In Nigeria, politics is where all the easy money is; parvenu opportunities, rent-seeking, corrupt practices, patronage benefits, prebendal incomes, ‘settlements’, blackmail etc. Many organisations that started originally swearing to be “non-political” are now rethinking their mission statements aggressively and ambitiously. Leaders of such organisations have now realised their ‘traditional’ or ‘necessary’ ambitions are not corrupt enough to earn the political incomes apparently “flowing” unrestricted in society if you “know your way” or “know the right people”. They now have to engage in political corruption but in a “sophisticated manner”. Scandals of corruption demonstrate there is nothing sophisticated about corruption other than the existence of perverse access and cultures of non-transparency, complicity and impunity.
The outcome of this ‘realisation’ by formal and informal organisation principals is that there is hardly any “non-political” entity to be found in Nigeria today. The allure of easy political money and sudden great wealth is too irresistible for any set of morals, ideals or values entities hitherto vowed to uphold to keep them out of politics. Ironically, such organisations would be the first to condemn exposed instances of political theft or mismanagement. ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ organisations of a sinister form come to mind, special-interest groups.
There is nothing wrong whatsoever with non-political organisations becoming strongly political. The question is, to what end? We cannot assume that every single organisation becoming political has corrupt intentions. However, undoubtedly time shall tell.
Grimot Nane