The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that contrary to the common belief that greed and poverty are to blame for the indulgence of most Nigerians in acts of corruption, lack of adequate sanctions is the reason corruption continues to thrive in the country.
She stated this while making her remarks at the flag-off of South-West Women Against Corruption (WAC) project in Lagos.
Dabiri-Erewa said that many young Nigerians are inspired to engage in acts of corruption when the society celebrates those who have been handed light sanctions for looting large sums of money from the national treasury.
She urged members of the public to rise against corruption and impunity in Nigeria; adding that the recession the country is currently facing was a direct product of corruption in the country.
The presidential aide called on women from the South-West geo-political zone to support President Muhammadu Buhari and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Ibrahim Magu, in their efforts to tackle the malaise of corruption in Nigeria.
Dabiri-Erewa further enjoined women to inculcate the qualities of contentment, integrity, value, virtue, and valour on their children, stressing that as mothers of the nation, women can be agents of change.
She said: “The reason there is so much corruption in Nigeria is not greed but lack of adequate sanctions.
“As long as we see corrupt people go to jail, come out and we celebrate, we worship, we clap for them; corruption will continue to thrive.
“I think we are at a point where we need to say ‘enough is enough! Never again should we go back to the days where we are coming from. Never again should we have anybody steal our commonwealth, live with impunity and get away with it.’
“That is why I want to appeal to you; let us support President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption. For the first time, we are having a president who is fighting corruption headlong. We need to support him.
“I am ashamed that at a function today, when I said ‘women against corruption’, people shouted me down. But I say ‘one bad apple should not spoils the whole bunch’
“We, as Nigerian women, are people of integrity, value, virtue, and valour. Most importantly, if we have contentment we have everything. If there’s no contentment we will keep stealing until we steal our on hearts out. We need to raise our children with the virtues of contentment.
“As women and mothers of a nation, we can be agents of change. We can do it.
“Let us also support the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu because; we love what he is doing. We hope the Senate confirms him because we know that he will earnestly fight corruption.
“Let us all support the WAC project. If we get it right, the nation gets it right.
“Let’s support the fight against corruption and be determined that we will take Nigeria out of this recession, and this recession is corruption.”
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