We have created a cult that celebrate corruption - Dogara
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that until strong institutions are built and strengthened, Nigeria might not fight corruption effectively.
Dogara said this on Monday in Abuja at the launch of a book titled “Antidotes for Corruption: The Nigerian Story’’ written by Dino Melaye.
According to him, for the war against corruption to succeed, there must be institutional reforms that would help put in place measures to make it near impossible for people to engage in corrupt acts.
“Corruption as a disease must be treated from its roots and not just the symptoms,’’ he said.
Dogara explained that it was the moral responsibility of all men and women of goodwill to fight corruption because every individual paid the price of corruption in the society.
“As a country, we ran into a situation where corruption was becoming the norm, there was this moral cult that we had created that celebrated corruption,’’ he said.
He added that the motivation was always there for corruption, but that now, what was important was not just fighting the old corrupt system.
“Really, if we must make progress, our focus should be to replace the old order that was corrupt with a new order that makes corruption near impossible to take place.
“So, those who celebrate the successes of the fight against corruption in terms of the high profile investigation, high profile prosecution and even detention, are missing the point because that is dealing with the symptoms of corruption,’’ he said.
On the book, Dogara said that he would not be surprised by the avalanche of criticism that may follow because Melaye was a combination of many things.
“Dino is highly opinionated, obviously, he will be a magnet for opinionated and truculent criticism as well, and he will not escape that,’’ he said.
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