how our government has been fighting corruption? Why can’t they, for once, praise the efforts of this administration? By currently placing Nigeria just behind Guinea-Bissau, as the most corrupt country in West Africa, tantamounts to rubbish our image, and denying the untiring efforts of our government.

For Transparency International to have placed Nigeria in 149th position out of 180 countries in this year’s Corruption Perception Index, is to say that corruption in Nigeria has become endemic, or intractable. In 2019, Nigeria was ranked 146th out of the 180 countries surveyed by Transparency International, scoring 26 points out of a possible 100.

On a scale of zero to 100 in Transparency Internationl’s rating, zero means “Highly Corrupt,” while 100 stands for “Very Clean”. This means that last year, Nigeria is two steps worse off than what she was in 2018, when she scored 27 points, to place 144th out of 180 countries.

The summation, according to Transparency International, is simply that corruption in Nigeria has worsened. According to the latest ranking, Nigeria is now the second most corrupt country in West Africa with Guinea-Bissau, the only country more corrupt than Nigeria in the sub-region.

In Africa, only 12 countries are perceived to be more corrupt than Nigeria. They are Zimbabwe, Chad, Eritrea, Burundi, Congo, Guinea Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan. Both Somalia and South Sudan were ranked as the most corrupt nations on earth.

In the last four years, Transparency International’s ranking of Nigeria in its corruption perception index has consistently continued to drop. This is unfair. Are they trying to tell us that the PDP regime, which was kicked out in 2015 because of corruption, was then better than the present APC administration? I can’t believe that.

I hope that Transparency International is not trying to remind us about the budget paddings in the National Assembly, or that we had allowed Maina, the man who did wonders with the pensions fund, to escape before rearresting him, or about the dog that ate the bone hung over its neck, the former EFCC boss, or about the snake that swallowed N36,000 million from the account of an examination body, or about the stench oozing out from NDDC, etc., etc? We don’t want to hear any of such things.

But why are Amnesty International and Transparency International intruding in our internal affairs, displaying our dirty linens in public? They should leave us alone and allow us to live our lives the way we want it? Is Nigeria the only country in the world where they would be writing those nonsenses?

As for those busy body promoters of #EndSARS protesters, why are they now complaining? Cowards. They had failed to appreciate the wonderful works our government has been doing, and decided to organize protests against the administration. They thought they would go scot-free. No way. They must pay for the consequences of their action. The government is yet to fully bare its fangs against them, and they will really regret what they had done.

But wait. I hope that what Amnesty International, and Transparency International, are not trying to tell the world is that President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed in its two main campaign promises of securing Nigerians, and ending corruption in the country?

But let them wait, we have Lai Mohammed, Femi Adesina, and Garba Shehu, to put them appropriately where they would be.