All legal systems that operate in Sovereign states address the subjects of stealing and corruption. In Plato’s Statesman and Laws, he reflected learnedly on the problem of maintaining the rule of law in city-states.
In enacting the UN Convention on Corruption, the United Nations provided a detailed legal commentary on corruption. The Convention has eight Chapters and an elaborate legal framework for understanding the issues canvassed.
Since the Convention is an international legal document Roman Law, German Law, French Code Civil and Common Law jurisprudential thoughts, are well represented.
The Convention enumerates preventive measures to combat corruption., code of conduct for public officers, public procurement and management of public finances,, public reporting, measures relating to the judiciary and prosecution services, participation of society, criminalization and law enforcement, abuse of functions, illicit acquisition, laundering of proceeds of crime, prosecution, adjudication and sanctions, the liability of legal persons, freezing seizure and confiscation.
BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU has worked for various agencies abroad, which accused some Nigerians of corruption. In the majority of cases, the foreign agencies aided and abetted corruption, but lost to very smart Nigerians. When a thief steals from a thief God laughs.
The Preamble to the UN Convention on Corruption states thus,” Concerned about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice and jeopardizing development and the rule of law,
Concerned also about the links between corruption and other forms of crime, in particular organized crime and economic crime, including money-laundering,
Concerned further about cases of corruption that involve vast quantities of assets, which may constitute a substantial proportion of the resources of states, and that threaten the political stability of the state and sustainable development of those states. Convinced that corruption is no longer a local matter but a transnational phenomenon, which affects all societies and communities, making international cooperation to prevent it and control it essential,
Convinced also that a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach is required to prevent and combat corruption,
Convinced further that the availability of technical assistance can play an important role in enhancing the ability of states including by strengthening capacity and institution-building to prevent and combat corruption, the UN Members state adopted and ratified the Convention on Corruption, early this century.
This is why the intervention of the World Bank, the US, Britain, the Transparency International and our own World Intelligence Unit have canvassed that the NNPC be probed, in order to get to the bottom of the matter of the alleged irregularities.
Illicit acquisition of wealth makes those guilty of the crime of corruption to wield naked influence, behave important, are mentioned in the press regularly and they try to plug the holes in their infamies by getting close to any moron or brainless idiot in high office.
Their actions weaken democratic institutions, the national economy and the rule of law. Impunity reigns as money cover every dirty and shady deals. People, who are beneficiaries of corrupt and illicit acquisitions, have no peace. Their conscience, its pangs, set the person ablaze. The ones, whose consciences are misplaced, are those on the pay role of Karma.
Every government must uphold the principles of probity. Allowing the national treasuries to be looted and transferred into Euro-American banks for safe-keeping, has deleterious effects on the financial and social stability of looted economies.
I question the morality of Euro-American states, which condemn corruption, but willingly condone the storage of billions of dollars in their banks, knowing fully well that the renegade government official could only have illicitly acquired the funds from his government.
Our World Intelligence Unit urges the Euro-American governments, which are interested in Africa’s development to hand back such illicitly acquired funds.
An ebullient Commission on Crime Prevention and a vibrant Criminal Justice system should invigorate our outdated criminal legal order.
We should study and apply all multilateral instruments, which major states and the United Nations have adopted. Our Ministry of Justice has played a very dormant role in Nigeria’s law enforcement drive. It is almost non-existent. We have taken an interest in that institution and our findings are mind-boggling.
BOSAS INTERNATIONAL LAW BUREAU has written a legal commentary on its work and we are ready to discuss with the Attorney-General, at any time and in any place.
Some of my former law students at Ife, who have assessed the work of the Nigerian Ministry of Justice sympathize with the Attorney-General saying that his hands and legs are tied because of the delicate nature of his position in a government that has been” fighting corruption”.
The UN Convention on Corruption entered into force on 29 September 2003. In its statement of Purpose, the Convention said that its aim was to “ promote and combat corruption more effectively and efficiently, promote, facilitate and support international cooperation and technical assistance in the prevention and fight against corruption,, including asset recovery.”
This includes tracing the funds everywhere and this calls for international cooperation and intelligence OPERATIONS FOR NOTHING IS HIDDEN UNDER THE SUN.
The Convention aims at promoting integrity, accountability and proper management oF public affairs and public property.
What is public property is that, which the people have toiled to own. So, the adventurous act of criminal conduct in dealing with commonwealth by any government official is punishable in order to discourage high profile people, entrusted with the people’s wealth from misbehaving.
Prime. Minister Olmert of Israel, Thatsin Sinawath, and countless Heads of State and Ministers in many states are in jail for corrupt practices. Order can only be restored in states, when people are held accountable for criminal conduct that violates the peoples’ economic and financial rights. Since nobody is above the law, those found to have committed crimes against the people must be punished.
There are idiots, who will advocate forgiveness. They fail to see that as a result of criminal dispossession of the people’s wealth, social services have been paralyzed, while our billions are hidden in local and international banks!
The AZATA/NEPU Party of honest, patriotic and thinking Nigerian men and women bases it political philosophy on the tenet that HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Nigeria is in the crucible of KARMA and REBIRTH and in the maelstrom of political colloquy.
United Nations Convention on Corruption: A Legal Review
