The Committee to Investigate the Committee That Was Set Up to Probe the Last Committee
By Prof. MarkAnthony Nze
Welcome to Nigeria, the Federal Republic of Committees. Where corruption is not tackled but tabled, not punished but pushed, and every scandal is answered with that magical phrase:
“We’ve set up a committee.”
A governor diverts ₦12 billion?
Set up a committee.
Minister commissions an invisible hospital?
Another committee.
National Assembly caught budgeting more SUVs than schools?
No wahala — a “fact-finding committee” will handle it (after the cars arrive, of course).
In Nigeria, we don’t solve problems — we form them into structures, assign chairmen, share sitting allowances, and write reports that nobody reads. In fact, if we investigated all the committees formed in this country, we’d need to set up another committee to find their reports.
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Behold the lifecycle of Nigerian governance:
- Scandal erupts. Public outrage rises.
- Government announces “swift action” — they mean printing A4 paper for committee inauguration.
- A retired judge or old politician who still thinks Instagram is a soft drink is appointed chairman.
- The committee has 90 days to report back, and 120 days to forget it happened.
In most cases, the committee’s work is just PR decoration for TV cameras:
- “The panel will get to the root of the matter.”
- “We are committed to transparency.”
- “The guilty will be brought to book.”
But that “book” is never opened. The only thing brought to it is dust.
Do you remember the petrol subsidy probe committee?
Or the Lekki toll gate panel?
Or the P&ID scandal committee?
Or the committee on police reform?
Or the committee on the implementation of recommendations of the previous committee?
Exactly. Nobody does. Because in Nigeria, committees are political sleeping pills — they calm the public until they forget, and then everything continues.
The real committee working is the kitchen cabinet — a few untouchables who make decisions in party caucuses, villa backrooms, and Dubai lounges. Meanwhile, the official committee is just doing “terms of reference and lunch break.”
Let’s not forget the sitting allowances. In a country where the minimum wage is ₦70,000, committee members are collecting ₦1.5 million per sitting, to sit down and achieve absolutely nothing. That’s not public service — that’s strategic lounging.
Even when a committee submits a report, it’s either:
- “Under review” (for eternity), or
- “Missing” (like magic), or
- “Not adopted due to political sensitivity” (read: someone powerful is guilty).
Nigeria doesn’t have a governance problem — it has a report retention syndrome. We don’t need more probes. We need to probe the people forming probes.
So next time a scandal breaks and they say, “We’ve set up a committee,” just nod and ask:
“How many caterers are involved?”
Because in this country, the only committee that delivers is the food committee.
Professor MarkAnthony Ujunwa Nze is a distinguished Nigerian-born investigative journalist, public intellectual, and global governance analyst, whose work spans critical intersections of media, law, and policy. His expertise extends across strategic management, leadership, and international business law, where he brings a nuanced understanding of institutional dynamics, cross-border legal frameworks, and executive decision-making in complex global environments.
Currently based in New York, Professor Nze serves as a full tenured professor at the New York Centre for Advanced Research. There, he spearheads interdisciplinary research at the forefront of governance innovation, corporate strategy, and geopolitical risk. Widely respected for his intellectual rigor and principled advocacy, he remains a vital voice in shaping ethical leadership and sustainable governance across emerging and established democracies.