‘Anti-graft war a marathon, not a sprint,’ Lai Mohammed tells Nigerians

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Thursday President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was doing well in its fight against corruption despite criticisms by Nigerians.

The Transparency International recently ranked Nigeria very low in its corruption perception index.

Mohammed, who stated this at a media briefing in Abuja, noted that the administration had implemented policies to fight corruption and ensure accountability.

He likened the fight against corruption to a marathon, saying graft was one difficult problem the government has been grappling with.

The minister said: “As you are aware, one of the three major policy planks of this administration is the fight against corruption, with the others, of course, being to tackle insecurity and also to revamp the economy. We will be having a series of thematic press conferences on these issues in the days ahead, with this one — on the fight against corruption — being the first one.

READ ALSO: Lai Mohammed counsels tertiary institutions on ways to address infrastructural decay

“It is common knowledge that one of the most difficult tasks for any government is to fight corruption because when you fight corruption, corruption will fight you back. This explains why naysayers have continued to belittle or dismiss the administration’s anti-corruption efforts.

“Let me say here that fighting corruption is a marathon, and never a sprint. Also, investigations, arrests, prosecutions and asset forfeiture — which are the immediate, visible indices by which many measure success in tackling corruption, constitute as important as they are, just a part of the strategies to combat corruption. There is also a more fundamental strategy, which I will describe as structural and governance reforms or if you like, institutional reforms.

“The Buhari administration has taken bold measures to streamline cumbersome bureaucratic processes in the implementation of government policies, check corrupt practices and ensure accountability in the implementation as well as delivery of these policies.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now