Our Reporter
Lecturers at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), have expressed divergent views on the 2020 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceived Index (CPI), in which Nigeria was placed 149 out of 180 countries.
Denmark is first in the transparency index table as the most transparent and least corrupt country, while Sudan ranked 180, is the most corrupt country.
The lecturers in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Nsukka, expressed divergent views on the rating.
Prof. Jonah Onuoha, the Head, Department of Political Science, who spoke on the issue, said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has done a lot to tackle corruption since he assumed office in 2015.
“If corruption is the only factor transparency used in its assessment and ranking, the present government has done well in the fight against corruption since Buhari assumed office in 2015.
” It will be unfair to list Nigeria among the most corrupt nations of the world,” he said.
The don, however, said it was in the area of security that the present government has a lot to do, as the present insecurity in the country had become a great concern to many Nigerians.
Prof. Aloysius Okolie, also of the Department of Political Science, on his part, urged the government to put a serious structure on the ground to fight corruption.
He said that the fight against corruption should not be used as a guise to clamp-down on opposition political parties.
READ ALSO: 2020 corruption rating not true reflection of anti-corruption fight – FG
Okolie noted that the level of poverty and unemployment in the country had made people do all sorts of things in order to survive.
” In the fight against corruption, adequate structures must be put in place and anybody found corrupt should be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
Dr Ifeanyichukwu Abada, immediate past Head of Department of Political Science, who also spoke on the issue, attributed the low rating, to poor framework in the fight against corruption.
” The ease of doing business in the country is expensive coupled with a high level of insecurity; this has scared many local and foreign investors from investing in Nigeria.
“Fundamental human rights of citizens are abused with impunity by law enforcement agencies.”
He said that Nigeria would join the league of least corrupt nations if our leaders “should have zero tolerance for corruption, impunity, nepotism as well as abuse of fundamental human rights of citizens,” he said.
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