Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has insisted that Nigeria’s fight against corruption can only be effective and successful when accountability among top government officials is ensured to the later. The former Nigerian leader argued that tackling corruption at the highest levels of leadership would set an example for those at the grassroots the level of government’s commitment to transparency and integrity, adding that it must be consistent and continual.
Obasanjo was speaking during an interactive session last night on Zoom tagged “Boiling Point Arena.”
The session was aired by some private radio stations in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, centred on Obasanjo’s political legacies and his evaluation of modern-day Nigeria.
Why describing the level of corruption in Nigeria as the clog in the wheel of progress that has robbed the country of every potential for development, Obasanjo insisted that fight against corruption must start with leadership for it to succeed.
He said, He said, “Corruption is very hydra-headed and eats deep. I think it was the Sultan of Sokoto, the father of the present Sultan who said corruption is like a babariga, if you are folding it on one side, it’s falling apart on the other side.
“When you carry it on both sides, you cannot hold your hands up and as soon as you put your hands down, it’s falling apart. And that’s corruption.
“It’s not a one day affair. It’s not a one regime affair. It’s not even a two regime affair. It has to be consistent. it has to be continual. It has to be a daily affair. Once one regime is let off, it spreads,” he stated.