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By Lizzy Chirkpi
A Nigerian businessman, Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GUO Motors Limited and GUO Group of Companies has recommended death by firing squad for corrupt leaders.
He also ascribed Nigeria’s current economic woes to monumental corruption among political leaders and top civil and public servants.
The business mogul further lamented that corruption has deeply infiltrated every sector of Nigerian society and organizations thereby crippling industries, refineries, power generation and distribution, and other key areas of the economy.
He stated this while having a chat with journalists at his residence in the GRA area of Onitsha ahead of his 76th birthday celebration.
“If we amend our constitution to make corruption a capital offence, punishable by firing squad or life imprisonment, any political party that adopts a zero-tolerance stance on corruption will attract massive support, because corruption is the root cause of Nigeria’s economic collapse,” Okeke said.
Mr Okeke referenced the former Governor of Anambra and the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, said: “Nigeria has enough resources to meet our needs but not enough to satisfy our greed.”
Okeke continued, “while the vast majority of Nigerians, up to 90 per cent (90%) can no longer afford basic meals, a small elite group of about 10 percent continues to plunder the nation’s resources with impunity.
“We have moved from stealing in millions to billions and now trillions, while the masses suffer. Our conscience has been mortgaged for peanuts during elections. Politicians use the youth for their selfish goals, only to abandon them while sending their own children abroad to study and return to continue the cycle of corruption.”
The Transporter further lamented the non availability of basic infrastructure which has put Nigerians into immense suffering, he noted: “There are no good roads, no security, no electricity, no food, no medication, nothing. How can industries survive, let alone thrive, in such an environment? It’s no surprise factories are relocating to other African countries.”
Although Okeke praised President Bola Tinubu for the political will in the removal of fuel subsidies, noting that only a few individuals had benefited from it. However, he criticized the corruption linked to its implementation, saying the same clique that profited from the subsidy continues to manipulate the system.
“Without corruption, Nigeria would not be in this mess. These corrupt individuals have dragged the country into a bottomless pit.
“God must surely punish corrupt politicians and civil servants. I urge well-meaning individuals and groups to support the less privileged and physically challenged in our society. I thank God that at 71, I am alive and healthy.”