Nigeria@61: Corruption is holding the country to ransom -Niger Delta Activist, Alaowei Cleric

By Timi Black

Niger Delta rights activist and lawyer, Alaowei E. Cleric Esq, has said that Nigeria is not making progress at 61 anniversary, adding that corruption is holding the country to ransom.

This was stated in a press statement signed by himself and made available to Congress correspondent.

The lawyer who doubled as the Chairman Board of Trustees,
Centre for Human Rights and Anti-corruption Crusade (CHURAC), said Nigeria was still far behind 61 years of age as an independent country, stressing that there was nothing to celebrate the gains of sovereignty and the 21 years of uninterrupted democratic sojourn.

The statement read partly: “Well, as a people, we can thank God for our unity in diversity despite our bleak past. For that, we need to celebrate our 61st independent anniversary”, he added.

“I don’t know if there is any hope for the future as the ruling class from time immemorial have destroyed the fabrics of our very existence. Corruption has become our way of life. Every sector of our national life is imbedded in corrupt practices. In the same vein, corruption has crept into our thinking faculties to the extent that Nigerians now see it as our way of life,” Alaowei lamented.

“You can see that this present government came with a mantra of fighting corruption but ended up having most corrupt personnel in the government. We can only do one thing to assuage the situation and that is to make corruption a capital offence in the Country. I believe that this will curb the incessant corrupt practices associated with the public offices.

“As for this present government, its major problems are nepotism and ethno-religious sentiments as well as insecurity. The Government has shown an acute lack of political will to address our teething problems. We are doomed as a nation with the way the government is being run. Buhari should consider Nigeria as a single constituency as the President of the Country.

“If the President really wants the Country to remain united, then he should immediately address the vexed issues of lopsided appointments in his government, farmers and herders crisis together with the porous security situations across the nation. Nigerians are sharply divided along ethno-religious-cum regional lines due to Buhari’s style of governance,” he said.