ON DINO MELAYE'S PROPOSITION

Senator Dino Melaye, in a statement on Sunday, called on President Buhari to grant pardon to treasury looters on the condition that they return the funds they stole.
He said that the amnesty period should be six months after which anybody who fails to return stolen funds should be prosecuted. According to him, it will enable a speedy return of our stolen wealth which can be used to reflate the economy and it would also "save the judiciary and other law
enforcement agencies the agony of fruitlessly pursuing the looters in and out of the courtrooms." Read it up here.
As persuasive as his belief may be, I beg to disagree. First, how many miscreants would we give amnesty to? Amnesty was granted to the Niger Delta militants under president Yaradua. It was also nearly granted to Boko Haram militants who rejected it. The Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha has also been granting some militants pardon. Continuously granting amnesty does not solve the problem. In many cases, it only encourages them. More so, it would be counter productive to grant amnesty to corrupt persons since corruption has eaten into the fabric of this nation, even more than terrorism has. The amnesty granted by president Yaradua did not stop the Niger Delta Avengers from rising. Who knows if they were bolstered by the belief that if they hit the government hard, they will be offered amnesty too? Why then would amnesty be granted to treasury looters? What then would happen to the likes of Sambo Dasuki who have been in prison custody facing trial? Would the opportunity be extended to them too?
The argument that the amnesty would save the judiciary and law enforcement agencies a lot of stress is not tenable either. What Senator Melaye is subtly saying (or what can be inferred from his statement) is that our institutions are not capable of dealing with the issue of recovering stolen funds adequately. What he should be doing is suggesting ways of reforming our institutions. This is because it is the job of these institutions he mentioned to fight corruption among other things. So it cannot be said that they are in "agony" for doing their job. Who else will do it? If their efforts are fruitless, then its the fault of the system. Thus, an overhauling is necessary, that should be the recommendation. Granting amnesty is at best a temporary solution which we will result to again and again while corruption continues with the institutions unable to contain it