It is very popular among Nigerians, especially at the grassroots, to term the war against corruption, Buhari’s Anti-corruption fight, even though it is evident and common knowledge that the masses who are the greatest bearers of the brunt of corruption, are supposed to champion the movement against corruption, to demand a stop to public funds embezzlement, financial misappropriation, abandoning of projects, improved public service delivery and to demand accountability from public servants given the mandate to manage public funds.
Speaking on the Say No Campaign’s DoroCorruption radio program on Wazobia FM, Abuja, the convener of Say No Campaign, Ezenwa Nwagwu, challenged the dominant perspective of the citizens on the anti-corruption fight. He urged citizens to embrace honesty and strong moral principles as the only of winning the fight against corruption.
According to him, citizens are quick to label the government as the biggest corruption actors in Nigeria, while ignoring the little but significant ways they contribute to its spread. The traders who shortchange their customers by giving insufficient money as change, those that sell expired items, those that bribe police officers to avoid showing their expired vehicle papers, the traders that inflates prices of their goods just to make quick gains, vote sellers and buyers, unlawful employment, all these people and more contribute to the rate corruption in Nigeria.
He maintained that citizens must fight corruption they see in their daily lives, and disregard making excuses for their involvement, which is obviously borne out of self-interest, as this act threatens their ownership of the anti-corruption fight.
While stating that it should be a mass movement, Ezenwa Nwagwu urged citizen, especially at the grass roots, to possess the staying power to resist corruption, because consistency and integrity will yield positive results, which is all we need to achieve a better Nigeria.
