Sanusi decries system rewarding “thieves” with ministerial appointments to break down moral values
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“A society in which material wealth, no matter how you get it, is respected, is glorified, where people who are known to have stolen money get rewarded with ministerial appointments, that society will continue to reproduce itself.
“We don’t have a sense of disgust for people who hold public office and amass wealth; we reward them with appointments, with more public offices, and more opportunities to amass wealth, and this is what Nigeria has become ….
“Many people go into government to make money, but you don’t go into government to make money.
“We have been ruled by people who have no values; they have no name behind them, and they have no desire to leave a name after them.
“These are people who define themselves by what they own; how many houses they have, how many private jets they have, how many billions they have in bank accounts. And they think that is something.
“It is not important to them that people look at them and they only see thieves, they see criminals, they see people who have taken the commonwealth. It is simply not important because for them, values do not matter” – Sanusi.
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There is an erosion of moral values in every stratum of the Nigerian society, and the situation is worse when known “thieves” of public funds are rewarded with ministerial appointments in Abuja to gather more treasury looters at the highest level of government, Sanu Lamido has pointed out.
The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor now the Emir of Kano cautioned against rewarding public office holders who steal Nigeria’s commonwealth with more public appointments.
“The entire value system of the country has been eroded,” Sanusi stressed on Channels Television.
“A society in which material wealth, no matter how you get it, is respected, is glorified, where people who are known to have stolen money get rewarded with ministerial appointments, that society will continue to reproduce itself.
“We don’t have a sense of disgust for people who hold public office and amass wealth; we reward them with appointments, with more public offices, and more opportunities to amass wealth, and this is what Nigeria has become.”
He argued that many people in public office were not well brought up, which accounts for their misbehaviour and wrong mindset about responsibility.
“Many people go into government to make money, but you don’t go into government to make money.
“We have been ruled by people who have no values; they have no name behind them, and they have no desire to leave a name after them.
“These are people who define themselves by what they own; how many houses they have, how many private jets they have, how many billions they have in bank accounts. And they think that is something.
“It is not important to them that people look at them and they only see thieves, they see criminals, they see people who have taken the commonwealth. It is simply not important because for them, values do not matter.”
Sanusi reflected on the memories of the late Head of State Murtala Mohammed who, 50 years ago, embarked on cleaning up the system, reiterating that the Nigerian society needs a regeneration of values.
In his view, both leaders and followers alike are responsible for the moral decadence, citing how material wealth is elevated beyond values such as honesty, diligence, compassion, among others.
“I think we need an entire regeneration of values. It is not about one person, a President or Governor or Minister cannot on their change this country” – even though they, as leaders, have to set good examples for others to follow.
Sanusi said politicians have destroyed the civil service and Nigeria needs to go back to strengthening the system to enable civil servants say ‘no’ when asked by politicians to break the rules.
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