X-raying the war against corruption 

Since the inauguration of his administration eight months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari has been unrelenting in the fight against corruption.   

The president has not only demonstrated his commitment to the fight by action, he has repeatedly talked about it at every opportunity.

And through his devotion, the subject of corruption appears to have become a national mantra.  
 
Little wonder that the governing board of Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA), chaired by Prof. Etim Moses Essien, chose the topic

“Corruption Eradication And the Nigerian Ethical Revolution” as a theme of its 8th Annual Forum of the Laureates of Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) held in Abuja recently.
 
The forum provided the opportunity to laureates, fellows of different academic institutions and researchers as well as key decision-makers in the public and private sectors to focus on a particular topic on corruption with three sub-themes, namely “Eradicating Corruption in the Public Sector”, “Private Sector and the Problem of Corruption” and “Ethical Foundation of Corruption-free Society”. 
 
To Prof. Essien, these topics fit in squarely with the clearly stated objective and commitment to action of President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration in Nigeria.

“The Nigerian corruption problem has been so bad because there are things we are not doing right. We have not been steadfast and honest in implementing the rules we have agreed on with which to run our society,” he stated. 

Eminent scholars who delivered papers include Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd); Chairman Police Service Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro; Prof. Oladipo Afolabi; Senator Shehu Sani; Prof. Pat Utomi; Mr. Soji Apampa, and Justice Ayo Salami. 
 
Others are: Pro. Ayo Bamgbose of University of Ibadan; Dr. Gbolagade Ayoola; Director –General of NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri; Governor Adam Oshiomole of Edo State; Dr. Saheed Ahmad Rufai of Sokoto State University; Prof.Charles E. Nnolim; Prof. Femi Agbede and Prof. (Emeritus) Augustine O. Esogbue. 

Thirteen researched papers were delivered with strong focus on corruption, which involves bribery, embezzlement, money laundering or extortion. The paper also covers influence peddling, nepotism, human trafficking, and general police brutality.

Addressing the 8th Annual Forum of NNOM, chairman of occasion, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule went down memory lane.
He said: “we had our differences in the past republics, observing that despite these there was peace and tranquility in Nigerian nation. He pointed out that corruption has become a common decimal and we used to be our brother keepers.”

Sule regretted the discovery of oil, saying, it has become a blessing in one hand, a curse in the other hand because oil has brought a negative culture in Nigeria. “The rate at which people steal money from government’s coffer is alarming, it has brought untold hardship to citizens and crippled the economy. 

“President Buhari wants to give the country a sense of direction by instilling discipline in our society. We need a leader with a fear of God and that would look at the common citizens with the eyes of God. Leaders that believe one day they would stand before God to give account of their stewardships.” 
 
Earlier, Prof. Essien said, “most developed countries of the world had issues of corruption during their development phases but were able to minimize them within reasonable periods of time through steadfastness and honest implementation of the agreed rules of “change.”  

While commending the steps taken so far by Buhari and the results data on this will be helpful and will encourage greater population willingness and commitment to participate in the fight against corruption in the country. 

“ I hope that I can commit all laureates to the frontline in this war. Other challenges that we, Nigerians, must all join President Buhari to accept are the challenges posed to us by the achievements by the Asian Tigers with whom we started the race to development together at independence in the 1960s.” 

Secretary to the Government of Federation, Babachir David Lawal, said the idea of the forum was for the country to tap and benefit from the intellectual properties that would be made available at the gathering of laureates, adding that this will help to galvanize the human capital development of the nation.

“ This goes to show the high regard with which the government views your gathering. I want to assure you that the federal government will create the necessary enabling environment for the NNMA to operate knowing that a number of developed countries became great purely on the intellectual properties of its citizenry,” he added. 

He said President Muhammadu Buhari has already made a promise to all Nigerians that he would fight corruption, and this fight has already started. However, it is a fight that cannot be fought and won alone, but with the support of every Nigerian both home and abroad.” 

Talking on “Eradicating Corruption in Military and Para-military Services”, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) said that in addressing the opportunities that allow corruption to thrive, we must pay attention to underlying systemic factors that are beyond the control of the security agencies. 

This, according to Col. Ali, requires a coordinated effort across all affiliate organizations so that corruption would have no hiding place. Just like terrorism, corruption must be flushed out of our system; it is toxic to our sustainable development of the country generally. 

“As the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, I am a champion of the use of technology in fighting corruption within the Service. It is only through such media that we can ensure that corruption is eradicated and even eliminated in the systems. 

In addition, he said the security agencies should develop a system whereby there would be no negative repercussions on whistle blowing policy in 2016, stressing that this in line with the whistle-blowing act to empower officers to expose corrupt practices.

Another speaker, Prof. Ayo Bamgbose who spoke on the topic, “Academic Corruption and the Role of the NNMA in Curbing It,” postulated that it was an undisputable fact that corruption pervades both public and private sectors in Nigeria, but academic corruption has eroded academic standards in our institutions. 

He admitted that virtually all stakeholders in the university system may be involved in academic corruption, from students who cheat in an examination, to the lecturers who arbitrarily alter marks and even the office secretaries who tamper with admission lists, are all involved in actions that are bound to erode excellence and as a result mar the image of the university. 

On postgraduate research, Prof. Bamgbose said students also have their own shortcomings. “ Some of them feel that any work already done by their supervisor can be appropriated by them without due acknowledgment.” He reiterated that some years ago, it was discovered that some unscrupulous persons had set up a syndicate for writing theses for lazy postgraduate students. 

Prof. Agbede who spoke on “The Tenets of Christian Religion for Curbing Corruption in Nigerian Society,” submitted that corruption was a cancer that has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation and has been traced to the fall of the first Adam. 
He maintained that the second Adam, Jesus Christ, came to restore the lost glory through the sacrificial life that He lived.

“He promised abundant life to all His followers who must subscribe to the teachings of the Bible if their confession of faith would have any meaningful impact on their world.”

Agbede enjoined Christian leaders to rise up to the task of emulating the saints, not only through their teachings but in their lifestyles too. He said the church should not be seen as promoting corruption but be the champion in the fight against corruption because the church has capacity to eliminate corruption in the country.