President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday
that in order not to jeopardise the possibility of bigger recoveries, he
will not, for now, disclose the names of past government officials
voluntarily returning looted funds. The president who spoke in Abuja at
the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation Lecture titled ‘Incorruptibility: A
Spiritual Premise for Material Well-being,’ however, assured that since
his administration owed Nigerians adequate information, the names of
those officials would be disclosed in due course.
“Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardise the possibility of bigger recoveries. But we owe Nigerians adequate information, and it shall come in due course,” Buhari said.
Buhari said it was sad that the level of indiscipline in the country had been taken to an unprecedented level, lamenting that the rule of law had been grossly perverted, and corruption elevated to a way of life at all strata of the society. He said in striving to reorder Nigeria and put it on the path of recovery, his government had identified the need to tackle corruption head-on, adding that “In this regard, we’ve taken steps towards recovering a reasonable amount of the money that was looted or misappropriated from public coffers.”
Buhari, who noted that investigations were ongoing on public officers who served or are still serving, vowed that those whose conducts were questionable would be compelled to accept the path of honour and surrender their loots.
The president also stated that leaders at different levels of governance had stolen public funds they could not finish spending in several lifetimes over. He emphasised that the ongoing anti-corruption war was not strictly about him as a person, but about building a country where children and the forthcoming generations could live in peace and prosperity.
“When you see dilapidated infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of corruption. Poor healthcare, collapsed education, lack of public utilities, decayed social services, are all products of corruption, as those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets,” Buhari noted.
“That must stop, if we want a new Nigeria. And that was why I said at another forum that people need not fear me, but they must fear the consequences of their actions. Corrupt acts will always be punished, and there will be no friend, no foe. We will strive to do what is fair and just at all times, but people who refuse to embrace probity should have every cause to fear. Look at the corruption problem in the country, and tell me how you feel as a Nigerian,” he added.
He added that: “In the process of trying to recover stolen funds now, we are seeking the cooperation of the countries where the loot was taken. Time it was, when such nations may have overlooked our overtures for assistance to fight corruption. However, we now live in an era where corruption is anathema, looked upon as something that should be tackled head-on because the actions of the corrupt can have global impact.”
The president noted that resolving the problem of corruption transcends merely arresting and trying people that have held public office. “This is because to curtail corruption, we have to reorder the mindset of all. Empirical facts have shown that even those who are critics today are most times not better than those they criticise. When they are availed the same or similar opportunities, they act likewise. In other words, those who didn’t have the opportunity criticise and blow whistle but when they get into office; they become victims of the same thing they criticise,” Buhari stressed. He said Nigeria must grow beyond that point and be populated by people with conviction; “a new breed without greed, radically opposed to corruption.”
“When given the opportunity to play a leading role in our national history in 1984, we acknowledged that corruption is not just about the embezzlement of public funds but that the perversion of our consciousness and mindset was the point at stake. This was the basis of our War Against Indiscipline (WAI). Indiscipline in any way and manner is a form of corruption of the human essence. That was why we waged campaigns against indiscipline, and its many manifestations in the 1980’s during my tenure as head of state of our great nation,” he explained.
“We saw corruption beyond the embezzlement of public funds. We knew that a morally upright personality, a disciplined person, will not embezzle people’s money or betray the confidence reposed in him after being elected or appointed to manage any office. We knew that due to the perversion of our mindsets, people would rather abandon pedestrian bridges and flyovers and run through the traffic in very busy highways,” Buhari stressed.
“The people saw where we were headed, and cooperated with us. That effort of the past was under a military regime, a dictatorship as it is classified. Now we are under a democracy. The democratic system has its benefit in the rule of law and the fact that a man cannot be assumed guilty until it is so determined by the court of law,” he said.
The president said the rule of law and its advantages could however pose as serious limitations to curtailing corruption when the legal system was not adequately reinforced. He said the onus was, therefore, on those running the nation’s legal process to ensure that the corrupt does not go free through exploiting the weakness and lacuna in the system.
The president noted that the problem with tackling corruption was that when people have become used to a particular way of doing things, even if it is not the proper way, they find it difficult to change.
“There is the need to bring back our minds to the pure state of the human identity. While changing the mindset of the people is integral to dealing with the manifestation of corruption socially, it is also important to heal the wounds inflicted by the corruptive indulgence of specific people who have been entrusted with public positions or funds,” he stated.
“In Nigeria, it needs be said that two problems stare us in the face. First is that our laws need to be strengthened if we must realistically contend with the miasma of corruption. The second is that we must correct the gaps in our legal system that are exploited to frustrate the process of justice. A number of anti-corruption cases have been rendered inconclusive due to legal limitations,” he added.
“We need the mass army of Nigerians to rise as one man, and stand for probity in both public and private lives. It is only then that we can be sure of dealing a mortal blow on corruption, which will engender a better country,” Buhari said. “It is upon this conviction of our people that corruption poses great danger and should be curtailed that we anchor our hope. It underpins our assurance that the efforts of this government in checking corruption will yield significant successes in the final outcome. In other words, we note that sheer heroism cannot achieve the elimination of corruption from our social space,” he stated.
