“Such perpetrators and conspirators are in governments, the legislature, the judiciary and the press. They are united, they protect one another, they fight for one another and they are prepared to go down together"
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said
that because of the level of corruption in Nigeria, he and President Muhammadu
Buhari have been finding it extremely difficult to get right persons that could
handle nation-building tasks for the present administration.
He said getting upright persons had
remained a tough task for them in what he described as a corrupt system. According to a statement on Sunday by
his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the
Vice-President spoke on the theme, “Change agents in nation-building,” at the
annual dinner of the Apostles In The Market Place on Saturday evening in Lagos.
Osinbajo was quoted as
describing the present administration’s ongoing anti-corruption war as a fight
against the system. He said it was regrettable that the
administration was operating in a system “where the norm is corrupt behaviour
across all arms of government.
“I have had several long discussions
with President Buhari, the key issue always is finding the right persons for
any task; a tough task indeed in a corrupt system.
“This is a system where the norm is
corrupt behaviour across all arms of formal systems of governance. In such a
system, the private sector is a strong collaborator. The fight against
corruption is then a fight against the system,” the Vice-President was quoted
to have said.
Osinbajo said a critical assessment
of the list of corrupt persons would show that they cut across tribal, ethnic
and religious lines. He said such corrupt persons and
their collaborators were enshrined in the legislature, the judiciary and even
in the press.
He said those who belonged to the
group of corrupt persons always “protect one another’s interest and are ready
to go down with any of their own.”
The Vice-President said, “When you
look at any list of alleged perpetrators of a heinous case of corruption, all
tribes, ethnicities and religions are well represented.
“In other words, high-level
corruption knows no religion or ethnicity.
“Such perpetrators and conspirators
are in governments, the legislature, the judiciary and the press. They are
united, they protect one another, they fight for one another and they are
prepared to go down together.
“They are one tribe and indivisible,
regardless of diversity. It is this tribe that confuses the arguments for
change in society.”
Osinbajo added that such a corrupt
system can hardly deliver public goods.
While wondering how many new roads
the Federal Government managed to build in the last 10 years, the
Vice-President sought an explanation on the whereabouts of the billions of
dollars realised when the price of oil was over $100 per barrel. He added that the revelations on the
alleged theft of funds meant to procure arms for the military to defend the
nation demonstrated the moral ambivalence that pervaded the system.
“That system needs to be dismantled
if the nation is to progress.
“Nigeria’s greatest battle is the one
to bring integrity and accountability to public service and the private sector.
“This requires a new way of thinking,
a new crop of leadership and a new tribe. The challenge today for us all –
friends and colleagues, is to populate that new tribe,” he said.
Osinbajo said the new tribe of
Nigerians must be ready to fight and dismantle the corrupt system in the
nation’s private and public sectors.
“We need a new tribe of men and women
of all faith, tribes and ethnicities.
“This will be a tribe of men and
women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and self-constraints that are
crucial to building a strong society; who are prepared to stick together, fight
corruption side-by-side, and insist on justice even when our friends are at the
receiving end,” he added.
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