Citizens, civil society leaders and other stakeholders have raised
\n“serious concerns about the escalating series of kidnappings, killings
\nand insecurity across the country, which are clearly fuelled by years of
\ngrand corruption and impunity of perpetrators,” and stated that, “only
\nambitious and robust anti-corruption fight can end the insecurity in the
\ncountry.”<\/p>\n
This was stated today at a townhall meeting held at the Barcelona Hotel
\nin Abuja and organized by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
\nProject (SERAP) in collaboration with UKaid.<\/p>\n
Professor Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, in his paper titled Practical
\nStrategies to Mobilise Citizens to Participate in the Fight against
\nCorruption, said: “Corruption is the greatest obstacle to security,
\ndevelopment and equality in the Nigerian society. Corruption affects all
\naspects of human endeavour and permeates all strata of the Nigerian
\nsociety, starting from the government down to the average citizen. This
\nthreatens the existence of the country as one entity by weakening
\ninstitutions, rendering obsolete the rule of law, undermining good
\ngovernance and impoverishing the citizenry through a diminishing
\neconomy.”<\/p>\n
According to Akinseye-George: “The most visible impact of corruption in
\nthe Nigerian society today can be viewed through the lens of the myriad
\nof security challenges the country has to face, which extends from the
\nactivities of bandits on almost all major road networks to insurgency in
\nthe North. Despite millions allocated to the defence sector, the average
\nNigerian can hardly travel inter-state without fear for one’s safety.”<\/p>\n
He said: “One wonders what the various governors do with the security
\nvotes allocated to them every month. The fact that security votes are
\ngenerally not accounted for should be no excuse to divert such funds for
\npurposes unrelated to security.”<\/p>\n
Hassan Hafiz Mohammed, who represented the Chairman of the Independent
\nCorrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, said:
\nOfficial oath of secrecy cannot and should never be used as a pretext by
\npublic officials not to disclose information on corruption matters
\nwithin their ministries, departments and agencies.”<\/p>\n
According to Mr Saminu Amadin, representative of the Economic and
\nFinancial Crimes Commission (EFCC): “The fight against corruption cannot
\nbe left for government alone as the citizens have a critical role to
\nplay in preventing and combating corruption in Nigeria. We should deploy
\nall means to fight corruption.”<\/p>\n
Mrs R Hassan Ahmed, who represented the National Judicial Council (NJC)
\non her part stated that: “The Administration of Criminal Justice Act
\nshould be fully implemented by all the states, as it will help to fight
\ncorruption including in the judiciary and help to address the chronic
\ndelay in judicial processes.”<\/p>\n
Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP deputy director, said before the group
\ndiscussions: “Good governance, respect for human rights and total
\ncommitment to obey court orders are critically important to the
\nstability and growth of Nigeria, and to preventing and combating the
\nsecurity challenges in many parts of the country. Federal and state
\ngovernments should focus their attention on the human rights dimension
\nof insecurity in the country, as an honest government is a basic right
\nof all citizens.”<\/p>\n
According to him, “Citizens bring a missing component to the
\nanti-corruption struggle. They bring extra-institutional pressure to
\npush for change when power holders are corrupt and are unaccountable,
\nand when institutional channels are blocked or ineffective. Nigerians
\nshould therefore exert their collective power to get involved in the
\nfight against corruption including cases of corruption that directly
\naffect them.”<\/p>\n
Oluwadare also said: “While corruption brings out the worst in people,
\nfighting corruption can bring out the best. Citizens don’t fight
\ncorruption in the abstract. They do so to overcome poor and
\nunaccountable governance, poverty, displacement, organized crime and
\nother forms of oppression and injustice.”<\/p>\n