No African Country Is Corruption Free – Osinbajo

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that no country in Africa can boast of being corruption free.

The VP revealed this through the Special Adviser to the President on Rule of Law, Office of the Vice President, Fatima Waziri-Azi at the public and media launch of FLAG’IT – an application created by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation with support from the MacArthur Foundation for reporting corruption, on Thursday in Abuja.

He noted that very few countries in the world could boast of being corruption free and none of these countries were in Africa. Adding that, the continuous corrupt practices in Africa has deterred the continent from making worthwhile development.

He said “The 2019 Global Corruption Barometer on African citizens’ views and experiences of corruption highlights that while most of the people surveyed in 35 countries felt that corruption had increased in their country, a majority equally felt that they as citizens could make a difference in the fight against corruption.

“Only a few countries in the world can claim to have low levels of corruption and none of these countries are in Africa. There is a consensus that corruption and illicit financial flows out of Africa relentlessly delay the attainment of the development goals, worsens practically all Human Development Indices and trap the majority of her people especially the most vulnerable in a trap of misery and poverty. It does not matter how much revenue a country generates or how transformed it is or progressive its plans are.”

Osinbajo also noted that no matter how wealthy a nation might be, if corruption was left unaddressed the people would never benefit from the wealth of such nation. Adding that, the Buhari led administration has made addressing corruption as a priority in his administration.

Osinbajo however appealed to Nigerians to support the Buhari’s government on his fight against corruption.

The VP commended the Akin Fadeyi Foundation and the Federal Road Safety Corps for partnering to fight corruption on the nation’s roads through the use of the app, adding that Federal Government would continue to encourage technological innovations.