Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and two-term former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Raji Fashola, on Friday, delved into various aspects of corruption describing it as a deadly cankerworm that destroys society.
The duo spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, at the 26 Annual Lecture, organised by the National Association of Seadogs otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity to mark the 90th birthday of Soyinka.
The lecture with the theme, ‘The Baby or the Bathwater: Navigating The Dark Tunnels of Systemic Corruption to Nationhood’, was delivered by Fashola, who was two-term Minister of Works and Housing.
According to Soyinka, corruption is a scourge that lays great nations in ruins and puts the people at great disadvantage.
He said that without attitudinal change and readiness of everyone to begin to do the right thing, winning the war against the mounting corruption challenge in the country remains an impossible task.
Commenting on the lecture, Soyinka said that the challenge of corruption is such that it runs from the top to the bottom in Nigeria and only the decision of every citizen to change for good can help halt its deadly march in the country.
He said, “The particular aspect of this lecture that struck me is corruption, corruption is not just when you change money, it is a cankerworm that eats deep into the fabric of the society from the top to the bottom and corrupts our very nature, our very existence.
“And one aspect of the lecture emphasised that cure for the corruption begins from the inside. Yes, we can talk about institution, government, we can talk about exercise of power unfairly, inordinately to the disadvantage of the rest of the community and all that as part of corruption but ultimately, the solution, short term, immediate and long term must begin from the inside and this is one of the motives for establishing Pyrates Confraternity 62 years ago.”
Speaking on the misconceptions about the group he and others formed in 1962, Soyinka said the Pyrates Confraternity is a registered association and not a blood-thirsty secret cult but an association founded to push for justice and advance the betterment of the country.
He lauded the members of the association for organising the event and urged them to continue to push for the ideal of social justice and good governance which is the core mandate of the association.
Soyinka alongside the former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyawu later unveiled a book, ‘Ship Ahoy’ written to document 60 years history of the confraternity.
Giving his lecture earlier, Fashola described Soyinka as not only a gift to the country, the continent but the entire civilisation.
Fashola said while corruption in terms of pecuniary gains, is no doubt stand condemned but the worst form of corruption is that which has displaced highly cherished moral values and has therefore corrupted the people’s ways of life.
The former governor said that the number of lives lost on Nigerians roads every month as a result of wrong attitude and values is far more than what is lost to the insecurity which everyone complains about in the country.
He said “when I was in office as a Minister, the Federal Road Safety Corps usually made copies of the monthly reports on road crashes available to me, the report is actually for the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, but I used to get a copy.
“In October 2022, a total of 1,111 road crashes were reported across the country out of which 449 died representing 6 per cent of 6,458 people involved in the accident with 2,780 injured. The analysis showed a 3 per cent decrease when compared with the previous month but 10 per cent increase when compared with the figure for October 2021..
“This goes to show that an average of 400 people are lost monthly to road crashes in the country but I doubt if the insecurity which is always an issue during campaigns is responsible for huge loss of lives like this every month in the country.”
He said further analysis showed that speed violation accounted for 51.7 per cent of the accidents, fatigue was responsible for 15 per cent, sign rules violation 5.8 per cent, dangerous driving 5.4 per cent, while route violation was responsible for 4.5 per cent of the accidents.
Fashola said that out of 1,613 vehicles involved in the accidents, cars constituted 469 representing 29.5 per cent and that 66 per cent of these cars were those being used for commercial purposes.
He argued that the carnage has remained unabated on our roads not because of bad roads but because out of corruption of values people have neglected adhering to highway codes.
He said “many people don’t even know the highway codes, they don’t drive with certificated driver’s licence, many don’t even know that the road is a shared asset, many don’t give regard to the speed limit, these are all corruption that are making the slaughter to continue on our roads.”
In his welcome address, the Chairman of National Association of Seadogs, Capon Abiola Owoaje, lauded Soyinka for his consistency and for being the voice of reason against all forms of injustice against humanity.
James Sowole
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