Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says
Nigeria recorded a high rate of poverty despite increasing oil revenues as a
result of corruption.
Osinbajo said this on Thursday
while speaking at the unveiling of FLAG’IT mobile application, an
anti-corruption tool launched by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation in Abuja.
Represented by Fatima Waziri-Azi,
special adviser on rule of law in the office of the vice-president, Osinbajo
also said corruption led to the doubling of the country’s debt when the oil
revenue was highest.
Nigeria has lost huge public
funds to corruption. At least N11 trillion is said to have been diverted in the
power sector alone since 1999.
“There is a consensus that
corruption and illicit financial flows out of Africa relentlessly delay the
attainment of development goals, worsens practically all human development
indices and traps the majority of the people, especially the most vulnerable in
a circle of misery and poverty,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how much
revenue a country generates or how transformative its plans are, corruption
will ensure that the majority of the people do not benefit from whatever gains
are made, which is why despite the highest oil revenues in our history, debts
doubled and poverty figures rose, which is why a major pillar of this
administration’s social and economic agenda is the fight against corruption.”
The vice-president commended the
foundation for the mobile application and said it aligns with the government’s
core mandate of fighting corruption to ensure the good of the citizens.
He said the current
administration recognises the important role technology and innovation plays in
any society, “and that is why it is committed to supporting technology entrepreneurship
ecosystem.”
“Technology has put great powers
into our hands as individuals but more importantly, as co-creators and
collaborators to positively and dramatically change the way we live our lives,”
he added.
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