The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has said that there is corruption in all the arms of government and assured Nigerians that no sector of the society will be spared in the fight against corruption under the present administration in the county.
Professor Osinbajo, who spoke at the fourth convocation ceremony of the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), on Friday, said what Nigeria was witnessing, especially the high level of poverty in the country, was a direct consequence of corruption that had permeated every sector of the economy.
The vice president, who was the special guest of honour at the climax of the convocation, assured that no arm of government would be spared in the fight against corruption.
He said: “All the institutions of government, I mean the executive, legislature and the judiciary, are corrupt. What we need is serious re-orientation. That is why ABUAD is a great university because it teaches learning, character and moral. So, value reorientation is a key weapon to fight corruption.
“That was why the present Federal Government is intervening. If we refuse to, every facet of the country will fail. We must act fast and deal with the situation as quickly as possible.”
Reacting to a request made by Governor Ayodele Fayose for support for an airport in Ekiti State, Vice President Osinbajo stated that the Federal Government would support all projects aimed at fast-tracking the development of the country.
He explained that conditions for the construction of an airport had been explained to Governor Fayose.
Osinbajo said: “Ekiti State deserves an airport but I have discussed what we need in return with His Excellency.
“The Federal Government will continue to give support to every project that will fast-track development in each of the states of the federation. We know how important is this airport to Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD).”
He said: “I have great respect for the ABUAD Founder, Chief Afe Babalola because of his stand against corruption. Sometime in 2002, Chief Babalola argued the case for the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) where he let the court realise that corruption is the greatest problem of our nation.”
To the graduating students, he advised that they “must be trustworthy and honest, apart from being skillful and resourceful to be able to make a great impact in the future ahead of you. You must reflect on the values they have inculcated in you in the institution and be conscious of the fact that Nigeria, your country, must be great and through which this can be achieved with your contributions.”
Governor Fayose had earlier said that Ekiti, being a land-locked state, deserved an airport and had called on the Federal Government to support the state government in that regards.
On ABUAD, Fayose extolled Chief Afe Babalola, the founder of the university, saying “Chief Babalola chaired the first Ekiti Education Summit in 2003 and we came from 35th position to sixth in the South-West and seventh nationwide in WAEC and NECO examinations.
“You were the Special Guest of Honour at last year’s summit and we came from 34th position in 2014 to number one in the country. With your zeal for quality education, I am sure that, in another five years, this university can rank among the best in the world.”
Chief Babalola (SAN), in his speech, said his vision was to produce quality graduates that would be able to compete with their peers anywhere in the world, saying ABUAD came about as an experiment in quality education.
A total of 912 students were conferred with degrees in various courses while 59 others bagged post-graduate degrees.
Of the figure, 61 graduating students bagged first class, while 399 bagged second class upper division; 323 others got second class lower and 129 graduating students got third class.
ABUAD also conferred honorary degrees on the President, Central State University, Ohio, USA, Professor Cynthia Jackson Hammond, who delivered the Convocation Lecture and prominent businessmen, Dr Cosmas Maduka and Chief Raymond Zard.