The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Thursday that President Mohammadu Buhari has demonstrated his commitment and that of his Government to fighting corruption and championing the recovery of looted public resources.
Mohammed made the remark as Guest Speaker at the African Leadership Lecture of the Saffglia Foundation held at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
The minister, represented by Mr Joe Bankole, Head, Lagos Operations of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), admonished Nigerians to give their total support to the initiatives of the Buhari administration as it fights corruption head-on, saying that corruption had become a scourge, which should be fully confronted.
“Efforts are strategically being made to investigate areas of deliberate infractions in law and more illegally-acquired wealth is being uncovered and recovered.
“There is no doubt that the major challenge militating against the progress of Africa is corruption. We are blessed with two sons of Africa who are frontally addressing this cankerworm.
“It is only a matter of time before Nigeria, in particular and Africa, in general, is returned to the path of rectitude,” he said.
The minister cited the case of President John Magufuli of Tanzania, who was nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, by his countrymen, as a result of his quest for inimitable leadership.
“Magufuli won the Presidential election in Tanzania and deployed uncommon energy in performing his duty, not considering his detractors who, unexpectedly, are his friends.
“Magufuli was faced with five challenges: a programme to build roads across the country, and a keen interest on details, to see to the completion of the projects.
“He was also faced with accusations from friends who regard his administration as too strict and others referring to his style as too abrasive for auctioning state-owned houses to government employees and the public, corruption, jobs, education, constitutional reforms and the Zanzibar crisis.
According to a former Tanzanian Prime Minister, Joseph Warioba, “Manguli was for many years minister for works, supervising the execution of mega projects worth trillions of Tanzanian shillings, but was never
implicated in any corruption scandal. He could have been the richest politician in the country.”
Mohammed said that Nigerians needed to take a cue from such leadership.
The minister, however, called for an agenda by the Progressives in Africa, as set by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation through the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Leadership in Africa, on what to expect from leaders in the continent.
“As a way to expand these, the basic ingredients for setting the agenda for good leadership in Africa can be submitted under the following ideas of leadership, honesty, sincerity, transparency, selflessness and accountability,” he said.
Mr Segun Adeleye, founder, Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa (SAFFGLIA), urged Nigerians to rise up and speak for good leadership in the country.
He spoke on a variety of issues affecting good leadership in Nigeria, such as the inability of citizens to air their views on leadership, corruption, western influences on culture, among others.
“It is easy to take things for granted, asking what we have gained from the talks in the past. This explains why we don’t seem knowledgeable in this part of the world.
“Many chief executives or top government officials readily share their wealth of experience with the rest of the world at conferences.
“But in most cases, they are only trying to be careful, to protect their comfort zones and avoid being misunderstood or to be seen to be opposed to the authority in power.
“But can we really make progress without speaking our minds? If we are not making progress here, in spite of how much we talk, we must either be saying the right thing or not listening,” he said.
Adeleye charged the citizens not to see the fight against corruption as a battle for the few but a collective fight all must be engaged in, to move the country forward.
He, however, urged the citizens to appreciate education as a means of promoting native culture and dialects and a means that seeks to destroy the traditional institutions.
“Education, the advancement of knowledge, is at the initiative and pace of the foreigners on what Africa must learn and believe. Native languages have become secondary languages.
“The best of African can only be in an imposed curriculum with success being judged by the prism of foreign standards. The history of African has been limited by European versions.
“In Africa now, we are made to believe we are inferior, the Muslims are not comfortable with fellow Muslims, but history made us to know that we are all from same parents.
“If a politician that stole so much to provide comfort for his family can be made to see that the remaining populace left to suffer are his family, will he not think twice?
Adeleye said that Nigerians should rise and see that there are wrong things in the society and urged that all hands must be on deck to speak against corruption.
“The most dangerous trend now is that most African don’t even know that something is wrong, while those that have the feelings that something is missing have given up.
“If something is not wrong, why are Africans playing second fiddle in all human endeavours such as sports, entertainment, art, governance, science and the rest.
Adeleye tasked the Africans to use history as an instrument to correct the ills in the society.
“When I thought about this great tragedy, the two possible solutions that came to my mind were that, first if it is possible to have a government in any African country.
“A community of African leaders will be conscious of the full history, so that they can live it, preach if for Africans to start seeing that they are perfectly made.
“This is without any subjugation to others; unlimitedly endowed to attain any goal they set their minds on.
“Only few Africans, such as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti that had seen the history ended up being radicaisedl and revolutionary in nature. In the entire African countries, they can be counted on the fingertips,” he said.
Adeleye said his foundation would lead the crusade for good leadership in Africa by making Africans to rediscover who they are.
He also said that the foundation would carry out activities and projects that should encourage governments in Africa to embrace good governance, to better the living standards of Africans.(NAN)