Obasanjo declares... Jonathan can’t fight corruption

Thursday, 16 June 2011 00:00 Francis Okeke, Geneva

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said the current regime in Nigeria lacks the will and consistency to fight corruption because corrupt people are deeply entrenched in the system. Obasanjo, who was speaking yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland, did not mention President Goodluck Jonathan by name but said he has not seen the will and consistency required in the present government to tackle graft.

 

He spoke during a debate organised by the Club de Madrid on ‘Meeting Sustainable Societies and Social Justice’ in the on going 100th Session of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland.

Club de Madrid is an independent, non-profit organization composed of 80 former democratic presidents and prime ministers from 56 countries.

Obasanjo was asked by debate moderator Ritula Shah of the BBC if there was political will to fight corruption in Nigeria.

In answer to that, he said, “I haven’t seen that will of persistency and consistency in Nigeria because the people that are involved in corruption, they are strongly entrenched and unless you are ready to confront them at the point of even giving your life for it, then you will give in and when you give in, that is the end of it.”

Obasanjo went down memory lane, blaming over dependence on oil for the corruption that bedevils Nigeria today.

“We didn’t see beyond the oil. That was one of the misfortunes of Nigeria or regrets of Nigeria but more importantly, corruption came in. Corruption that came in came in initially with politics at independence when our politicians when they give a contract to you, 10 per cent, they thought that is the way to make money for their party.

“Ten per cent of that contract is taken to develop the party, for the party fund and all that and then of course it went beyond 10 per cent to 20, to 25 and at times, it grew so large that in fact, when you are given a job, you will just don’t care to do it, you will share the money or whatever they called it.

“That was very bad. So when I became president of Nigeria the first thing I did after my election was to establish an independent body to fight corruption. Now, that body was so effective, in fact two bodies, one was a commission against financial crimes and they were both so effective that ministers of government, the head of the police and the heads of parastatals were put in jail.

“If you are going to fight corruption, it is not a one night or one day war; you have to be consistent and persistent with it,” he said.

Other panellists in yesterday’s debate were former president of Ecuador Mr. Osvaldo Hurtado, former Ghanaian president John Kufuor, former Yemeni prime minister Mr. Abdul Karim Al Eryani and former prime minister of Netherlands Mr. Wim Kok.

In his contribution, Kufour said the world must produce leaders who must look beyond self interest and are ready to use rule of law and good governance to tackle the issues of social justice.

He added that such leaders must be able to multi-task in the areas of fighting corruption as they simultaneously create jobs and provide social security to their people.

All the panellists agreed on the need for government, employers and workers to sit together and fine-tune the existing processes that lead to the creation of decent jobs.