Salisu Ogbo Usman, a professor of Political Science and rector, Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has recommended death penalty for Nigerians found guilty of corruption. Ogbo made the recommendation while delivering the 37th Inaugural Lecture Series of the Federal University, Lokoja, titled ‘Corruption Vs Corruption: Unpacking the Wuru-Wuru of the Anti-Corruption Crusade In Nigeria,’ at its Adankolo Campus.
He advocated that corrupt practices should be rated as a capital offence in Nigeria’s legal system, while lamenting the menace of corruption in the political circle, and the need to tackle it. “Growing spirit of materialism and craze for wealth in society fuels corruption. As society modernises, emphasis shifts from ascribed status to achieved status, often through corrupt means,” he said.
“Market women who adjust the bottom of measuring plates to cheat their customers refer to elected and appointed officials as thieves. To the roadside mechanic who makes a booming business from connivance civil servants are ‘pen robbers. In fact, Police personnel who obtain the ‘normal’ twenty naira at the checkpoint believe that their wives are cheats.
It goes on in circles. “Hospital where the nurses require a fee from every in-patient before the prescribed medicine is given, and even the ward servants must have their ‘dash’ before bringing the bed-pan; it is known to be rife in the Police Motor Traffic Unit that pay clerks make a deduction from the wages of daily paid staff; produce examiners exact a fee from every bag that is graded and sealed; domestic servants pay a proportion of their wages to their seniors.
“Corruption persists in Nigeria despite numerous agencies, because of the politicisation of anti-corruption agencies (targeting opponents), and abuse of plea bargains as escape routes for the wealthy. “We must reject ‘Wuru-Wuru’ and ‘Paddy -paddy’ arrangements. As Fela Kuti and African China sang, and as holy books admonish, true change requires sincerity, not just rhetoric. The beautiful ones’ must be born now.”
Olayemi Akinwumi, vice chancellor, Federal University, Lokoja, in his welcome address, disclosed that the inaugural lecture is a major tradition of the system that provides professors the opportunity to share the fruits of years of teaching, research and reflection. “This tradition allows the university to present its intellectual strength to the public. More importantly, they help bridge the gap between the classroom and the wider society by translating scholarship into insight that can inform policy, practice and personal conviction,” the vice chancellor said. “Through inaugural lectures, we celebrate academic excellence and reaffirm the role of the university as the conscience of society. “If there is any time we need a lecture of this nature, it is now. Our nation continues to wrestle with the challenge of corruption, and equally with the contradictions that often surround the fight against it.
“The theme before us speaks directly to our lived realities. It invites us to look beyond slogans and headlines, and to examine the structures, motives and practices that shape our anti-corruption efforts. “Through our teaching, our research, our administrative conduct, and our daily interactions, we must model integrity, transparency, and accountability. We must raise a generation that not only condemns corruption in words, but rejects it in practice. “More importantly, it reminds us that the fight against corruption is not the duty of the government alone. As a university and as academics, we must be ready and committed to contribute our quota to nip corruption in the bud”.
