42.4% of citizens believe all Nigerians are corrupt –Report

About 42.4 per cent of citizens believe that all Nigerians are corrupt while 51 per cent believe all public officials are corrupt.

This is according to a quantitative survey conducted by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation as part of its three-year project end-line report published in Abuja on Tuesday.

The survey, which sampled the opinion of 35, 427 Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones within a 60-day period, however, shows that about 87.62 of respondents believe that the fight against corruption could be won while 12.38 per cent believe corruption could not be won.

According to AFF, the belief by Nigerians that government officials are the most corrupt category of social actors, underscores the need for the bottom-up approach adopted in the campaign.

Speaking at the launch of the three-year project end-line report 2020, the Executive Director, AFF, Akin Fadeyi,  praised the MacAuthur Foundation for throwing its weight behind the task of curbing corruption in Nigeria.

Fadeyi, who was represented by the Editor-in-Chief, Leadership Group, Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene, lamented the adverse effects of corruption on national development.

He added, “Where it (corruption) is systemic in particular, delivery of public goods is near impossible and the dividends of democratic governance elusive. Without mincing words, this is the bane of development in our dear country, Nigeria.

“To effectively address this menace, therefore, a vivid and holistic understanding of its depth and the attendant challenges became inevitable.”

Fadeyi stated that the need to systematically tackle corruption was what informed the creation of the FlagIT App which helps citizens to report institutional corruption and also to document positive behavioural conducts from public officials in real time.

On the importance of the FlagIT App, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said since the FRSC began collaborating with the foundation, it had been able to tackle corruption cases within the agency more swiftly.

Oyeyemi added, “Since the app was launched on October 10, 20119, the FlagIT has continued to serve as a tool deployed to strengthen the capacity of the corps to be integrity-driven, improve on public service delivery and be very responsive to public feedback.

“Cases handled through the FlagIT App since inception in 2019 include: bribery (with evidence) 15; bribery (without evidence) 23; false accusation, five; driving without a licence, 4; disobeying traffic light, three; commendation for professional conduct of staff, three; others, 10; bringing it to a total of 63 treated cases.”

In his remarks, senior advocate, Mr. Yusuf Ali, commended the foundation for fighting corruption through advocacy and technology.

Ali called on youths to play their part by creating technology that could help tackle corruption.
He said Nigeria had failed to develop because of systemic corruption which had continued to worsen. PUNCH

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