Slowly but steadily, the ultra conservative wing of Nigeria’s largely self-absorbed and callous elite is spoiling for a fight. And it’s all about the renewed war against corruption which has induced in this group an emotion that can only be described as culture shock. As a result, the unconstructive and clearly combative reaction to a development that ordinarily should be applauded and encouraged by anyone who means well for this country is no less unexpected.
Now that it appears that the war against corruption is getting some traction, unlike in the past when only minions were arraigned and convicted and the big crooks got a let off or at best a slap on the wrist if summoned at all, the game has changed dramatically in the last couple of months. The powerful and the mighty who are the major looters of the commonwealth are not just being invited; they are getting the grill of their lives and their big toes are beginning to feel the pain of a new clamp down from an inspired EFCC led by a reputed no-nonsense cop, Ibrahim Magu.
Magu’s new leadership zeal is telling in its redefinition of the mode of operation which has triggered a heightened momentum for change in a way that has never been seen at the nation’s prime anti-graft agency. On a daily basis, the hitherto ‘untouchables’ are now being poked with the hard questions in EFCC interrogation rooms; the so-called ‘sacred cows’ are being prepared for onward transfer to what would turn out to be their slaughter slab for the ultimate rite of humiliation. And more than ever, the prospect of a good number of the politically exposed looters and fraudsters and their collaborators ending up in jail soon enough seems very bright. This is heart-warming in a country which until now has been a terribly misgoverned space.
Yes, the class of elite to which we referred above also wants change, but this is not the type of change they are prepared to accommodate. A change that upsets the applecart (pardon the cliché) in such a decisive manner as to not only dismantle all forms of corrupt practices, but also seek out their perpetrators, name them and shame them by ensuring they end up in prison is certainly not what they want to welcome with open arms.
Therefore, members of that group are not folding their arms to let the EFCC roll over them. They are well-heeled, thanks to their fraudulent escapades. So, they are fighting back both stealthily and furiously, enlisting the services of all individuals and groups that can help them scuttle the fight against corruption. To that extent, they have gone as far as recruiting an equally retrograde faction of the bar, pliant members of the bench, a mercenary arm of civil society, gold-digging religious leaders, a tractable media that is also notorious for hatchet jobs and, above all, an unreceptive and docile public.
And it is easy to identify them. For example, they are manifested in a Chief Judge who recently warned magistrates to stop approving requests from EFCC to detain suspects for interrogation. Curiously, this judge did not cite any known law to back his directive. They can be seen in very senior lawyers who collect dubious briefs to defend persons known to have looted public funds, manipulate the court process on their behalf and scream rule of law.
They are revealed in a well-known Pentecostal pastor who urged government to focus on other areas of development instead of fighting corruption, which he claims constitutes only 20% of the country’s problems. They are exposed in phony civil society groups who go about accusing government of violating the rights of persons currently being tried for corrupt practices. You will find them in a nonagenarian who has repeatedly blasted President Buhari and scoffed at his anti-corruption war; and among members of the public who have joined the looters and their supporters to pronounce that the more than $2billion arms scam is an invented story aimed at dealing with members of the opposition party and, therefore, is a ‘distraction.’
These are the kind of people the EFCC must contend with. One forecasts that in their desperation they will go all the way to rubbish the institution and its leadership. Don’t be shocked if suddenly a report surfaces in the media dubbed ‘Exclusive,’ brashly claiming to have unearthed a massive scandal involving Magu, the EFCC boss. The purpose will be to destabilize and make him lose focus. But he must remain resolute, for having come this far in this war, there will be no plausible excuse to reverse the gains.
The anti-graft campaign can only be meaningful if the real thieves in the society, the big men who have ensured that our soldiers don’t have guns to fight insurgency, hospitals lack equipment, children can’t go to school, electricity supply is epileptic, petrol queues continue, basic infrastructure is non-existent, are made to pay for their criminal acts by being marched to jail one by one. And that will just be the beginning of the change that this government talks about, and one of the many that Nigerians expect.