“Any effort to try to deal with corruption without a convinced populace will end as spasmodic, ephemeral exercise, lacking the appropriate social impact. When we are talking about corruption conventionally, it is a manifestation of the human mindset. It is the human beings that manifest corruption,” the president stressed.
“Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardise the possibility of bigger recoveries. But we owe Nigerians adequate information, and it shall come in due course,” Buhari said.
Buhari said it was sad that the level of indiscipline in the country had been taken to an unprecedented level, lamenting that the rule of law had been grossly perverted, and corruption elevated to a way of life at all strata of the society. He said in striving to reorder Nigeria and put it on the path of recovery, his government had identified the need to tackle corruption head-on, adding that “In this regard, we’ve taken steps towards recovering a reasonable amount of the money that was looted or misappropriated from public coffers.”
Buhari, who noted that investigations were ongoing on public officers who served or are still serving, vowed that those whose conducts were questionable would be compelled to accept the path of honour and surrender their loots.
The president also stated that leaders at different levels of governance had stolen public funds they could not finish spending in several lifetimes over. He emphasised that the ongoing anti-corruption war was not strictly about him as a person, but about building a country where children and the forthcoming generations could live in peace and prosperity.
“When you see dilapidated infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of corruption. Poor healthcare, collapsed education, lack of public utilities, decayed social services, are all products of corruption, as those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets,” Buhari noted.
“That must stop, if we want a new Nigeria. And that was why I said at another forum that people need not fear me, but they must fear the consequences of their actions. Corrupt acts will always be punished, and there will be no friend, no foe. We will strive to do what is fair and just at all times, but people who refuse to embrace probity should have every cause to fear. Look at the corruption problem in the country, and tell me how you feel as a Nigerian,” he added.
He added that: “In the process of trying to recover stolen funds now, we are seeking the cooperation of the countries where the loot was taken. Time it was, when such nations may have overlooked our overtures for assistance to fight corruption. However, we now live in an era where corruption is anathema, looked upon as something that should be tackled head-on because the actions of the corrupt can have global impact.”
The president noted that resolving the problem of corruption transcends merely arresting and trying people that have held public office. “This is because to curtail corruption, we have to reorder the mindset of all. Empirical facts have shown that even those who are critics today are most times not better than those they criticise. When they are availed the same or similar opportunities, they act likewise. In other words, those who didn’t have the opportunity criticise and blow whistle but when they get into office; they become victims of the same thing they criticise,” Buhari stressed. He said Nigeria must grow beyond that point and be populated by people with conviction; “a new breed without greed, radically opposed to corruption.”
“When given the opportunity to play a leading role in our national history in 1984, we acknowledged that corruption is not just about the embezzlement of public funds but that the perversion of our consciousness and mindset was the point at stake. This was the basis of our War Against Indiscipline (WAI). Indiscipline in any way and manner is a form of corruption of the human essence. That was why we waged campaigns against indiscipline, and its many manifestations in the 1980’s during my tenure as head of state of our great nation,” he explained.
“We saw corruption beyond the embezzlement of public funds. We knew that a morally upright personality, a disciplined person, will not embezzle people’s money or betray the confidence reposed in him after being elected or appointed to manage any office. We knew that due to the perversion of our mindsets, people would rather abandon pedestrian bridges and flyovers and run through the traffic in very busy highways,” Buhari stressed.
“The people saw where we were headed, and cooperated with us. That effort of the past was under a military regime, a dictatorship as it is classified. Now we are under a democracy. The democratic system has its benefit in the rule of law and the fact that a man cannot be assumed guilty until it is so determined by the court of law,” he said.
The president said the rule of law and its advantages could however pose as serious limitations to curtailing corruption when the legal system was not adequately reinforced. He said the onus was, therefore, on those running the nation’s legal process to ensure that the corrupt does not go free through exploiting the weakness and lacuna in the system.
The president noted that the problem with tackling corruption was that when people have become used to a particular way of doing things, even if it is not the proper way, they find it difficult to change.
“There is the need to bring back our minds to the pure state of the human identity. While changing the mindset of the people is integral to dealing with the manifestation of corruption socially, it is also important to heal the wounds inflicted by the corruptive indulgence of specific people who have been entrusted with public positions or funds,” he stated.
“In Nigeria, it needs be said that two problems stare us in the face. First is that our laws need to be strengthened if we must realistically contend with the miasma of corruption. The second is that we must correct the gaps in our legal system that are exploited to frustrate the process of justice. A number of anti-corruption cases have been rendered inconclusive due to legal limitations,” he added.
“We need the mass army of Nigerians to rise as one man, and stand for probity in both public and private lives. It is only then that we can be sure of dealing a mortal blow on corruption, which will engender a better country,” Buhari said. “It is upon this conviction of our people that corruption poses great danger and should be curtailed that we anchor our hope. It underpins our assurance that the efforts of this government in checking corruption will yield significant successes in the final outcome. In other words, we note that sheer heroism cannot achieve the elimination of corruption from our social space,” he stated.
“Any effort to try to deal with corruption without a convinced populace will end as spasmodic, ephemeral exercise, lacking the appropriate social impact. When we are talking about corruption conventionally, it is a manifestation of the human mindset. It is the human beings that manifest corruption,” the president stressed.
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