The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) on Thursday called on the Nigerian masses to be involved in the anti-corruption crusade to provide proper check on the elites who have been impoverishing the poor through the looting of the treasury.
Mr. Debo Adeniran, the CACOL’s Executive Chairman, who spoke at the organisation’s inauguration of anti-corruption units in some Local Governments (LGs) and Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) in Lagos, stated that the elites and politicians in government had been wreaking havoc on the people by siphoning funds meant for projects that would have impacted positively on the common man.
This, he said, explained the situation where abandoned projects, bad roads, poorly equipped hospitals and educational institutions litter everywhere in Lagos and across the country, even as the people continued to suffer the effects of the evils being committed against them by the ruling elites.
Adeniran stated that the members of the anti-corruption units, called C-GATE Units, should help to enthrone good governance, accountability, transparency in public service in their areas of jurisdiction, be it local and state governments, through the education and enlightenment of the people on the evils of corruption and the need to help in stamping it out in the society.
He said: “The fight against corruption should be lifted from the elites. The elites are the ones involved in corruption. They will therefore not like to bring themselves to book. That is why we have to shift the war against corruption to the masses.
“We must ensure that the masses understand what constitutes corruption and how to fight it. Lagos and several other states are not well developed because of corruption. Some of the roads that are bad, their contracts sums had been paid. But, the money earmarked for the projects and other social services had not been well utilised.
“That is why education and health services in Lagos and several other states are in poor state. If the masses are educated on what constitute corruption and how to guard against it and report such cases, corruption will be easy to tackle.”
Adeniran lamented that the people in government who claim to be fighting corruption, had been protecting their selfish interests, while they continue to loot the nation dry, rendering the country prostrate.
He urged the inaugurated anti-corruption units of CACOL to perform their duties diligently in their areas of jurisdiction by beaming searchlight on their representatives at the wards, council, state and national levels and report to the headquarters of the body for further follow-up actions to ensure that no corrupt official was left unpunished.
Adeniran maintained that local governments in the country believe that they could hide under the Joint Account policy to evade their responsibilities, stressing that the anti-corruption units, as grassroots groups close to the people, should be able to know what had been happening in local governments as well as projects being embarked upon in their areas, including their funding and proper execution.
The anti-corruption units, which were inaugurated, included those of Bariga, Ikeja, Odi-Olowo, Mushin, Ikorodu, Agbado/Oke-Ode, Ifako/Ijaiye, Olorunda and Igbogbo, even as Adeniran presented them with certificates and banners, which he said, empowered such units to hold meetings and carry out their anti-corruption functions in their areas of operation.