Let there be no doubt. We believe in and are committed to the rule of law. But the rule of law can’t be a basis to let loose on society men and women whose transgressions are no less than armed robbery, murder, terrorism and allied crimes that more often than not are not bailable offences.
Then there is the issue of selective prosecution, which has been the battle cry of every scoundrel who has found himself in the corridors of power, a comfortable alibi for many certified criminals to avoid facing justice. Our response is, let anybody who is accused answer “his father’s name.” People who have been accused of corruption should be proud to clear their name and “put the government to shame” if they have nothing to hide. [myad]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, combined with other socio-economic and demographic changes, will transform labour markets in the next five years, leading to a net loss of over 5 million jobs in 15 major developed and emerging economies
Skills and jobs displacement will affect every industry and geographical region, but losses can be offset by job growth in key areas.
A clear majority of businesses believe that investing in skills, rather than hiring more short-term or virtual workers, is the key to successfully managing disruptions to the labour market for the long term.
The new research by the World Economic Forum is the first of its kind, representing more than 13 million employees in nine industry sectors and 15 economies; it aims to guide business and policy-makers on how to equip labour forces with the skills to navigate the disruption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The report is based on a survey of chief human resources officers and top strategy executives from companies across nine broad industry categories and covering 15 of the world’s largest economies. These are; Australia, Brazil, China,  France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the ASEAN and GCC groups. Together, these economies account for 65% of the global workforce. A major goal of the report is to analyze the impact of key drivers of change and provide specific information on the relative magnitude of these expected changes by industry and geography, and the expected time horizon for their impact to be felt on job functions, employment levels and skills.
In terms of overall impact, the report indicates that the nature of change over the next five years is such that as many as 7.1 million jobs could be lost through redundancy, automation or disinter mediation, with the greatest losses in white-collar office and administrative roles. This loss is predicted to be partially offset by the creation of 2.1 million new jobs, mainly in more specialized “job families”, such as Computer and Mathematical or Architecture and Engineering.
These predictions are likely to be relatively conservative and leave no room for complacency. Yet the impact of disruption will vary considerably across industry and gender as well as job type. For example, Healthcare is expected to experience the greatest negative impact in terms of jobs in the next five years, followed jointly by Energy and Financial Services and Investors. The industry that stands to create the most jobs, perhaps less surprisingly, is Information and Communication Technology, followed by Professional Services and Media, Entertainment and Information professionals.
“Without urgent and targeted action today to manage the near-term transition and build a workforce with future proof skills, governments will have to cope with ever-growing unemployment and inequality, and businesses with a shrinking consumer base,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum
There is also a gender implication to the future of jobs. Based on the absolute job gains and losses mentioned above, the burden of job losses seems to fall equally on women (48%) and men (52%). However, given that men represent a larger share of the overall job market than women, this even spread translates into a widening of the employment gender gap, with women losing five jobs for every job gained compared with men losing three jobs for every job gained. This is also partly explained by low participation by women in the “job families” that are expected to grow, such as Computers and Mathematics, thus adding to the urgency with which leaders must address the chronic problem of getting more women into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) professions.
When it comes to respondents’ outlook on how best to deal with these sweeping changes, the news is more encouraging. The most popular workforce strategy across every industry is investing in re-skilling current employees. Other practices, such as supporting mobility and job rotation, attracting female and foreign talent and offering apprenticeships, also scored high. Hiring more short-term or virtual workers are much less popular responses. Indeed, the survey suggests that those companies that are treating future workforce planning as a priority are almost 50% more likely to invest in re-skilling than those that do not. The report also indicates that those companies that report satisfaction in their future workforce strategy are more than twice as likely to be targeting female talent, and significantly less likely to be planning on hiring more short-term workers.

Email: oca@weforum.org. [myad]