The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has disagreed with President Goodluck Jonathan over a statement credited to him that corruption is not the cause of all Africa’s problem.
Jonathan spoke on Wednesday during a televised debate titled, “Africa’s Next Billion,” held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Mr. President said that in terms of security, the onslaught being unleashed on the people of the northern part of the country by members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, remains the biggest challenge of his administration.
President Jonathan said it was wrong for anybody to hold the belief that corruption is the cause of all the problems confronting Africa.
Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, its Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran averred that the statement suggests the disconnection of Mr. President from the barrages of poverty and problems facing the Nigerian masses.
He said, “It is so unfortunate that our leaders are far detached from the realities. It is a known fact that corruption is the main reason why nothing is working in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. As a matter of fact, corruption is the biggest problem of Nigeria and the bane of development in other African countries. Every problem confronting Nigeria today has its roots in corruption. Even the problem of insecurity, as typified by Boko Haram, is a product of corruption. It only takes a president who is neck-deep in corruption not to accept the menace as the root cause of Africa’s problem.
If corruption is tackled head on; if our leaders stop diverting our common heritage and start using it for the common good of the Nigerian citizens, most problems in the country will be solved including the insecurity challenges. It is high time Mr. President stopped making excuses for corruption at every available opportunity.”
The anti-corruption crusader however stressed the need to clamp down on the growing trend of corruption, so that the Nigerian masses could get the dividends of democracy.
