Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies not to spare corrupt leaders.
Soyinka, who made his views known at the opening ceremony of the eighth Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa, said corrupt leaders should get ready to go down in status when justice catches up with them
He said:
“That we have been bled dry in this nation by corrupt leadership and their agencies is nothing to reiterate. It is a given. And I took the trouble yesterday to visit the headquarters of the EFCC. I wanted to see what would be the mode of hospitality of some of our leaders who will surely, sooner or later, pass through the doors of that beautiful building.
“I am not a vengeful person but I think until we ensure that some of our leaders pass through those doors, this struggle against corruption in this country will not be won, will not be over.
“And so, I spoke to Magu and I said I want to see where the presidential wing is. I said as a human rights person, I want to make sure you treat them right when they come here and he said ‘sorry it is an egalitarian institution and I said I would take that message back to them that they should get ready to go down a little bit in status when the time comes and justice catches up with them.”
: “For now, your responsibility I believe is to help us recover the rest of the loot which is still flying all over the continent.”
“We must really try to make sure that all our leaders elected into office do not touch the nation’s coffers. They should move away from being tempted to touch national wealth.
“We should come up with solutions on how we can deal with this problem (corruption) and get back all the money stolen from this country for the well-being of this country and not for the good of those in office.”
