UNITED KINGDOM: Foremr Nigerian anti-graft head says corruption on the increase in some large African nations
Record ID:
574898
UNITED KINGDOM: Foremr Nigerian anti-graft head says corruption on the increase in some large African nations
- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Foremr Nigerian anti-graft head says corruption on the increase in some large African nations
- Date: 1st June 2009
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 29, 2009) (REUTERS) FORMER NIGERIAN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION HEAD NUHU RIBADU SEATED FOR INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER NIGERIAN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION HEAD NUHU RIBADU SAYING: It's sad because we were going in the right direction. It almost was getting us out of the woods. And we are almost going back to the worst days - back to square one - or even worse. Today the opposite is happening. No country can move forward - developing countries - unless you are able to address the problem of mismanagement and corruption. We did a little bit of that. We saw the benefits of it and now it has been scuttled - literally stopped. So that is where the problem is and the problem is simply because we have not been able to basically manage ourselves very well. The resources that we have go to negative use and end up destroying us more and more. We attempted to stop that but now we have almost failed." CUTAWAY OF RIBADU'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER NIGERIAN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION HEAD NUHU RIBADU SAYING: "You see, about a decade ago a couple of African countries took the initiative as a result of pressure from the outside world, from the whole international community putting pressure on us to change and improve, to start coming up with institutions and structures that would address the problem of governance, transparency and accountability and fighting corruption. And we have seen in a couple of countries that we took that - for example Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria had a very good start-off with good anti-corruption institutions and agencies. All of them have been destroyed and brought to their own knees. In Nigeria, you have seen what has been happening to the EFCC. Go to South Africa - the Scorpions have been scrapped. And we have seen the leadership that has emerged in South Africa. Go to Kenya- the person who led the whole thing - John Githongo - has been sent out, like me, and nothing comes out of it. You see, most of these African countries took it and used it politically. But when the anti-corruption agencies started working they realised that it was touching on the interests that they were representing. It was threatening the very demonic sort of control that those governments had over the state and the affairs. And then they decided to kick them out - destroyed them. Most of the anti-corruption agencies in African today are on the receding side, are losing power, and therefore it is an indication that corruption is getting worse." CUTAWAY OF RIBADU'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER NIGERIAN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION HEAD NUHU RIBADU, SAYING: "There are a couple of countries doing fairly well, I mean you must commend them - for example Botswana, which is a good example of a country that did well in managing its own resources and being able to establish institutions of accountability and transparency. Rwanda is one good country that is also a good example. Tanzania is not doing very badly. Ghana today is on the right track. There are a couple of them. But the very big, important ones are going in the opposite direction and this is Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa."
- Embargoed: 16th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA7L3J7JMIMNL2QC32URYI4NVH
- Story Text: The former head of Nigeria's unit fighting crime, Nuhu Ribadu, cites Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa as examples of African countries where corruption is on the increase, as governments dismantle anti-graft institutions. He was speaking on the sidelines of a London conference to assess the state of democracy in Nigeria and attended by critics of the present Nigerian government.
Africa is slipping back in its fight against corruption, the former head of Nigeria's unit set up to fight financial crime, Nuhu Ribadu, warned on Friday (May 29), saying South Africa, Kenya and his own country were turning against anti-corruption fighters.
Appointed the first head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after international pressure mounted on Nigeria to clean up its near-legendary levels of corruption, Nuhu Ribadu won international respect with arrests and seizures.
But he was fired several months after President Umaru Yar'Adua took power in 2007 and sent on a one-year training course at a remote institute in central Nigeria.
Ribadu was dismissed in December 2008 from the police force, in which he ranked as deputy police commissioner, for "gross indiscipline and insubordination".
He has since fled the country to take up a fellowship at Oxford University, saying he had also suffered an assassination attempt and could no longer remain in Nigeria.
"It's sad because we were going in the right direction," he told Reuters on the sideline of a London conference of dissidents to commemorate 10 years of democracy in Nigeria. "The problem is simply because we have not been able to basically manage ourselves very well. The resources that we have go to negative use and end up destroying us more and more."
Ribadu said about a decade ago international pressure had persuaded some African countries to establish institutions and structures that would address the problem of governance, transparency and accountability and fighting corruption.
"Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria had a very good start-off with good anti-corruption institutions and agencies," Ribadu said.
But he said these institutions were subsequently closed down once those in power realised that they did not serve their interests. "All of them have been destroyed and brought to their own knees... It was threatening the very demonic sort of control that those governments had over the state and the affairs. And then they decided to kick them out - destroyed them," Ribadu explained.
"Most of the anti-corruption agencies in African today are on the receding side, are losing power, and therefore it is an indication that corruption is getting worse," Ribadu said in summary.
He pointing to the closing down of South Africa's elite Scorpions investigation team last year under pressure from supporters of the now-President Jacob Zuma, who accused them of political abuse.
The Scorpions had raided properties belonging to Zuma and his lawyer in 2005 as part of a corruption probe.
Ribadu also mentioned Kenya's former anti-corruption chief John Githongo, who went into exile after resigning from his job.
Ribadu had praise for the governments of Botswana, Tanzania and Ghana on account of their anti-corruption record.
"But the very big, important ones are going in the opposite direction and this is Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa," he stressed.
Ribadu spelt out that corruption was at the root of the problems of Africa, particularly Nigeria, imperilling development, deterring investment, undermining democracy and deepening conflicts such as the ongoing insurgency in the oil-rich Niger Delta. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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