Former Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and the Executive Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, has said many countries without anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC , are doing better than Nigeria in the global corruption perception index.
The cleric said Nigeria must interrogate the system that easily throws up for political office crooked and devious characters, including ethnic bigots and religious extremists.
Speaking Saturday in Abuja at the Centre LSD/KAS 23rd Bi-annual Leadership Lecture of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development’s Leadership School and the 23rd graduation ceremony, Rev. Fr. Ehusani said, “Until such a fundamental error is addressed and the perception of the political leadership recruitment process is also addressed, I do not believe that any number of anti-corruption agencies and crusaders will transform our fortunes.”
He noted that Nigeria is comatose and on the verge of disintegration, largely on account of the “successive generations of thoughtlessly corrupt, senselessly nepotistic, recklessly lawless and astonishingly incompetent elite class that we have been plagued with since independence, and particularly since the first coup of 1966”.
“I ask that we seriously interrogate the situation whereby our nation more easily throws up for political office crooked and devious characters, including ethnic bigots and religious extremists; those who recklessly exploit the age-old ethnic acrimonies and antipathies in the land for selfish political gain; those who regularly manipulate the religious sentiments of the people; and the thoughtless others who habitually loot the local government, state, or national treasury for themselves and their families and render the population destitute.
“Until we address this anomaly, this fundamental error in our perception of political leadership and our leadership recruitment process, I do not believe that any number of anti-corruption agencies and crusaders will transform our fortunes.
“After all, there are countries where there are no other agencies saddled with the task of fighting corruption, apart from the regular police. Some of these countries are doing so much better than Nigeria in the global corruption perception index.
“They are able to investigate, prosecute, and promptly discharge cases of corruption better than what we see in our country, Nigeria, which has established numerous agencies, including CCB, CCT, ICPC, EFCC, BPP, NEITI, Public Complaints Commission, and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, all to fight the same scourge of corruption.”
