SERAP to Jonathan: You must show good leadership in 2013

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has told President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that 2013 is not a year for rhetorics but actions that will lead to the turning around of the fortunes of the country.
SERAP said dismantling high-level official corruption, ending impunity and turning around the country as a whole requires more than Jonathan making mere promises and preaching of decency.
It said such moves demand strong leadership at the highest level of government.
SERAP, in a statement on Sunday, said Jonathan’s new year message of moving faster in 2013 does not give the hope needed that things would change for the better in 2013.
In the statement signed by its Executive director, SERAP said: “What is required now is for this government to act more and promise less.
“The President must show strong leadership and lead by example if he is to earn the trust of Nigerians and convince them that he is truly committed to the fight against corruption.
“Half-measures, which avoid public scrutiny of the president’s own asset declaration, and effective prosecution of corruption cases when they involve those connected with this government are utterly inadequate and tend to throw the government into disrepute.
“Ultimately, the responsibility for sorting out Nigeria rests with President Jonathan. The buck stops with him. Nigerians will judge him not by the number of promises he has made but by the number of roads repaired, decent hospitals established, and how much difference he is able to make to ensure the enjoyment of other basic necessities of life for millions of impoverished Nigerians.
“Genuine fight against corruption can’t happen unless President Jonathan wants it and leads by example. We are concerned that this government has continued to deny the endemic nature of corruption at the highest level of government.
“This attitude is aptly illustrated when, in response to the courageous statement by Bishop of Bomadi Catholic Diocese, Vicarage Hyacinth Egbebor underscoring the systemic nature of corruption in the country, President Jonathan recently claimed that ‘most of these things we talk about as corruption are not even corruption. It is true that in most cases we talk about corruption as if corruption is the cause of most of our problems.
“But we are concerned about the president’s response.
“Despite its corrosive effects on the wellbeing of millions of Nigerians, this government has failed to understand that the biggest problem confronting Nigeria today is the monster of corruption and impunity of perpetrators. It is indeed the root cause of the country’s absolute poverty and underdevelopment and the consequent denial of citizens’ economic and social rights.”