….FG Launches National Sensitization Campaign Against Corruption, Seeks Media Cooperation
By Gbenga Ogundare
The minister of information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has revealed that between 2006 and 2013, 55 people allegedly stole a total of 1.34 trillion Naira in Nigeria, an amount that is more than a quarter of the 2015 national budget.
“Out of the stolen funds, fifteen former Governors allegedly stole N146.84 billion; four former Ministers allegedly stole N7 billion; twelve former Public Servants, both at the federal and state levels, allegedly stole over N14 billion; eight people in the Banking Industry allegedly stole N524 billion ; while eleven businessmen allegedly stole N653 billion.
The minister disclosed this on Monday while kick-starting the National Sensitization Campaign Against Corruption at a press conference in Abuja.
The minister appealed to the media to join hands with it in sensitizing Nigerians to the damage that corruption has done to the nation, warning that unless Nigeria kills corruption, the vice is capable of killing Nigeria.
To ensure the success of the campaign, the Minister urged the media to replicate the support they are giving to the Federal Government in its ongoing National Security Awareness Campaign.
“Thanks to the support we have received from the media, especially in this (National Security) Sensitization Campaign, I can now tell you that Nigerians have taken ownership of the war against terrorism and are also giving their undiluted support to our gallant military. I commend the media for heeding our patriotic call to duty at a critical time in the life of our nation.
“Gentlemen, we are here today because of another patriotic call to duty. We want the media to once again lead the campaign to sensitize Nigerians to take possession of another war –the war against corruption,’ he said.
Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need to change the narrative on corruption, especially what he described as the wrong impression out there that the war against corruption is being fought only by the President or the Federal Government or the All Progressive Congress (APC), or the orchestrated misinformation that the war against corruption is a vendetta against the opposition, and that indeed it is one-sided.
The Minister said Nigerians must be made to know the damage that corruption ‘has done to our nation, our people and our international image, how corruption stifles economic growth, hinders the fight against poverty, leads to decay in infrastructure and reduces educational standards, lowers life expectancy, stunts the fight against maternal and infant mortality and impacts negatively on the general livelihood of the citizens. No one is better placed than you, the media, to lead this charge.”