What Kerry’s endorsement means for Nigeria’s anti-graft campaign

On his recent visit to Nigeria, US Secretary of State John Kerry saw the need to acknowledge Nigeria as a regional leader in the fight against corruption. He also acknowledged measures being applied by President Buhari to entrench morality, transparency, honesty and good governance in the country.

Following from these commendations, it is obvious that President Buhari’s efforts and determination to reposition the country is already resonating across the globe. As a matter of fact it is long overdue for African countries and Nigeria in particular to review their manner of governance.

Due to lack of integrity in public governance, the Nigerian people have been denied needed development projects. With the coming of President Buhari in 2015, it was clear to all and sundry that things were going to change.

So far, President Buhari has given a good account of himself. The revelations about the misuse of arms fund by the office of National Security Adviser under the previous administration is a pointer to the fact that Buhari’s coming to power was timely, as the country needed a leader with integrity to clean the Aegean stable.

It is indeed regrettable that while most Nigerians wallowed in abject poverty, our highways dilapidated and turned to death traps, and other public institutions dysfunctional, a few people were helping themselves to the till.

It is therefore consoling that once more we have in the saddle a leader whose integrity is acknowledged globally. The commendation of US Secretary of State of President Buhari’s antigraft war is a morale booster which will help cascade the message to all Nigerians.

It is unimaginable the pain corruption has inflicted on us as a people. Our backwardness and inability to develop like the Asian Tigers can be attributed to corruption among our past leaders.

It took Buhari’s emergence as president in 2015 to remove the veil from the faces of corrupt individuals who have been holding the country down.

It is very scandalous that the Boko Haram heinous attacks were allowed to fester in the North East, and some parts of the country on account of the fact that monies voted for the war were misapplied. This resulted to thousands of deaths and millions of internally displaced persons and devastation in the region.

In Nigeria, the fight against corruption has already yielded satisfactory results in terms of cash, movable and immovable assets. Already, the federal government has outlined peopleoriented programmes to channel the recovered looted funds. These programmes are meant to impact positively on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

The need to frontally fight corruption cannot be over emphasized as it has eaten deep into the nation’s fabric, and its twin effect of creating bad image for Nigeria further justifies the need to permanently eradicate it.

It is indeed gratifying that the United States government is throwing its weight behind President Buhari’s war against corruption. There is no doubt that Buhari’s single-minded determination to fight graft and its perpetrators has gained Nigeria tremendous goodwill across the globe, and Secretary Kerry’s commendation is a testament.