Analysis Of Michael Ogbeidi s The First Republic

Michael Ogbeidi recounts that ‘the First Republic under the leadership of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, and Nnamdi Azikwe, the President, was marked by widespread grand corruption’. Ogbeidi maintains that ‘government officials looted public funds with impunity. Federal Representative and Ministers flaunted their wealth with reckless abandon†¦ Politically, the thinking of the First Republic Nigerian leadership class was based on politics for material gain; making money and living well’. The immediate civilian regime after independence did not last long. Grand corruption was pervasive with records of abuse of office, personal material aggrandisement, kickbacks, nepotism, awarding contracts to front companies, lodging†¦show more content†¦Ogbeidi argues that ‘the 1966 coup was a direct response to the corruption of the First Republic’. For Effeh, ‘it follows that the ideals for economic emancipation- the supposed inspiration behind the quest for independence- has become the subject of escapist antics, grandiloquent rhetoric, and/or outright buffoonery’. However, amidst all this rhetoric, people seemed to overlook the complexities within the system that nourished and sustained the unwavering wind of grand corruption and rather greater emphasis was laid on its manifestations and consequences as will be depicted in the speeches of succeeding military regimes as will be analysed in the next section ( section 2.4). 2.4 Grand Corruption (The Nigerian Military Connection) Research indicates that the military played very prominent roles in sustaining grand corruption in Nigeria as ‘corruption, already bourgeoning under the early politicians, became entrenched under the military rule’. Military coups forcefully circumvent democratic institutions and because of their illegitimacy, it can be argued that the track records of the military portend that they had little regard over the well-being and welfare of the populace and as such pursued no mandate of accountability and transparency towards the people. The military rulers were able to perpetrate their