According to Falana, since
corruption was perpetrated by people in position of authority, it would be
unrealistic to expect the government to effectively fight corruption.
The Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has said for any fight against corruption to be
effective it must be championed by the citizens rather than the government.
“No government all over the world fights
corruption, because the people in government are the most corrupt. It is the
duty of Nigerians to take over the fight and own it; otherwise you cannot
abolish corruption in Nigeria,” Falana declared.
The human rights lawyer
spoke on Sunday in Ikeja alongside others at the 13th edition of the annual
Gani Fawehinmi lecture.
The theme of the lecture
for this year was, “Nigeria Anti-corruption war: Wither the legal profession
and the judiciary?”
Apart from Falana, other
discussants at the lecture, which was delivered by Prof. Omotoye Olorode,
include Prof. Jacob Dada of The Gambia Court of Appeal; Mr Delete Adesina
(SAN), Mr. Charles Oputa (Charly Boy), the Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the
Nigeria Bar Association, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana, among others.
In his lecture, Olorode
noted that though the war against corruption started as far back as 1960, the
menace, rather than abate, only continued to wax stronger.
“Ultimately, the
anti-corruption war cannot move an inch unless the people champion the cause.
If the ruling class is to decide who is corrupt, then they have yet to start,”
Olorode concluded.
He called for the autonomy
of the judiciary and urged lawyers to support the Federal Government’s war
against corruption.
In his contribution,
Justice Dada noted that “corruption has assumed frightening proportion in
Nigeria, because of its gravity, pervasiveness, sophistication, complexity and
diversification.”
The judge said the poverty
and economic crisis in the country were blamable on the carelessness of the
leaders presiding over the affairs of the country.
On his own part, Charly Boy
flayed lawyers and judges, who, he said, were aiding “known criminals.”
“Justice in Nigeria has
price tags, affordable by those who can pay,” he said.
The chairman of the
occasion, Pa Tunji Gomez, a septuagenarian lawyer, described as regrettable the
recent arrest of some judges for alleged corruption, saying it might henceforth
be difficult to find any judge who would give judgment against government
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