Obasanjo Blames Yar’Adua For Dismantling Anti-Corruption Structures

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and chairman of the panel of advisors of the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG), has blamed the late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for shattering some of the structures he had set up to check corruption in Nigeria.

Obasanjo, according to THISDAY said this while delivering a speech on “Leadership in the African Context – How to Drive Transformational Change in African Countries,” at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford on Monday, organised by AIG to announce the 2017/18 scholarship recipients.

Responding to questions on corruption in Nigeria, Obasanjo said corruption was deeply rooted in the system and could not be fought in a day.

“The man (leader) on top must be above board and be seen to fight corruption. Those around him must also be upright and various institutions such as the police, judiciary, the executive and other bodies must make it an all-inclusive affair because it is an endless process,” Obasanjo said.

He said further that late Yar’Adua whom he said had dismantled some of the structures he had put in place to fight corruption, such as the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

He said that Yar’Adua allowed former Delta State governor, Mr. James Ibori, to push for the replacement of the former EFCC chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, whom Obasanjo said was poisoned but eventually survived it.

Obasanjo therefore, urged Nigerian youths to participate in politics, lamenting that politics in Nigeria has been dominated by looters.

“Politics in Nigeria has been dominated by people that have stolen money, that have godfathers or even drug barons, the type we have now at the National Assembly. So youths should pool resources to become politically active in order to replace the present crop of leaders and provide better alternatives,” he said.

Obasanjo told the audience that he was satisfied with what AIG was doing by collaborating with the Blavatnik School of Government to ensure that young minds are produced in West Africa to take up the mantle of leadership in the near future.

“There must be far reaching reforms to ensure we remove the old order and introduce the new order because Africa is viewed by the Western world as a liability. For the eight years I was in power, I tried to reach out to other world leaders using my shuttle diplomacy which attracted positive actions. I campaigned for debt relief which we got and Africa was no longer treated with disdain,” he said.

The inaugural recipients of the AIG scholarships for 2017/18 are Emokiniovo Akpughe (Nigeria), Efosa Trevor Edobor (Nigeria), Abdul-Fatawu Z. Hakeem (Ghana), Chukwunonso Iheoma (Nigeria), Oluwapelumi Simpson (Nigeria) and Emmanuel Taiwo (Nigeria).