Corruption Must Be Kicked Out of Nigeria - Obasanjo

One week after calling on the National Assembly to be more prudent and transparent, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday reiterated that corruption must be kicked out of the country because it has destroyed all spheres of the society.

The former president, who was the chairman at the inaugural conference of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), said the malaise manifests in corruption of money, attitude, nepotism and favouritism.

“Today, corruption drains billions of dollars from our economy that cannot afford to lose even a million dollars. It seems we are just beginning the fight against corruption afresh. Until recently, it seems corruption had returned with a vengeance, taking seat at the very heart of government,” he added.

According to him, the different forms of corruption must be kicked out of the society.

He said it was good that this initiative was coming at this moment when the country was in search of new ways of doing things given the economic crisis that government is facing over the drastic fall in the price of oil in the international market, which had unravelled the weakness of governance in Nigeria.

He recalled that the minister of finance had recently announced that the 2016 budget deficit might be increased from the current N2.2 trillion in the draft document before the National Assembly to N3 trillion due to decline in the price of crude oil.

If the current fiscal challenge was not creatively addressed, the former President said, Nigeria might be on its way to another episode of debt overhang which may not be good for the country.

Obasanjo said given these governance challenges and country’s experience with reform, it was clear that change didn’t just happen;

“Rebuilding the foundations of governance involved paying attention to values, principles and practices that promote hard work, innovation and sacrifice. Leaders who call for sacrifice from the citizenry cannot be living in obscene opulence,” he said.

He said government must address these foundational issues to make the economy work, to strengthen the institutions, build public confidence in government and deal with peace and security challenges.

Speaking, the guest speaker, Richard Joseph said that the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy should aim to be not just a school of governance, but a school of transformative governance and effective democracy.