REVEALED: How corruption can be tamed in Nigeria — Reps Speaker, Abbas

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has said the panacea for corruption in the country were adherence to the rule of law to ensure accountability, transparency and equal treatment of all and sundry; as well as review of workers’ salaries to reflect the prevailing economic realities.

The Speaker spoke at a reception organised in his honour by the Nigerian High Commission in London on Sunday night.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Kirishi, Abbas  regretted the preferential treatment given to the high and mighty in the society against the poor, saying the war against corruption will not be won if the financing dealings in the country remained opaque.

He said: “In Nigeria, some people do whatever they like. You can commit any crime and go scot-free depending on the size of your pocket or the people you know. That has to go.

“Unless we are able to strengthen our rule of law to make it in such a way that it affects both the big and the small, and it doesn’t look at the face of whoever is committing an offence, we will never go anywhere.

“One of such ways was to look at the living wage of workers with a view to enhancing it to make them to be “honest and transparent” in their dealings.

“We need to also intensify the war against corruption. No society in this world can ever thrive and be what it wants to be if corruption is the order of the day. But I agree that for you to fight corruption, there are some things you need to do.

“Let’s take the example of the UK experiment or the Western world. Fundamentally, what they did was to sit down and say let’s look at what an average worker would need to be paid as salary. Come up with a living wage that will take care of the basics of a person such that he won’t be looking outside his lawful income.

“Today, if you’re a labourer in London, you will be paid enough for you to go and pay your rent, take care of your basics and still be able to have a fairly good living. With that kind of incentive, you don’t need to go and borrow, you don’t need to go and beg, you don’t need to go and steal.

“The current Nigerian situation is such that an average worker earns less than what somebody can use to buy fuel to fill his car tank, you still want that man to be honest and transparent?

“For us to wage a war on corruption, we need to create an enabling environment where each and every one of us will be able to operate transparently without having to steal, without having to intimidate, without having to go and beg or to borrow. That is the beginning of the reform.

“If we can get the rule of law working, we will be able to work on the reforms necessary for fighting corruption. In fighting corruption, we also need to create an enabling environment where an average worker should be able to earn enough to live with his family.”

Abbas also advocated for cultural revolution where a man maintained a family he could afford.

“If your income can allow you to marry only one wife, you have to be restrained from taking more than one wife. If your income can allow you to take care of only four children, for example, you should restrain yourself.

“Nobody says you cannot marry as many as you want, provided you are willing to work and be able to take care of your family. What’s happening in Nigeria is that everyone wants to enjoy, but no one wants to make sacrifice in making sure that they support that enjoyment.

“So, my take is that we should fix the economy. Once you fix the economy, people will get employment. People will get good salary, and there will be enough money to fix infrastructure. We will be able to improve education, health and all other sectors. The key is the economy, and in fixing the economy, there are other variables that should be taken care of”, the speaker said.

Earlier, the Nigerian High Commissioner to UK, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, said the reception was organized to honour Abbas “who has just emerged in a very popular election that is unprecedented.

He added “We are proud of his achievements in the past, and we wish him an impactful tenure.”.