The
federal government has said it would neither be distracted nor intimidated to
abandon or weaken the fight against corruption, which it called a war of
survival for the nation.
”No
amount of media or other attacks will stop the fight. The pseudo-analysts and
hack writers will labour in vain in their quest to stop the train of this
anti-corruption fight,” the Minister of information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, said at a meeting with Abuja bureau chiefs of newspapers on Tuesday.
”When
I met with the news and political editors in Lagos on Sunday, I said, among
other things, that the government is aware that in fighting corruption,
corruption will also fight back.
“I
also said that those who stole us dry are powerful. They have newspapers, radio
and television stations as well as online platforms, and an army of supporters
to continuously deride the government’s war against corruption.
”Well,
I can tell you today that corruption is already fighting back, and it is
fighting hard and dirty.
“Sponsored
articles have started appearing in the newspapers and on social media, while
‘talking heads’ have started making the rounds in the electronic media, all
deriding the fight against corruption as well as this administration.
”Not
stopping there, they have been creating distractions by sponsoring articles in
both local and international media to deride the administration’s policies
generally, tag the president a budding dictator and even write off his 2016
budget.
“We know that the sole
purpose of these attacks is to distract attention from the war on corruption,”
he said.
Mr. Mohammed said ”it
is saddening that some otherwise credible voices have unwittingly allowed
themselves to be railroaded into the bandwagon of pro-corruption orchestra”,
while noting that some ”hack writers” are struggling to whittle down the impact
of the anti-corruption campaign.
”One hack writer even
said the disclosure that 55 Nigerians allegedly stole 1.34 trillion naira
between 2006 and 2013 did not trigger any anger among Nigerians!
“A disclosure that
made the front page in over a dozen Nigerian newspapers, played widely in the
international media and attracted the attention of the world’s most powerful
country and global financial institutions cannot be dismissed with a wave of
the hand,” the minister said.
The minister said even
one of those who benefitted from the ‘Dasukigate’ had the temerity to deride
the anti-corruption war as ‘selective’, ”when in saner climes, he should have
been so ashamed of himself that he would have apologized to the nation and
hunkered down for good”.
He said the sponsored
attacks are not about to stop, and that they will become more intense and more
coordinated in the days ahead.
“But the good news is
that we are winning the war. Nigerians are now talking more about corruption.
Nigerians are now counting the cost of corruption to their lives,” he said.
He called on Nigerians
not to be swayed by the antics of the sponsored denunciation of the anti-graft
war, saying ”the treasury looters, who have so much resources in their kitty,
and their cohorts will throw everything but the kitchen sink at this
administration”.
“But we have no doubt
that Nigerians are discerning enough to know the truth, which in the words of
President Muhammadu Buhari, is that unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption
will kill Nigeria,” said the minister.
He urged the media to
continuously educate and inform Nigerians about the evils of corruption,
especially the cost of corruption to the lives of the citizens.
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