In an interview with
SaharaReporters, Professor Lumumba, former director of the Kenya
Anti-Corruption Commission, said the Nigerian president’s lack of support is
one of the reasons why his anti-corruption campaign has not been successful in
producing its intended results.
A renowned Kenyan legal scholar, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba,
believes that President Muhammadu Buhari is alone in the fight against
corruption in Nigeria, as many high-profile public office holders and officials
are corrupt.
In an interview with SaharaReporters, Professor Lumumba, former director
of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, said the Nigerian president’s lack of
support is one of the reasons why his anti-corruption campaign has not been
successful in producing its intended results.
He emphasized that Mr. Buhari is surrounded by corrupt individuals who
have normalized corruption in Nigerian society and have prevented his fight
against corruption from taking off.
“I wish President Buhari institutionalizes and ensures that his agenda
is bought by others. No matter how good your idea is, it must be sold to others
and they must buy into it. That is how you institutionalize the idea. You
cannot be a lone warrior in this matter because the children of darkness hunt like
a pack of wolves and they will devour you if you are alone,” Professor Lumumba
said.
“What President Buhari must do is to recruit the population. If the
population has been wedded to the idea that corruption is a bad thing, then
that is the beginning of the success of that battle,” he added.
Condemning the institutionalization of corruption in Nigeria, Professor
Lumumba suggested that the Buhari administration introduce stricter punishments
for those found guilty of corruption.
“When I see the former Minister of Petroleum [Diezani Alison-Madueke]
being investigated for corruption, without being a sadist, I become very happy
because her wealth is unexplained. She can’t make that money even if she lives
a thousand years. What lacks in Africa is punishment, impunity is alive and
well in Africa and we, the electorate, are in the business of celebrating
thieves.
“Many of these individuals who are in the position of power don’t want
to leave because they are thieves and they are scared that if they leave
office, they will be prosecuted, and my view is that they should be
prosecuted,” he said.
Commenting on the cost of corruption in the country, Professor Lumumba
noted that people are dying on roads due to potholes because some government
officials stole money that ought to have been used to build and maintain good
roads. He said this amounts to a crime against humanity and must be punished
accordingly.
Professor Lumumba further lamented the political apathy among African youths and urged them to take part in the fight against their corrupt leaders.“Our young people in Africa today are imprisoned by Arsenal and Barcelona and our young girls are imprisoned by Beyoncé and South American soap operas. How can our continent be so accursed that our younger people have no sense of our history, present, and future?“Our young people must wake up and it is the day that they wake up they
will be able to send a clear message to that imposition of leadership that you
cannot continue to misgovern us. I look forward to those days,” he said.
The professor insisted that it is a revolution of the mind which is
genuinely led by the young ones that will uplift Africa to par with the rest of
the world, adding that Africa has what it takes to achieve this feat.
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