Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and immediate past Emir
of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, has said corruption will continue to fester in
the country if incompetent persons occupy leadership positions and if
there is nepotism in the system.
He stated that these would also
continue to hinder the country’s development, noting that if citizens
did not consider merit and competence in choosing their leaders, the
country would make no progress.
Speaking on Friday at a webinar
themed, ‘The sustainability of society’, organised by the Emmanuel
Chapel, Sanusi explained that inasmuch as the Federal Character
principle enshrined in the Constitution has to be followed, the best
brains from the different parts of the country should be appointed or
elected into public office.
He said, “Morally and religiously
speaking, corruption is a problem. But let us look at it from the angle
of economics and we (would) begin to understand that it is not just the
corruption itself but the type of corruption.
“Part of the
problem we have is incompetence and that is why I keep saying we must
pay attention to merit. We have a system called Federal Character and I
believe we should have Nigerians from all over the country in public
office, but all those Nigerians must be people that are competent. There
must be a merit test; a competence test.
“For me, I think
the root of corruption is when we begin to de-emphasise merit,
competence and performance and so long as we don’t bring the best in
this country to do the job and hold them to account, we won’t go
anywhere.
“The worst form of corruption we have in this country
is nepotism; when people get into positions by virtue of personal
loyalty, friendship and who they know, rather than what they can
actually deliver by virtue of their competence for that office. We need
people who can deliver for this country, I mean the majority.”
Meanwhile,
when asked by one of the moderators the three fundamental catalytic
reforms he felt could catapult Nigeria to a better place within the next
seven to 10 years, Sanusi identified political reforms, especially the
amendment of the Constitution to reduce the cost of governance and
promote efficiency.
He added, “The second thing, which is
extremely important, is that we must respect merit and the third thing
is we need patience and we, especially those of us not in government,
should put in our contributions that would help the leaders manage those
challenges.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United
Nations, Mrs Amina Mohammed, was also a panellist at the webinar, which
was moderated by Prof Konyinsola Ajayi (SAN) and the Managing Director
& Chief Investment Officer, ARM Harith Infrastructure Fund Managers,
Ms Tariye Gbadegesin.
2 Comments
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