At least two perspectives on fighting
corruption have emerged this week from key Nigerian reformers that served
together during the Obasanjo era.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, during a BBC
interview with Will Ross, passionately emphasized the need for strong institutions
and systems to tackle corruption. To the
extent that she was dismissive of the role of whistle-blowers “It is not very
sexy to build systems and institutions. It takes time and nobody wants to
discuss it. All they want to do is talk about personalities and who blew the
whistle…”
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on the other hand, in
his speech at the Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum, stressed the need for leadership
by example and sanctioning corrupt officials. Premium times quoted him as saying “The money coming to us is ending up in
extremely few hands. Corruption must be made unattractive and difficult to
commit. When there is transparency, there is less room for direct stealing…where
there are sanctions, there will be no impunity. Impunity means failure to
punish.” He urged the State
Governors to lead by example.
You can understand why the emphasis is different between the
two. One currently has a role in government and the other is in opposition. Yet
for Nigeria to effectively tackle corruption it will need to build institutions
and have leaders that lead by good example, with no room for impunity. Nigeria
needs both good leaders and institutions.
Thanks for this piece madam. Nigeria indeed needs to build systems and institutions, and to have corrupt-free leaders as advocated by the Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
ReplyDelete