Badejo opined that Tinubu’s silence on the anti-corruption war since he came on board is an attestation that the President may not be serious about fighting corruption.
Nigerians have been warned that President Bola Tinubu may not do well in the area of fighting corruption.
This is the stance of a Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Babafemi Badejo.
The Professor, who spoke Wednesday at an inaugural lecture titled, ‘Interests’, delivered at Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State said Tinubu may fail like his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, in the fight against graft.
Badejo opined that Tinubu’s silence on the anti-corruption war since he came on board is an attestation that the President may not be serious about fighting corruption.
“It is my own view that former President Muhammadu Buhari failed woefully on the issue of anti-corruption. He did start by wanting to implement the UN anti-corruption strategies and went further to appoint a committee and that committee did nothing till today.
“On President Tinubu, it is too early to give a conclusion but I can say that from what he has done in one month, he will do by far better than Buhari, but not on corruption,” he said.
Badejo noted that Tinubu has not been talking about fighting corruption the same way he has been promising to ensure judges and everybody are comfortable.
“But no country can be comfortable by staying very far away from fighting corruption,” he said while expressing hope that Tinubu may change his mind later on corruption.
The University Don lamented that Nigerians make corruption thrive by being “too docile and tolerant for too long.”
He maintained that previous administrations, including that of Buhari, did not face corruption frontally with the full political will that goes beyond mere lip service.
While saying it may be too hasty to conclude that Tinubu may not do better than Buhari in fighting corruption, Badejo submitted that “even if he ever wanted to fight corruption, the resultant outcome is unfruitful half-heartedly done prosecutorial gimmicks and noise, cherry-picking and selective haphazard trials.”
He charged that no one should be immune or above the law by virtue of whatever relationships or status.
This, he said, is important as part of steps by the President and those in top leadership positions, “to begin to demonstrate their commitment to the anti-corruption war, through their personal examples of zero tolerance for corruption.
“The fight against corruption in Nigeria requires concerted commitments and ingenuity as part of a holistic approach,” the Professor maintained.