The Siemens Affair

Nigeria is again in the news for the wrong reasons. Details have emerged from foreign judicial systems about the extent of the depth and reach of corruption in Nigeria. The revelations from Germany about the over eight million euros purportedly shared by Nigerian government officials, ministers and other telecommunications sector officials again demonstrates why the world regards all Nigerians as corrupt and dishonest thieves, fraudsters and scammers, and why the world finds our response, which is usually righteous indignation so laughable and perplexing.

There are several issues one finds striking about this matter. It re-confirms the complicity (and duplicity) of foreign firms in fostering corruption in Nigeria, after which they tell Transparency International that Nigeria is the most corrupt country in the world! It also probably gives us a glimpse into the part played by private sector businesses (including local companies) in destroying the Nigerian business climate through unethical practices while searching for unsustainable advantages over rival firms. What part do our banks and other financial institutions, construction companies, and other ‘contractors’ play in helping public office holders collect brokerage, inflate contract amounts and generally divert public resources into private pockets?

To the credit of foreign countries however, it appears that all the progress against corruption in Nigeria tends to come from abroad, rather than within. The Dariye affair, Alamieyesegha’s case, Ibori’s problems, the Halliburton matter, the revelations in respect of Wilbros and now Siemens have all come from outside rather than within Nigeria. It is good that sometimes the EFCC has played a key role either in instigating some investigations and/or cooperating with foreign agencies, but it does seem that the EFCC seems to make breakthroughs only after it externalizes the cases. A sensible hypothesis may be that the tentacles of corruption are so deep and extensive within Nigeria that investigations are unlikely to progress to a breakthrough in the absence of an external dimension. Of course there are exceptions to this hypothesis, (such as the Tafa Balogun case), but they do appear to be that-exceptions rather than the rule.

It is also striking that all the payments to Nigerian government officials revealed in the Siemens Case happened during the Obasanjo government, when the government claimed to be fighting a war against corruption. During those years, whenever Transparency International and other global corruption watchdogs released their reports in which they routinely moved Nigeria from maybe second most corrupt nation in the world to perhaps third, Nigerian officials typically responded with righteous indignation. It does now seem clear that all our posturing about anti-corruption was just precisely that-posturing! In the figures reportedly taken from the international media which have now been published in the local newspapers, Nigeria accounted for over eight million euros out of the twelve million that Siemens paid as illegal bribes in three countries-with Russia coming a very distant second.

I wonder what we will find if we could persuade Siemens and the German judicial system to assist us by looking ten to twenty years earlier than 1999. What do you think we would find? Alternatively, could we ask the Germans to assist us take a peep into the accounts of that other notable German company that operates in Nigeria-Julius Berger! What do you think we would find? We already have an idea of what went on in the name of a notorious Aluminium Smelter at Ikot Abasi which on the books of the Nigerian state cost $2.3billion, but in which an equivalent smelter was built in Mozambique for less than half of that cost. It turns out that most of the money was transferred offshore on behalf of the Abachas, their accomplices and other officers of state. Or perhaps we could encourage the British and Dutch governments to open a forensic examination into the Nigerian activities, including the accounts and contracts of that well-known oil company that once accounted for fifty percent of Nigeria’s oil production? I do remember listening a few years ago to an angry Nigerian telling about the goings-on at Siemens which I then dismissed as beer-parlour talk. Now we know better.

I notice also some incongruities relating to the published figures. The amount paid Nigerian officials from my tabulation (see Businessday of Monday, November 19 at page A2) amounts to E8, 195,000 (eight million, one hundred and ninety thousand euros). From this amount the beneficiaries of E2, 435,000 are specified, while the beneficiaries of the larger sub-total of E5,850,000 are nebulously described as “political office holders”, “telecomm and ministry officials” and in some publications, “various decision makers”. Who are these anonymous decision makers or office holders? Do they enjoy immunity from being named even in a German Court, or is there some self-censorship in the foreign courts or media? Some resourceful journalists should be interested in finding out more about the identity of these special categories of people, who collected big chunks of E1million, E2.250million, E500,000, E750,000 and like figures.

I can understand why the EFCC prefers to assist foreign law enforcement agencies with information about the foreign ‘transactions’ of Nigerian office holders. The chances that the matter would be objectively handled without technical, political or ethnic imputations and impediments in the way of justice are far less outside than within. It is more difficult to compromise the relevant international institutions-the political authorities, prosecutors, press, witnesses or potential witnesses, financial institutions etc. The evidence trail abroad is also clearer-transactions would not have been done in cash, properties will be registered, property taxes and charges will be paid, and bank records cannot be altered, mutilated or destroyed. All of these point the way to what we have to do to succeed in the fight against corruption.

Of course, we are just seeing the beginning of the Siemens Affair. The issue will not go away. We will get more details about all the participants-from within and outside Nigeria and at the end of the day, people will pay the price, before the law courts and/or in the court of public opinion. The government and EFCC have already indicated that they are investigating the issue. That is good. We await their findings in this case, and others such as the Wilbros and Halliburton cases. Meanwhile, will the new set of public office holders all over the federation learn the right lessons from this matter? Will they use the resources entrusted to them to build roads and public infrastructure or will they simply look for new countries with less rigorous financial and judicial systems?