Buhari: to Reset Nigeria for Greatness, Corruption Must Completely End

By Chineme Okafor and Nnenna Akuma in Abuja

For Nigeria to achieve some greatness in all facets of her national life, all her citizens and institutions must be willing to abhor corrupt practices and embrace good ethics, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

Buhari said Nigeria’s target to advance her economy and guarantee its people sustainable prosperity was wholly dependent on her ability to completely eradicate all forms of corrupt practices across board from her body polity.

 He added that this was a panacea to the many challenges bedevilling the country.

Based on this, Buhari, stated that he would stop at nothing to ensure that his government takes out for good corrupt practices within the country’s institutions and systems.

He said these yesterday at the 2017 edition of the annual national management conference of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) in Abuja, where he was a special guest of honour.

Though represented by the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, Buhari stated that his administration has adopted and continued to push for corporate governance practices amongst its agencies and personnel as a means of enthroning transparency and efficiency in government’s businesses.

He claimed that such corporate governance practices have helped his administration fight corrupt practices, as well as deliver on his pledge for good governance to the Nigerian people.

“To set this country on the path of greatness and prosperity, complete elimination of all forms of corrupt practices must be in the front burner and our collective consciousness always.

“You will agree with me that great nation is the reward of great leadership built on good governance with strict adherence to the ideals and principles of corporate governance,” said Buhari.

He further stated: “This is our motivation and value proposition. My administration will, therefore, continue to fight corruption and associated social vices at all levels until they are exterminated from our body polity.”

The president noted: “Since the inception of this administration, the federal government has been doing all within its powers to entrench good governance founded on corporate governance and due process in all its dealings.

“I daresay that the institution of corporate governance has aided my administration in delivering the dividends of democracy to the nation’s teeming populace especially in the areas of providing security, fighting corruption, employment generation and diversification of the economy. The numerous conscious and concerted efforts we started with in the critical sectors of the economy to get it up and running cannot be overemphasised.”

He equally called on Nigerians to adopt NIM’s code of conduct, adding that it mandates its members to be selfless and without corruption as the most efficient and economical ways of getting things done.

“I, therefore, call on the Institute to ensure that the code of conduct becomes a culture for all Nigerians through their interaction and collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other relevant agencies that will support this cause. If all Nigerians align themselves with the Institute’s code conduct, Nigeria shall become an enviable nation,” the president added.

Also speaking in his address, the president and chairman of council of NIM, Prof. Munzali Jibril, stated that the 2017 conference chose to adopt the theme – corporate governance and institutional performance, because it realised that most recent sleazy and unethical practices in the country were due to scant regard for corporate governance.

Jibril explained that: “The reason for poor performance in some businesses and public sector institutions in non-compliance with the tenets and ideals of corporate governance. There is a new compelling need to draw the attention of the nation, businesses, and those who manage men and materials at different levels to the issue of corporate governance.”