Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has alleged that Nigeria is currently under the captivity of some powerful individuals and institutions that shape the country’s policies to suit their gains.
Obasanjo, who relied on a World Bank and Transparency International definition of what a State capture was, described it “as one of the most pervasive forms of corruption,
According to him, a situation where powerful individuals, institutions, companies, or groups within or outside a country use corruption to shape a nation’s policies, legal environment, and economy, to benefit their own private interests.”
In a statement by his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Saturday, Obasanjo stated this while delivering his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University New Haven Connecticut, USA.
The statement said the former President’s address was titled “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria”
According to him, state capture is not always overt and obvious as it can also arise from the more subtle close alignment of interests between specific business and political elites through family ties, friendships, and the intertwined ownership of economic assets.
Obasanjo said “What is happening in Nigeria – right before our eyes – is state capture: The purchase of National assets by political elites – and their family members – at bargain prices, the allocation of national resources – minerals, land, and even human resources – to local, regional, and international actors. It must be prohibited and prevented through local and international laws.
“Public institutions such as the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and regulatory agencies both at the federal and local levels are subject to capture. As such, state capture can broadly be understood as the disproportionate and unregulated influence of interest groups or decision-making processes, where special interest groups manage to bend state laws, policies, and regulations.
“They do so through practices such as illicit contributions paid by private interests to political parties, and for election campaigns, vote-buying, buying of presidential decrees or court decisions, as well as through illegitimate lobbying and revolving door appointments.
“The main risk of state capture is that decisions no longer take into consideration the public interest, but instead favor a specific special interest group or individual. Laws, policies, and regulations are designed to benefit a specific interest group, often times to the detriment of smaller firms and groups and society in general. State capture can seriously affect economic development, regulatory quality, the provision of public services, quality of education and health services, infrastructure decisions, and even the environment and public health.”
On Achebe’s personality, Obasanjo hinted that the great author and writer has been known through “his work, and his values for as long as our Nation has been in existence. He was a great and distinguished Nigerian.”
