In Nigeria, Money Fuels Politics If elected, man says he'll make a fortune By Samson Mulugeta AFRICA CORRESPONDENT April 19, 2003 Abuja, Nigeria - For 30 years, campaign consultant Paul Ojukwu has helped others enter politics and leave a few years later as rich men. Now Ojukwu has decided his time has come to feed at the trough. "Politics in Nigeria is the most lucrative business you can get into," said Ojukwu, who is running for a local council seat in this capital city. "I need $150,000 for my campaign," he said Wednesday. "If you give me $10,000, I will double your investment in six months." Ojukwu stands for election next weekend, but as Nigerians go to the polls today to vote for president and gubernatorial candidates, the same kind of motivation threatens widespread violence as candidates battle for the bounties of political power. Sixty million voters are scheduled to vote in an election that pits President Olusegun Obasanjo against 19 other candidates. The governorships of 36 states also are up for grabs today. Ojukwu and other political players have mastered the equation of power and money. Eighty percent of Nigeria's gross domestic product flows from its large oil reserves, which is exclusively controlled by the government. To win office at any level is to hold the power to award contracts and dispense patronage. The eighth-largest producer of crude oil in the world, Nigeria has earned more than $300 billion of oil revenue in the past three decades. Most of it has been looted or squandered and 70 percent of Nigerians still live on less than a dollar a day. The use of public office for personal enrichment goes to the heart of this nation's struggle to entrench a democratic process after suffering through decades of military misrule. A number of officials come into office not to help and protect their constituents but to enrich themselves and help their family and friends. Government officials' decisions affect every aspect of life, from connecting a telephone line to obtaining a building permit. Scores and sometimes hundreds of civilians are killed in every election, as incumbents and candidates jockey for office and send their hired goons to intimidate or eliminate their opponents. Nigeria's winner-take-all tradition of politics is responsible for the frequent election-related mayhem that wracks the country, according to human rights groups. "Because political power is one of the few ways to access wealth in Nigeria, politics often becomes what is frequently referred to in Nigeria as 'a do-or-die affair,'" New York-based Human Rights Watch stated in a 40-page report on political violence published this month. Some political observers attribute politicians' eagerness to loot the government's treasury to the lack of national identity among many Nigerians. Most people remain loyal to their tribe or home village while paying scant attention to the idea of Nigerian nationhood, a construct of colonialism that patched together myriad groups with no sense of common identity. Ad'Obe Obe, a senior adviser to Obasanjo, offered this observation: "If you embezzle the government and you go to your village, you are a hero," Obe said. "You steal a cent from your village, you get lynched." For would-be office-holders such as Ojukwu, 53, the notion of elective office as a surest and easiest path to wealth and power is so self-evident that there is no shame in talking openly about it. "It's not corruption. But if I help you out, you can do something nice for me without me even asking." Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html AAM Website: http://www.danenet.wicip.org/aam ----------------------------------------------------------------------------