George-Hill Anthony is executive director, Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group and national chairman, the Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Extractive Industries, Forestry and Fisheries in Nigeria. He is also on the board of the National Procurement Watch Platform, the Anti-Corruption Revolution Campaign (ANCOR) and theliaison person of NEITI Civil Society Steering Committee. He told ALABI WILLIAMS that the BPE probe is only a confirmation of what people already know.PAST probes by the NASS only generated a lot of media hype without the expected results. So, how much hope do you place on this BPE probe'I do not have confidence in the probe(s) from the National Assembly, until possibly the 7th National Assembly is able to re-stimulate public confidence. The capitalistic and greedy interests of our politicians cause them to look the other side while there are revelations.The revelations from BPE probe are a reinforcement of what ordinary Nigerians on the streets are aware of, but they want exposs to go beyond mere mention.What should be done to ensure that the recommendations of the committee are not swept under the carpet, as usual'The recommendations should be sent to the EFCC and circulated to all the Student Union Governments in the universities across the country. The EFCC and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation should initiate criminal proceedings against those found guilty from the BPE probe.Unfortunately, sustainable pillars of democracy, which include the rule of law, human rights, economic justice, among others, are all being destroyed in Nigeria. Therefore, there is no hope that corrupt politicians would not continue to procure judgment to the detriment of the people.How transparent do you think the Bureau has been in carrying out its assignment of privatizing public enterprises'We have heard stories of corruption in Nigeria's privatisation process over a decade now, and yet, there is no conviction of any high profile personality associated with it. The probe is just a legislative stage-play, unless the National Assembly moves further and publishes names of all those that benefitted from the process.They should dig further to unearth those who maybe shadowed from public exposures. But I am inclined to believe that it is when members of the National Assembly are broke, that is when they initiate probes. I may be wrong, anyway. But that is how I feel, as a Nigerian.THE decision to sell non-performing public companies was really not a well-debated topic. Some Nigerians still don't understand why government should sell and why companies sold are not performing. What is your attitude to the entire sales process'The shares of many of the privatised entities were devalued to make them attractive to some corrupt business actors. At some instances, assets of the privatised companies were unpaired to prevent full disclosure of the core value and thereby facilitate easy asset splitting.Upon the completion of privatisation of any entity, the investor would wait for some years and then begin the backward movement of assets-stripping, liabilities and market depreciation.It is foolish and nonsensical to have privatised the companies without protective clauses in the agreements. Those articles could have spelt out that Nigerians, through the government, would take back any company privatised but which does not make profit and generate a certain number of jobs after a given period. Such also could have attracted a demand from the investors to ensure a good operational environment, through the provision of infrastructure.Civil society watchdogs were intentionally secluded from monitoring the privatisation processes from a structured administrative mechanism of the BPE. Today, social dislocation caused by persistent insecurity arising partly from lack of jobs and social security is giving room for a (possible) looming revolution in Nigeria.Where should we go from here: to continue to sell or to change tactics'All the problems surrounding the failed privatisation exercise are caused by corruption. Regrettably, there is no political will from the government to fight elitist corruption through the building of massive prisons.Building more elitist prisons is better than the budgetary allocation of N133.1 million for the purchase of two Black Maria and 11 mini Black Maria vehicles, which would be used to convey (mostly) poor felons. This is what the Interior Ministry budgeted in the Appropriation Amendment Act 2010. I think we need more prisons for our elite prisoners.
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