Corruption fight lacks sincerity of purpose – TUC

Ukpono Ukpong, Abuja

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said that lack of sincerity of purpose is the reason why Nigerian populace are yet to feel the impact of the fight against Corruption despite efforts put in by the Federal Government.

This was contained in the speech delivered by the TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, at the 11th Triennial National Conference of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria with the theme: “Labour and Nation Building: The Place of Labour in National Politics”, held in Abuja on Thursday.

He noted that the reason Nigeria has continued to cement its status as poverty capital of the world is because of the abysmal rising number of the poor which he blamed corruption and the government for it.

“The history of corruption in our country is absurd. The more you fight the more perpetrators device new means. They can divert anything but cannot “divert” the country out of poverty. Cronyism, ethnicity and religion most times deflate the effort to redeem the country. There is no sincerity of purpose in the struggles.

“Something is fundamentally wrong if about 61% percent which is 90. 8 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty. Why won’t there be crime? In this era of next level, we consider it expedient that government put its acts together to enable Nigerians move freely and also sleep with their two eyes closed.”

While lamenting that the economy is in dire strait, the TUC president lamented that those who are supposed to manage it are not showing promising signs on how to fix it.

“Nigeria’s debt profile is over N24.3 trillion. It was reported recently that government wants to borrow more. Borrowing in itself is not a bad thing, the issue is what do you borrow for?

Countries borrow for capital projects, and not to pay salaries. If we cannot bequeath wealth to our children why burden them with crazy debt? It is irresponsible of any parent to do such.

“Comrades, why can’t we know the number of barrels of crude we refine. Is it rocket science to publish how much we make from oil? Why should individuals mine our solid minerals in Zamfara, Plateau, etc?

With what the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, NIPOST, NNPC, NIMASA, NAPIMS and the monies recovered by EFCC and ICPC, Nigeria should not be borrowing.

“Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa but not the most peaceful or successful. Our tale is that of anarchy and absurdity. Hardly a day passes by without news of killings, spate of bombing, assassinations, kidnappings, and suicide bombing.

These seem to have overwhelmed our security operatives. Nowhere is safe now, including the home state of the President and the Minister of Defene, ” he said.

On his part, human right lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), called on the organised labour to partner with the Federal Government in the fight against corruption in the country.

‘‘The Federal Government must sit down with labour to ensure that the wealth of our country is not dissipated.

‘‘That is why I am going to call on Nigerian workers to collaborate with the Federal Government to fight corruption to a standstill, because you are the greatest victims of corruption,’’ he said.