Abbas Umar
The fight against corruption is gradually gaining momentum, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the helm of affairs. The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has on several occasions and at any given opportunity called on the ordinary citizens of this country to own the fight against corruption. The fight against corruption, no doubt, is a tough one from the process of petition to investigation, arraignment and in some instances, recovery, sentencing and conviction. The corrupt are also fighting back with every tool at their disposal. There is no doubt that corruption is greatest challenge facing the country. It has caused a lot of pain to the government and citizens alike.
The effect and consequences of corruption is manifesting in our daily lives, from bad governance to a failing economy, education, health, job creation, youth unemployment, entrepreneurship and a rise in cybercrime. The worst affected is security, which makes us all vulnerable. Our borders have become porous enough to admit criminals, bandits and terrorists from neighbouring countries who carry out attacks on innocent citizens.
With an estimated population of 200 million and endowed with abundant natural resources, Nigeria ought to be better than most African countries, in terms of improving the quality of life of its citizens. It ought to be several steps ahead of other countries in terms of health, education, agriculture, science and technology, entrepreneurship, transport, good governance, transparency, accountability, security, job creation, peace and development.
A few weeks ago, during the passing-out parade of Detective Inspectors of the EFCC at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Magu had urged Nigerians to stand up against corruption and to be counted among those fighting hard to redeem our country from the pangs of the social evil. One lesson to take home from his passionate plea is that our country’s greatest enemy does not know the color of our skin, but it cares about religion, culture, gender and geography.
When corruption attacks, it attacks all of us at the same time. Its strength, ferocity of its attacks and the effect are quite devastating. Little wonder the Acting EFCC chairman said, “As it is often said, in our country, tackling corruption is a clarion call, given that it is a huge burden on the nation. It has spread its cancerous effects to all the facets of our lives. Insecurity, poverty, unemployment, falling standards of education, weak access to affordable health care, failing infrastructure, questioned integrity of the electoral process, poor business environment and lower GDP growth to mention a few, are all linked to corruption.”
We must also, as patriotic citizens, appreciate the effort of President Muhammadu Buhari who is leading the fight against corruption. The president was once quoted as saying, “if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us all.” There is no doubt about this. If we don’t come together, put our efforts in one place and fight this evil, then corruption will kill us. As they say, a word is enough for the wise.
Still on the evil consequences of corruption and the need for all of us to join hands in the fight against corruption, Magu also said, “Corruption is worse than cancer, Ebola-virus, Corona-virus and all other deadly diseases put together. Fighting corruption is thus a crusade against the evils of our society that are deeply-rooted and threatening to consume us. We are aware that the task is not easy and the path can be very thorny and lonely, but with determination and a high sense of mission, we are making progress towards rooting out this evil from our society.”
The truth is that the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies in the country cannot do it alone. If we must succeed in rooting out this cankerworm from the society, all hands must be on deck. The fight against corruption is not for the EFCC, ICPC and other security agencies, organisations, associations, companies and civil societies alone, it is for us all. Everyone must say no to it. We must also say no to those who participate in the act and not join forces with them. We really need to save Nigeria from this social evil so that in the end we can have the country of our dreams.
Umar contributed this piece from Abuja
