By: Mayen Etim
The Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA), Bwari Branch, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has debunck the erroneous thinking that corruption is a way of life, saying the fact remains that every society, sector and individual will benefit from standing against corrupt practices.
Paul Daudu, and Monday Adjeh, Chairman and Secretary, Anti-Corruption/Rule of Law Committee of the group disclosed this during an awareness walk organized by the group and Human Right Committee aimed at promoting rule of law held in Abuja on Tuesday.
They said it is sad that Nigeria currently occupied 144th position out of 180 counties on the world Corruption Index produced by Transparency International.
They revealed that a cursory examination of the said index showed that there has been little or no improvement in Nigeria’s ranking over the past 4 years.
The legal practitioners added that this is painful despite the Anti-corruption mantra/policy of the party in power.
“It is our view that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to acrisis in democracy around the world.
“This awareness walk is aimed at promoting rule of law which essentially means that nobody in society whether highly or lowly placed is above the law.
“Today is an important day as it is normally marked both by high-level political conferences and meetings and by cultural events and exhibitions dealing with human rights issues.
“Many governmental and non-governmental organizations active in the human rights field also schedule special events to commemorate the day, as do many civil and social-cause organizations.
“The Nigeria Bar Association is one of the champions of the civil society uses today’s occasion to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity,” they said.
