All of that make Ekeh still the starting point in theorising corruption in Nigeria, coming after all the much trumpeted globalisation. It means that in spite of capitalism or that its development in Nigerian has not escaped the primordial primacy. And it matters because the resort to the primordial sphere, to take it from Ekeh, is still the easiest way of undoing not only the anti-corruption war but just about anything else the power elite and their organic intellectuals do not accept. For instance, a more thoughtful power elite would ordinarily welcome any government that seeks to discipline capitalism in Nigeria at this point. It is in the long term interest and survival of the Nigerian establishment for that to happen now. It does not require any brilliance to see that the system is in trouble with around 40 million educated but unemployed youths and about a hundred universities from which more and more graduates are pouring out every year. Sooner or later, it won’t do to put on the gowns, attend the convocation ceremonies, deceive the graduands by declaring them future leaders and think that the job is done.

In the sense of disciplining capitalism in Nigeria, the anti-corruption war is absolutely in order. And Ekeh provides the government something to watch out for in going about it. That is not to say everything about the anti-corruption war is clear. One, is there any controversy about retrieving looted monies from whomever it might be traced to? And does that require a full scale war? Two, how would this war be prosecuted without injuring the beautiful coalition that brought this government into power? For the sake of unity, that coalition needs to be nurtured, more so in the light of that very nice aspect of the PDP (its national spread before its recent self-inflicted humbling by history) and the need for other parties to strengthen that. Two or more strong, nationalist parties should be a good democratic development for Nigeria. Three, when would this war be over as for Buhari to take on board the question of a legacy all in four years? I am referring to legacy in a more elevated sense. A retired military man who manages to pull his type of crowd in politics must take the concept of legacy more seriously.

However, having declared it as a key policy direction of the regime, the anti-corruption war is no longer a debate. But the theory according to Nuhu Ribadu is that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. So, we are now talking about a battle line already drawn. Mister President is up to something big if he wins. He would have settled his place in history. If he fails, then he would weep again. The political economy of corruption in post-colonial Africa can be frightening. Corruption is the classic Big Brother! It is not enough to say they shoot corrupt people in China. The Chinese Communist Party is formidable in its penetration of society and the capacity to unleash its different wings – youths, farmers, intellectuals, cadres and party mandarins in a test of strength with any contenders of its power. In other words, the Chinese Communist party can speak power to truth. Here, the APC is a shadow of itself in that regard. Many of its ‘cadres’, intellectuals and even mandarins would wish the anti-corruption vocabulary is never heard, certainly not from the lips of a president elected on its platform.

The politics of the anti-corruption war here is thus more complicated than the reality of corruption itself. Corruption and capitalism have the same parents. There is basis for waging a separate war on the direct stealing that constitutes corruption in Nigeria but the greater valour is still in that Nigerian President who develops much more advanced methods for disciplining Nigerian capitalism. But, as things are now, it is only the balance of power between the protagonists and antagonists that would now decide the outcome, not anybody’s opinion in support or against the war.

In all cases, it would be nice to listen to Ekeh again, either revisiting his paper at a forum in Nigeria beyond the campus or for some people to make that particular essay the subject-matter of some national discussion.