Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the fight against
corruption will become more difficult to the extent that many people will be
discouraged to stand against it.
Osinbajo spoke during the 20th-anniversary regional webinar
organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission (ICPC).
The webinar was entitled, ‘Combating corruption and illicit
financial flows: New measures and strategies’.
The vice-president, who described corruption as
“hydra-headed”, however, said Nigerians cannot give up on the fight against the
scourge because it is their collective responsibility to devise new ways of
fighting it.
“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,” Osinbajo said.
“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.”
The vice-president said the government of President
Muhammadu Buhari has been “demonstrating the political will and support for
anti-corruption measures”, which, according to him, has afforded all
anti-corruption agencies in the country the freedom to do their work without
interference.
Osinbajo said corruption must be made expensive to those who
engage in it with necessary punitive actions.
He added that people who are ready to fight corruption,
including whistleblowers, must be protected, as “corruption fights back”.
“We must make corruption expensive for those who engage in
it and send the unequivocal message that corruption simply does not pay,” he
said.
“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.”
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