Yuceelanda.com
The Federal Government has assured that it will
continue to fight corruption with a strict
adherence to the rule of law.
According to a statement issued by his Special
Assistant, Segun Adeyemi, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
gave the assurance on Friday when he visited
The Nation newspaper as part of his ongoing
tour of media establishments in the country.
”In this Administration’s battle against corruption,
we have been accused of not respecting the rule
of law. I make bold to say that this is not true.
The mere fact that those who have been
accused of corruption are having their day in
court is a reflection of our respect for the rule of
law,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed also said the government
welcomes the criticism of its policies,
programmes and actions, and that it does not
consider those who criticize it as either having
been paid to do so or that they are habouring
any animosity towards us.
But he insisted that there were pseudo-analysts
and hack writers whose stock in trade was to
shoot down the policies of any government they
do not like, and that taking on such people did
not amount to an attack on the media.
”It beggars belief that anyone could accuse us of
attacking or blackmailing the media. It is
inconceivable that a government that has
enjoyed tremendous support from the media will
turn around to vilify the same media. My recent
statement, that pseudo-analysts and hack writers
are out to shoot down the war against
corruption, cannot and should not be interpreted
to mean an attack on the media. That
extrapolation will amount to a dangerous
stretch,” the Minister said.
The Minister assured that the Federal
Government will continue to work closely with
the media in keeping the people educated and
informed, ”thus ensuring the participation of as
many of our people as possible in the process of
governance”.
He said the government would not relent in its
battle against corruption, adding: ”this is
because for our nation, it is a war of survival.
Today, in our country, corruption is on first line
charge. That’s how serious it is. The good news
is that Nigeria is so fortunate to have at the
helm of affairs, at this time, a leader of
impeccable character, proven integrity, courage,
dedication and love of country.
”We need the support of the media to ensure the
success of this fight. As I have said at different
fora, we consider the media as our partners.”
Alhaji Mohammed said the government’s
strategy in sensitizing Nigerians is to dwell on
the cost of corruption, rather than talking about
it in the abstract.
”When we release figures of the huge sums of
money that have been looted, we did not do that
to vilify anyone. Rather, our intention is to give
Nigerians a different perspective to the anti-graft
battle. That’s why we did not mention names,
even though we have all the names,” he added.
