A Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Babafemi Badejo, has said though former President Muhammadu Buhari failed woefully in the fight against corruption, his successor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be worse.
Badejo stated this while delivering the first inaugural lecture of Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, titled: “Interests.”
He submitted that Tinubu, judging from his actions in the last one month, would do by far than Buhari in other areas, but not in the fight against corruption.
“It is my own view that former President Muhammadu Buhari failed woefully on the issue of anti-corruption. He did start by wanting to implement the UN anti-corruption’s strategy and went further to appoint a committee and that committee did nothing till today.”
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“On President Tinubu, it is too early to give a conclusion, but I can say that from what he has done in one month, he will do by far better than Buhari, but not on corruption.
“He (Tinubu) has not been talking about corruption, but all he has been saying is that he is going to make sure that make judges are comfortable, make everybody comfortable, but no country around the world can be comfortable by staying very far away from fighting corruption. Maybe he will change his mind later on corruption. I wish him well.”
The inaugural lecturer lamented that, Nigerians had been making corruption to thrive by being “too docile and tolerant of corruption for too long.”
He said “Successive administrations, including that of President Buhari, have not faced corruption frontally with the full force of a political will that goes beyond mere lip service.
“Though possibly a hasty conclusion, I do not think the objective realities would allow President Tinubu to do any better, even if he ever wanted to fight corruption. The resultant outcome is unfruitful half-heartedly done prosecutorial gimmicks and noise, cherry-picking and selective haphazard trials.
“There is need to ensure that in dealing with corruption, no one is immune or beyond the reach of the laws, by virtue of whatever relationships or status. This is indeed very important as part of steps by the President and those in top leadership positions, to begin to demonstrate their commitment to the anti-corruption war, through their personal examples of zero tolerance for corruption.”
