By Anthony Akinwale
Let’s stop talking about
corruption. Let’s do something about it, something intelligent, something
within the bounds of the law and fairness, something devoid of selective
sanctions, propaganda and media trial. The recurrence of corruption as a theme
in coup day speeches and in maiden speeches of successive military strongmen
who, by force and not by a constitutionally granted mandate, took over reins of
government in Nigeria
On January 15, 1966, that bloody day of the first military coup in
Nigeria, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu declared in his coup day speech: “The aim of
the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong united and prosperous
nation, free from corruption and internal strife….Our enemies are the political
profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek
bribes and demand 10 per cent; those that seek to keep the country
divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or
VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look
big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our
society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds.”
