The Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), under the leadership of a foremost
constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, has said that corruption is
not Nigeria’s primary problem, and called on the Federal Government to
address other critical problems.
The Igbo leaders say government’s current pre-occupation with the
anti-corruption campaign has relegated other serious national challenges
to the background.
Nwabueze, who spoke with reporters after their meeting in Enugu
yesterday, faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence speech on
his administration’s resolve to tackle corruption as Nigeria’s number
one enemy, stating that the national question has an intimate connection
with corruption as a fundamental cause of it.
The elder statesman stressed that recent events in the country had
proved beyond doubt that it is not corruption, but the national question
that threatens the continued existence of Nigeria.
He said: “Everybody is thinking that all that we need is to fight
corruption; it is important, but it is not our primary problem. “There
are other issues that are even more important than corruption.”
Besides, the Igbo leaders attributed rising agitations in the country
for Biafra, Niger Delta and Oduduwa republics to the failure of past
and present administrations to resolve the national question, stressing
that restructuring and setting up peace and reconciliation commission
were the way to go.
They also asked Buhari to halt the alleged corruption at the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by thoroughly investigating the
feud between the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the corporation and
the Minister of State for Petroleum).
The leaders stated that the near silence over developments at the
NNPC could give wrong signals that the war against corruption was
targeted at few persons in the country.
Also, in the communiqué issued after the meeting and read by its
Secretary-General, Prof. Elochukwu Amucheazi, the group observed a total
lack of action directed at the problem of national question, saying:
“There is a total failure to recognise the existence of the problem that
denies justice and equal treatment to some ethnic nationalities and
exclusion from Federal Government.
“There are other issues that are even more important than corruption.
“We have the question of illiteracy, poverty and security.”
0 Comments
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of whatsupblog9ja or any of its employees.