Former President Aide and journalist Laolu Akande is pressing forth his view that Nigeria would overcome its current challenges and is asking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take the fight against corruption more seriously.
Speaking on his segment My Take, titled Nigeria Will Prevail, Part 4, with the subheading we need to reinvent ourselves broadcast on Channels TV’s Inside Sources on Sunday, Akande stressed the importance of prioritizing the fight against corruption as a cornerstone of Tinubu’s presidency.
“Mr. President, you are now in charge of the country,” Akande stated. “You certainly can draw a line in the sand regarding corruption and say, ‘No more.’ You have the responsibility to trash grand corruption in Nigeria. You should consider it alongside some of your commendable reforms. Remember that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
Akande emphasized that corruption remains a cancerous affliction, undermining Nigeria’s development and prosperity. He urged the President to align his anti-corruption agenda with ongoing national reforms to ensure a comprehensive and lasting impact.
Akande reflected on Nigeria’s historical ability to build national consensus, particularly in the transitions from military rule to democracy and the rotational presidency between North and South. According to him, it is time for a similar consensus to be forged in the fight against corruption.
“The evil of corruption is a terrible cancer, and we must directly attack it,” Akande said. “Please, don’t ever believe that Nigeria is doomed. Nigeria is not doomed. We only need to reinvent ourselves as a people.”
He argued that this reinvention must begin with the non-political elite and influential figures across society. Akande cited the potential impact of cultural, religious, and political icons stepping up to lead a national movement against corruption.
“Imagine, for instance, if Professor Wole Soyinka were to lead one more time to call for a reform of our political process. Do you know how powerful that could be? Or imagine if the Sultan of Sokoto becomes very actively supportive of the idea of a national consensus in Nigeria? Just imagine if some of our religious icons, from all faiths, were to lead a charge to fight corrosive corruption in Nigeria. Do you imagine how powerful that could be?”
Akande also called for the involvement of Nigeria’s former presidents and heads of state, urging them to put aside political, ethnic, and religious differences to collaborate with the incumbent president on a unified agenda.
“Imagine when and if our former presidents and heads of state—General Gowon, General Obasanjo, General Babangida, General Abdulsalami, General Buhari, and former President Goodluck Jonathan—were to come together and confer with the incumbent president. If they can reach a national consensus that overrides our political differences, ethnic divides, and religious affinities, do you know how powerful that will be?”
Such a consensus, Akande argued, could serve as a mandate for critical reforms in governance, the rule of law, and economic development.
“Let us reinvent ourselves as a nation. Let us build a consensus that transcends all the things that separate us. A consensus to uphold the rule of law, fight against corruption, and wage war against poverty.”
