Youths Key to Corruption-free Nigeria – Minister
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has rallied Nigerian youths to be in the vanguard of the fight against corruption, saying unbridled corruption was robbing them of their future.
Speaking at the launch of the Creative Youth Initiative Against Corruption, CYIAC, in Lagos weekend, the Minister said there was no better way of tackling the menace of corruption than to involve the youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow.
He said the fight against corruption would be more effective if the youths were involved, especially because they constitute the largest chunk of the country’s population.
According to him, youths represent a critical mass that can be effectively leveraged to fight corruption.
“If we can enlist the support of the Nigerian youth in the fight against corruption, our dream of a corruption-free Nigeria can become a reality,” Mohammed said.
He said no group of Nigerians suffered more from the consequences of corruption than the youth.
“The resources that would have been invested to develop our youths have been stolen over the years. Thousands of youths who graduate from the University and other institutions of higher learning are roaming the streets due to lack of jobs that would have been created, had the resources not been stolen.”
“The infrastructure needed by youths to give vent to their creativity, either in the creative industry or in other areas of human endeavour, are not there, because funds allocated to build such infrastructure have been stolen by fat cats,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said Buhari’s administration was vigorously fighting corruption and winning, giving as instances the N25 billion being saved monthly by cutting unnecessary allowances of officials, the stoppage in the payment of phantom subsidy of about N1.3 trillion Naira annually. The recovery of at least $43 million and 56 houses from just one former government official, the recovery of $2.9 billion from looters so far.
He also made reference to the recovery of $151 million and N8 billion in looted funds from just three sources through the whistle-blower policy and the elimination of thousands of ghost workers, which led to saving of N120 billion.
Mohammed lauded the Creative Youth Initiative Against Corruption and pledged to support its corruption-busting campaign through adequate publicity.
The event was attended by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who gave the keynote address, and Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, among other dignitaries.
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