Create matrix to identify impact of corruption - Okauru
Aformer chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, has urged the federal government to create a matrix to measure and track the impact of corruption on the economy and the society at large.
Speaking as a panelist at the 19th Daily Trust Dialogue yesterday in Abuja, Okauru said this would help to identify the progress made in the fight against corruption and avail the government with a data on whom to hold responsible if targets are not made.
Okauru stated that the definition of corruption should not be limited to financial crime, saying cases of rape and abuses were other forms of corruption preventing the country from achieving adequate development.
“When we discuss corruption, there is always a tendency to talk about it from the financial corruption point. I think it is definitely an issue, but if we focus on corruption as a major challenge, we can’t measure it or track it.
“We need to begin to identify matrices that can track and determine how well we are making progress. If the government wants to know the progress on corruption, it always relies on the index of Transparency International, which should not be so.
“Meanwhile, if you want to talk about corruption, it has permeated every single nook and cranny of our society. The matrix can help to track the number of convictions or growth revenue, and if this is not made, they will know whom to hold responsible,” she said.
She said the matrix could also be used to announce and communicate policies through which progress could be calculated.
While stressing the need to invest in rural areas across the country, she said some villages had not experienced any development for the past 40 years despite holding the chunk of natural resources in the country.
“People are saying we should copy China in our development strategy but the situation is different because in China, 80 per cent of its population are homogenous in ethnicity unlike Nigeria that is diverse. So, we need to tweak that style to suit every community in the country to the point that we, people at the village level, will not want to leave there, but to attract investments.”
On the stagnation and underperformance of the Nigerian economy, she said emphasis should be placed on educating the populace on real education that does not depend on certificates but capability of individuals to innovate new ideas.
“There is this certain aspect of our culture that people don’t like to fail or make mistakes and without these concepts we can’t build competence.”
While speaking on the importance of women to the economy, she said: “We undervalue the role women play, they are fantastic multi-taskers, they are extremely more focused and less distracted. There are certain strengths that the country is losing not just because they are women, but they bring the strength to bear.”