Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has predicted that the fight against corruption will continue to get more difficult daily and would get to a point that many people would become discouraged to stand up against corruption.
Osinbajo made this known on Tuesday in his address at the 20th anniversary regional webinar organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) titled, “Combating corruption and illicit financial flows: New measures and strategies.”
Osinbajo said the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari had been demonstrating the political will and support for anti-corruption measures, which, he said, had afforded all anti-corruption agencies in the country the latitude to do their work without interference.
“The fight against corruption is nuanced and hydra-headed, it is not going to get easier by the day; as a matter of fact, it will get more difficult by the day and many will become discouraged in standing up against corruption.
“But it is our duty both as individuals and institutions, especially in developing countries where corruption has such a devastating effect, to ensure that we prioritise the fight against corruption and continually devise new ways and new approaches even as the hydra-headed problem itself continues to manifest in different ways.
“Over the years, massive public resources and assets have been directly stolen, diverted, deliberately misapplied to gratify corrupt tendencies, stashed in foreign jurisdictions or mired in and susceptible to pilferage by the inequitable and unjust international economic system that continues to undermine the social and economic development aspirations of poor countries, especially from Africa.
“Without effectively combating corruption and IFFs and promoting international cooperation for asset recovery and asset return, Africa cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 16 of the SDGs is devoted to corruption,” he said.
Osinbajo said breaking the wall of secret corporate ownership was crucial, especially in developing countries, because secrecy around corporate ownership was implicated in the countries’ underdevelopment.
He disclosed that Nigeria was in the process of amending its corporate law to mandate the disclosure of beneficial interest in a company’s shares and prescribe punitive measures for failure of disclosure.
He added, “We must make corruption expensive for those who engage in it and send the unequivocal message that corruption simply does not pay.
“It is the unenviable but noble task of the ICPC and other anti-corruption agencies to make corruption unattractive to its disciples and facilitate new approaches to stemming IFFS and promoting asset recovery and return.
“We must protect, even more, whistle-blowers – persons who come forward with information against corruption.
“We must protect those who are ready to fight against corruption and who are prepared to do so without necessarily disclosing their identities and even those who are ready to disclose their identities.
“The thing that we must take note of is that corruption fights back. And it is fighting back and it has the resources to do so.”
