How Nigeria can win the war against corruption — Okogie

Retired Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has said the only way Nigeria could win the war against corruption, was if the individual changed for the better.

He stated this at the 10th anniversary of the Anthony Cardinal Okogie foundation annual lecture, at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos, with the theme, Creating a Corrupt-Free Society in Nigeria: The Role of the Church.

According to him, corruption had affected many sectors of the polity, and was, in fact, a global affair, noting that “Corruption is a decimal, not only in Nigeria but the whole world. Schools, families, the church, the judiciary and the politicians are also affected by corruption.

“Man is the first institution created by God with a free will amongst many institutions. If therefore, you can discipline the man, you will succeed in eradicating corruption, and that is where the church comes in. The role of the church is not politics, but about the attitude to morals; the good attitude of a child is cultivated at home, based on the moral teaching of the church,’’ he said.

In his address, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Adewale Martins urged Nigerians to go beyond prayers in the fight against corruption and called for values that witness to honesty and nobility.

He also urged Nigerians to put aside personal interest so as to come to realise that they also are against a common enemy.

A former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, equally urged the church to be at the forefront in the fight against corruption.

He tasked religious leaders on the need to inculcate good morals and godliness on members of the church, so that they could refuse unsolicited gifts from people with questionable characters.