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| Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. |
Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo, on February 20, exposed why President Muhammadu Buhari had not been
able to get the right persons to handle nation-building tasks for him.
Speaking on the
theme: “Change agents in nation-building,” at the annual dinner of the Apostles
in the Market Place in Lagos, he said the level of corruption in Nigeria has so
far made it difficult to find the right persons to handle nation-building tasks
for Buhari-led Government.
Osinbajo lamented: “I
have had several long discussions with President Buhari, the key issue always
is finding the right persons for any task; a tough task indeed in a corrupt
system. This is a system where the norm is corrupt behaviour across all arms of
formal systems of governance. In such a system, the private sector is a strong
collaborator. The fight against corruption is then a fight against the system.”
According to the
Vice-President, a close look at the list of corrupt persons show they cut
across ethnic and religious lines, as they have partners in the judiciary, the
legislature, and the press, springing always to protect themselves.
Osinbajo said: “In
protecting one another’s interest, they are ready to go down with any of their
own. When you look at any list of alleged perpetrators of a heinous case of
corruption, all religions, all tribes and ethnicities are well represented. In
other words, high-level corruption knows no religion or ethnicity.
“Such perpetrators
and conspirators are in governments, the legislature, the judiciary and the
press. They are united, they protect one another, they fight for one another
and they are prepared to go down together. They are one tribe and indivisible,
regardless of diversity. It is this tribe that confuses the arguments for
change in society.”
He pointed out
further that it would be tough to deliver public goods with such a corrupt
system. Questioning how many new roads the federal government in the last ten
years constructed, he doubted the whereabouts of the billions of dollars made
when oil price was over $100 per barrel.
The Vice-President
said nothing demonstrated the moral ambivalence that saturated the system than
the recent revelations on the alleged looting of funds meant to purchase arms
for the armed forces to defend the territorial integrity of the country.
“That system needs to
be dismantled if the nation is to
progress. Nigeria’s greatest battle is the one to bring integrity and
accountability to public service and the private sector. This requires a new
way of thinking, a new crop of leadership and a new tribe. The challenge today
for us all- friends and colleagues - is to populate that new tribe,” he said.
The Vice-President
further called on the new tribe of Nigerians to be prepared to fight and
destroy the “corrupt system” in the country’s public and private sectors.
“We need a new tribe
of men and women of all faith, tribes and ethnicities. This will be a tribe of
men and women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and self-constraints that
are crucial to building a strong society; who are prepared to stick together,
fight corruption side-by-side, and insist on justice even when our friends are
at the receiving end,” he concluded.
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