By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
ABUJA (SundiataPost) – Saddened by the prevailing level of corruption occasioned by poor and non-developmental infrastructure particularly in the Niger Delta region and the country at large, ActionAid has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to enact civil education for public office holder to help curb the gale of corruption in the country.
ActionAid Nigeria in a statement issued in Abuja expressed worry that the country has been enmeshed in a web of corruption particularly in the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC).
It lamented that citizens are still lacking basic infrastructure like electricity, good roads, schools, hospitals and water supply.
The organisation recommended to the government that there should be renewed investments in civic education and re-orientation for both public office holders and the citizenry to promote the social contract needed to reduce citizens and leadership’s propensity to engage in any form of sharp practices and corruption.”
“We are really worried with the allegations and counter-allegations of corruption and the indictment of institutions and individuals saddled with the responsibilities of addressing the excruciating poverty problems in the Niger Delta regions as well as other parts of the country.”
The Non- Governmental Organization, NGO, said, “Over the years, trillions of naira has been appropriated through budgets towards the development of the country, and decried that yet the state of roads, electricity and water supply, schools, and hospitals remains inadequate to meet even the basic needs for a large part of the population..”
It stated that “More than one-third of Nigeria’s population lack access to safe water, and over 130 million citizens are without access to adequate sanitation. Many resort to drinking water from boreholes packed in sachets, which in some cases may have been exposed to fecal contamination in various homes. This invariably increases the disease burden on poor households.”
It said that corruption is deeply rooted in the superstructure of the economy, adding that “appears corruption has taken deeper root now manifesting strongly in prebendalism, cronyism, contract splitting, and diversion of funds, mismanagement, and misappropriation of scarce resources.”
According to ActionAid, corruption in the country has fuelled youth restiveness, militancy, kidnapping, and economic sabotage and overall neglect of the Niger Delta region because of endemic corruption while more people in the region have slipped further down below the poverty line.
And further urged the government to address Corruption as an anti- development issue, adding that governments at all levels should pay significant attention to social provisioning as a way of serving as disincentives for citizens to engage in corrupt behaviours.
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