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Anti-corruption fight must begin within

By Kene Obiezu
02 April 2023   |   3:28 am
Sir: Since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, an overarching question has been that of corruption. The foundations may have been laid in the 80s and 90s when the savage military dictatorships of Babangida and Abacha turned public funds into personal playthings.

Sir: Since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, an overarching question has been that of corruption. The foundations may have been laid in the 80s and 90s when the savage military dictatorships of Babangida and Abacha turned public funds into personal playthings. However, it took the return of democracy and the triumph of transparency over terror for Nigerians to know the true extent of the scourge. Indeed, till this day, there are genuine fears that the true depth of the rot is not fully known. This is because there has never been a thorough forensic audit to determine just what the country has lost to the thieves it has allowed to stampede its corridors of power.

As per recent rankings released by Transparency International, Nigeria continues to perform desperately poorly in the rankings of the world’s least and most corrupt countries. According to the 2022 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International on January 31, 2023, Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points on the index. Out of the 180 countries to be ranked, Nigeria ranked a scandalous 130 in what was  a dirty slap on the face of every rhetoric tested and every route tried to get Nigeria to shed some of its corruption in the last few years.

The progress which saw Nigeria move up  four spots from the previous ranking when it placed 134 may be as deceptive as they come for it did not indicate that Nigeria became less corrupt in that time but simply that other countries picked up the pace of their plunge into the precipice of corruption.

Efforts may have been made by President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle corruption in the last eight years, but the overwhelming feeling is one of frustration at the slow pace of the efforts and their general inefficacy. The feeling of frustration is especially  cruel when cast into the light of the fact that Nigerians overwhelming elected the president in 2015 and returned him to power in 2019 because he had promised to give corruption a run for its money.

Nigeria has apparently been shoved into the last chance saloon by the many problems which seem to be convulsing the country all at the same time. So many of these problems find their root in corruption.
It has become an emergency for each step or misstep now may just be the last for the country. But the greatest hurdle the country may yet face in the war against corruption is the dominant mindset that convinces many that corruption is in Nigeria to stay. The real change may have to begin from within after all.

• KeneObiezu (Twitter: @keneobiezu)

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