Cure for corruption begins from inside — Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Friday, described corruption as a deadly cankerworm that leaves great nations in ruins and puts the people at a great disadvantage.

Soyinka said that without attitudinal change and the readiness of everyone to begin to do the right thing, winning the war against the mounting corruption challenge in the country remains an impossible task.

The world-renowned scholar disclosed this at the 26th annual Wole Soyinka Lectures organised by the National Association of Seadogs, otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity, to mark the 90th birthday of Soyinka, who, along with six other undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, founded the group in 1952.

The lecture held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, had as its theme “The Baby or the Bathwater: Navigating The Dark Tunnels of Systemic Corruption to Nationhood.”

Soyinka, while commenting on the lecture delivered by former governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said that the challenge of corruption is such that runs from the top to the bottom in Nigeria.

The guru added that only the decision of every citizen to change for the better can help 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 change money, it is a cankerworm that eats deep into the fabric of society from the top to the bottom and corrupts our very nature, our very existence.

“And one aspect of the lecture emphasised that a cure for corruption begins from the inside. Yes, we can talk about institutions and government, we can talk about the 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 was one of the motives for establishing Pyrates Confraternity 62 years ago.”

Soyinka also used the medium to disabuse the minds of the people by touching on misconceptions about Pyrates Confraternity, saying that the registered association is not a bloodthirsty secret cult but an association founded to push for justice and advance the betterment of the country.

He lauded the 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, along with the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyanwu, later unveiled a book, “Ship Ahoy,” written to document the 60-year history of the confraternity.

In his lecture earlier, Mr Babatunde Fashola, the former two-term Minister of Works and Housing, described Soyinka as not only a gift to the country, and the continent but to the entire civilisation.

Corruption is condemnable – Fashola

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, Fashola maintained that while corruption in terms of pecuniary gains no doubt stands condemned, the worst form of corruption is that which has displaced our highly cherished moral values and has therefore corrupted the people’s ways of life.

The former governor said that, for instance, the number of lives lost on Nigerian roads every month as a result of wrong attitudes and values is far more than what is lost to the insecurity that everyone complains 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 six per cent of the 6458 people involved in the accident, and 2780 were injured. The analysis showed a three per cent decrease when compared with the previous month but a ten per cent increase when compared with the figure for October 2021.

“This goes to 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 campaigns, is responsible for huge losses of lives like this every month in the country.”

He said further analysis showed that speed violations accounted for 51.7 per cent of the accidents, fatigue was responsible for 15%, sign rule violations were 5.8 per cent, dangerous driving was 5.4 per cent and route violations were responsible for 4.5 per cent of the accidents.

Fashola said that out of 1613 vehicles involved in the accident, cars constituted 469, representing 29.5 per cent and that 66 per cent 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 the 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 a 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 corruptions that are making the slaughter continue on our roads.”

Fashola said as a way out, “People must embrace attitudinal change, they must embrace recertification of their driver’s licence and training, and people must respect the traffic rules to stop this disturbing waste of life and property.”

The former Minister also demanded that road safety be introduced into the primary and secondary school curricula, and it is even one of the subjects that must be passed by students seeking admission to instil the culture of road safety in upcoming generations.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the National Association of Seadogs, Capn. Abiola Owoaje, lauded Soyinka for his consistency and for being the voice of reason against all forms of injustice against humanity.

While wishing the Nobel Laureate a more fruitful year, Owoaje said that the annual lecture has become a credible platform for advocates of sound leadership, good governance, and social justice.

The programme also featured the presentation of the Wole Soyinka Leadership Awards to the three deserving winners.