- Soyinka noted that without attitudinal change and readiness of every citizen to do the right thing, winning the war against corruption in the country would remain in shambles
The Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Friday described corruption as a deadly cankerworm that posses great danger to the growth and development of any nation and its people.
He noted that without attitudinal change and readiness of every citizen to do the right thing, winning the war against corruption in the country would remain in shambles.
Soyinka disclosed this at the 26th annual Wole Soyinka lectures, with the theme “The Baby or the Bathwater: Navigating The Dark Tunnels of Systemic Corruption to Nationhood”, was organised by National Association of Seadogs otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity to mark his 90th birthday, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
While commenting on the lecture delivered by former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, Soyinka said the challenge of corruption is such that run from top to bottom in Nigeria and that only decision of every citizen to change for good can help to halt its deadly march in the country.
He said, “the particular aspect of this lecture that struck me is corruption. Corruption is not just when you exchange money. It is a cankerworm that eats deep into the fabric of the society from the top to the bottom and has affected our very nature, our very existence.
“And one aspect of the lecture emphasised that cure for the corruption begins from the inside. Yes, we can talk about institution, government. We can talk about exercise of power unfairly, inordinately to the disadvantage of the rest of the community and all that as part of corruption, but ultimately, the solution, short term, immediate and long term must begin from the inside and this is one of the motives for establishing Pyrates Confraternity 62 years ago”.
Soyinka also used the medium to disabuse the minds of the people as touching misconceptions about Pyrates Confraternity, saying that the registered association is not a blood-thirsty secret cult, but an association founded to push for justice and advance the betterment of the country.
He lauded members of the association for organising the event and urged them to continue to push for the ideal of social justice and good governance which is the core mandate of the association.
Soyinka alongside the former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku later unveiled a book “Ship Ahoy” written to document 60 years history of the confraternity.
Giving his lecture earlier, Fashola, the former two term Minister of Works and Housing described Soyinka as not only gift to the country, the continent, but the entire civilisation.
Speaking on the theme of the lecture, Fashola while maintaining that corruption in terms of pecuniary gains is no doubt stand condemned, stressed that the worse form of corruption is the one that has displaced our highly cherished moral values and as well corrupt the people’s ways of life.
He noted that the number of lives lost on Nigerians roads every month as a result of wrong attitude and values is far more than what is lost to insecurity, which everyone complain about in the country.
He said “when I was in office as a Minister, the Federal Road Safety Corps usually made copies of the monthly reports on road crashes available to me, the report is actually for the office of the Secretary General of the Federation, but I used to get a copy.
“In October 2022, a total of 1111 road crashes were reported across the country out of which 449 died representing 6% of 6458 people inolved in the accident with 2780 injured. The analysis showed a 3% decrease when compared with the previous month but 10% increase when compared with the figure for October 2021.
“This show that an average of 400 people are lost monthly to road crashes in the country, but I doubt if the insecurity which is always an issue during campaign is responsible for huge loss of lives like this every month in the country”.
He said, further analysis showed that speed violation accounted for 51.7% of the accidents, fatigue is responsible for 15%, sign rules violation 5.8%, dangerous driving 5.4%, while route violation is responsible 4.5% of the accident.
Fashola said that out of the 1613 vehicles involved in the accident, cars constituted 469 representing 29.5% and that 66% of these cars were those being used for commercial purposes.
The former governor argued that the carnage has remained unabated on our roads not because of bad roads, but because out of corruption of values, people have neglected adhering to highway codes.
He said “many people don’t even know the highway codes, they don’t drive with certificated driver’s licence, many don’t even know that the road is a shared asset, many don’t give regard to the speed limit, these are all corruption that are making the slaughter to continue on our roads”.
Fashola said as way out, “people must embrace attitudinal change, the people must embrace recertification of their driver’s licence and training, people must respect the traffic rules to stop this disturbing waste of life and properties”.
The former Minister also demanded that road safety should be introduced into the both primary and secondary school curriculum and even one of the subjects that must be passed by students seeking admission to higher institutions, adding that it should be instill into upcoming generations.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of National Association of Seadogs, Capn Abiola Owoaje lauded Prof Soyinka for his consistency and for being voice of reason against all forms of injustice against humanity.
While wishing the Nobel Laureate a more fruitful years, Owoaje said the annual lecture has become a credible platform to advocate sound leadership, good governance and social justice.
The programme also featured presentation of Wole Soyinka Leadership awards to the three deserving winners.