Current Ruling Class Can’t Rescue Nigeria From Doom, Ezekwesili, Owasanoye Declare

September 5, 2021

Former Minister of Education, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN) and other panelists at a webinar have unanimously stated that Nigeria needs a new set of purpose-driven leaders as its current ruling class lack the political will needed to rescue it from doom.

The panelists, who spoke on Saturday via Zoom, noted that the lopsided political system of the country has given rise to the emergence of ill-prepared leaders, whose poor leadership has continued to deepen corruption and put the country at the threshold of anarchy.

Speaking at the webinar roundtable organised by the Federal Social Democrats (FSD) on what Nigeria must do differently to win the fight against corruption, Owasanoye noted that corruption has been endemic in the Nigerian socio-political system and that lack of universally acceptable definition for it has exposed it to cultural mutations.

“Corruption does not need introduction in Nigeria as it is of major concern to government and citizens. There is unanimity that corruption is bad, but there are also divergent views on how it should be tackled and what a culpable act of corruption is.

He stressed that: “Given its organic and sometimes amorphous nature, there is no single approach to tackle corruption especially systemic corruption as it requires a whole of government and citizen approach rather than focus on corrupt people as opposed to a corrupt system.

He noted that “corruption is not susceptible to definition and the lack of a universally acceptable definition makes it vulnerable to cultural variables. Conventions like the UNCAC and AUCPCC, and major local legislations like COPROA, Criminal Code and Penal Code all avoid emphatic definitions of corruption, because it is organic and like COVID-19 susceptible to mutation.

Owasanoye noted that there must be a combination of law and order and behaviour change approaches to dealing with the menace of corruption, adding that the ICPC, in its effort to design a comprehensive response to the spiking rate of corruption has been limited by some key factors, among which he said are the torrents of petitions from lawyers and citizens on job, contract and land scams.

Other factors he listed include the reluctance of the civil service to apply administrative sanctions on its erring staff members, reluctance of the criminal justice system in the country to prioritize corruption cases thus escalating impunity and the readiness of communities to shield their own from sanction.

He said that for Nigeria to end corruption, both those governing and the governed in Nigeria must ensure that political will and leadership example rank high when implementing and sustaining reforms.

He added that while the support from the international community is important, sustainable solutions must be home-grown.

“At the national level, prepare for a marathon not a dash to kill systemic corruption, strategize to claim victory in silos. Evaluate sector by sector and isolate what works from what does not or will not work at least in the immediate. Recognize the limitations of key institutions by internal and external factors, constantly revise strategy to meet the exigency of the moment and communicate the negative impact of corruption to development in order to sustain citizen buy-in,” he added.

Ezekwesili, who moderated the session, said that: “The character of leadership and our leadership recruitment process have gotten to where many of our panelists came out, which is that we do need a political change from the ruling political class that have been in the helms of affairs since independence and gotten to a place where the Nigerian state is not capable of providing good governance and therefore ending with systemic corruption.

Aside from Ezekwesili and the ICPC boss, other dignitaries who spoke at the roundtable a former Senator of the Federal Republic and Chancellor of Baze University, Dr Datti Baba-Ahmed; a former Chairman of ICPC, Barrister Ekpo Nta; former Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Waziri Adio; Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, Mrs Nwamaka Okoye and Mr Toyin Oloniteru among others.