How to solve Nigeria’s problems, by Ribadu

In from Ali Smart …
The former anti-graft czar, Nuhu Ribadu has said the anti-corruption war initiated by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo slackened at the exit of the administration.
Ribadu who fell short of blaming successive regimes for bungling the war against corruption, recalled that “Nigeria was able to recover N200 billion from money launderers within six months of the reform and returned $75 million to victims of “419’’ all over the world.
According to the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), efforts at combating financial crimes during Obasanjo’s administration, “almost changed the country but things changed after 2007. All that is wrong with Nigeria is dirty money, follow the dirty money, get the criminals and prosecute them.”
Ribadu said anytime he drives around Abuja he wishes that all the dirty money in Abuja could be identified, stressing that the best way to solve this problem is to follow the money.
The former cop spoke in Abuja on Wednesday as a guest at a public forum organised by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS).
“I hope that this government will take these (ACAM) people seriously as their presence will ensure that that does not happen.”
He hammered on the importance of collaboration between relevant stakeholders to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.

Read also: Ribadu, Mohammed, Gulak jostle for PDP chairmanship

The former EFCC boss also disclosed that “at times clean money is used to launder dirty money. Money laundering and terrorism contribute significantly to the problem of this country. When I look around I see a lot of investments that was done with dirty money. Government needs help to identify and catch these people. Though it may seem like a daunting task, but with professionals like ACAMS Nigeria is already poised to achieving this,” he said.
He said having strong anti-graft institutions was non-negotiable in the fight against money laundering and urged the federal government to strengthen the EFCC and other relevant agencies.
According to him, “in 2003 Nigeria was on the black list of most developed countries especially U.S for money laundering. This meant that our financial institutions found it difficult doing business in foreign lands. We could not use mastercard, visacard or credit card. Our financial institutions could not access international loan. At one time, it was almost impossible for a Nigerian to open an account in the U.S or UK.”

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