Okenyi Kenechi
Port Harcourt– Festus Keyamo, the spokesman of the Buhari Campaign Organization has said that the only way to curb the menace of corruption is through exemplary leadership.
Keyamo who spoke at a symposium with the theme “Corruption as an issue in Nigeria’s Development Crisis” organised by Rivers Unity House, a pro-APC group in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, stressed that strong institutions were not enough to effectively curb corruption, adding that without the backing of an exemplary leadership that is ready to implement anti-corruption policies and legislation, corruption will continue to stare the country in the face.
According to him “What the leader does himself galvanizes the people more. Leadership by example is the issue, it is only when you show us that we will follow you. This is the crisis of leadership our country is going through”.
He said that the nation’s problems are not ethnicity or religion as falsly believed, adding that corruption is becoming a threat to Nigeria’s development.
“If you see them (politicians) cross from one party to the other, it’s not that there is a disagreement on principles, it is because they want to see where to eat from”.
“Nigerian politicians are united in corruption”, Any politician that does not make anti-corruption his cardinal principle, run away from him”.
He noted that Due Process offices were established in the different states of the federation to ensure that established procedures were followed but, however, lamented that the challenge was lack implementation of the anti-graft laws.
He also said that president Buhari’s anti-graft war has achieved 90% of compliance with TSA which enabled JAMB to remit N51 million between 2010 and 2016 but to also remit N7 billion in 2017 alone.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war has yielded a huge success. Some of the achievements recorded in the anti-corruption war are the recovery of 290 automobiles, the recovery of about N780billion, 407 Mansions as well as millions of dollars, pounds and Euros recovered by the federal government’s anti-graft agency,”.
In his remark, a senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Eme Emekwe explained that Nigeria as a country is plagued by a deficit in leadership.
According to him: “leadership is a catalyst and it is more than an individual. We must begin to see ourselves as people who can control their leaders. Development in a multi-ethnic and cultural country we find ourselves if for every group to find fulfilment, not about the building of roads, hospitals”.
“We have people in government who occupy leadership position but do not understand what it is all about”.
“We have political machines and not political parties, an instrument for achieving power. That is the reason they are jumping from one party to another and not feel ashamed or lose anything” the university don said.
Also in attendance during the event were Tonye Cole, River APC gubernatorial candidate; Professor Andrew Efemini, a professor of philosophy of development at the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Steve Okodudu of the University of Port Harcourt and many others.
