Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has asked Nigerians to prepare for massive demonstrations against the fuel subsidy scam, which he said had brought global embarrassment to the citizenry.
The literary icon spoke in Lagos on Monday at a press conference organised by the Save Nigeria Group, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission were urged to commence, without delay, the prosecution of those indicted.
Soyinka, who frowned at the large-scale corruption in government, said: “The populace should be ready for another determined march against corruption,” adding that “the level of thievery in the country is not unrelated to the level of violence we witness today.”
The Noble Laureate chided the government for its alleged insensitivity to the plight of the public.
He said that the current administration has contempt for Nigerians, stating that “when you are robbed in this way, you are dehumanised with insults and arrogance and there is a material assault on the resources of Nigeria.”
Soyinka said the populace should be ready for another march against corruption, insisting that those found culpable in the scam should be probed and brought to book, regretting that Nigerians who travelled abroad were alarmed at the report of criminality and lack of conscience in the country.
He warned anti-graft agencies to learn from the saga of former Governor James Ibori of Delta State by doing a thorough work to avoid ridicule and making Nigeria a laughing stock in the international community. S
oyinka said Nigerians “must be prepared to march and halt the trend of corruption.”
With Soyinka at the press conference were the SNG Convener, Pastor Tunde Bakare; leader of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; SNG spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin; and the South West Co-ordinator of the CD, Prince Goodluck Obi.
Earlier, Bakare reviewed the House of Representatives probe of the subsidy scam and declared that “the crisis in the oil industry is not about subsidy, but about corruption.”
He lamented that government officials made nonsense of the guidelines for fuel importation by reeling out controversial figures to deceive Nigerians, maintaining that “the N3 trillion spent on subsidy last year was questionable,” just as he said that huge amount of money was being deliberately stolen in the name of subsidy.
He queried the discrepancy between the figures tendered by the Accountant General of the Federation and the committee, lamenting that two-thirds of the 2012 budget was stolen by government officials in 2011.
Bakare commended the House of Representatives, which he said had endeared itself to Nigerians by proceeding with the probe of the fraud, pointing out that the probe has revealed that the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation denied the receipt of the money said to be paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Against this backdrop, Bakare said those hidden faces perpetrating fraud in the NNPC should be unmasked, adding that “the clearance of Gombe Governor Ibrahim Dankwanbo, who was the Accountant General of the Federation in 2009 and who was alleged to have issued cheques of N999 million in 128 places in 24 hours totalling N127 billion raises another serious matter.
“The investigation should be comprehensive, the Ministers of Finance and Petroleum, who served during the period of the scam, should be prosecuted. President Goodluck Jonathan claimed ignorance about the circumstances surrounding the fraud.
“The country has been stolen broke by mindless looting. The states are yet to receive their allocations for March. It portends great problem for the economy.”
Okei-Odumakin lamented that corruption had killed the nation and opened the way for collapsed infrastructure, wobbling health sector and high mortality rate.
She said that “nobody is above the law and so the Ministers of Finance and Petroleum who served during the period of the scam, should be prosecuted and brought to book.”