Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and a panel of experts will on Friday, December 9
debate practical solutions for how to tackle corruption as part of the
ongoing How To Fix Nigeria series organised by The Royal African Society
and Oya Media in partnership with the Africa Research Group at King’s
College London.
How To Fix Nigeria is conceived and hosted by award-winning broadcaster
discuss practical solutions to Nigeria's contemporary challenges, and
engages audiences online via the hashtag #HowToFixNigeria.
Former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Professor Charles Soludo; Nigerian
economic affairs specialist, Feyi Fawehinmi, and Head of Africa Country
Risk at IHS, Natznet Tesfay, discussed the nation’s economy, currency
crisis and other infrastructural problems in the edition held on March
30, 2016.
International women rights and social development consultant, Fatimah Kelleher;
women’s protection and empowerment specialist, Dorcas Erskine, and
Nigerian author, Elnathan John, examined the struggle to overcome sexism in Africa’s most populous country in the last edition held on August 31.
Lai Mohammed, as a minister under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government,
has been vocal in his insistence that corruption must be tackled head-on
across all levels of society if there is any hope of reviving the
country’s economy.
Nigeria has recently seen several major scandals in which billions of dollars
have been stolen at the highest levels. Transparency International’s
2015 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Nigeria at 136 out of 175
countries.
In the face of recession in Africa’s largest economy, Buhari has stated
that “if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill
Nigeria”.
Since coming to power in 2015, the President has embarked on an energetic
anti-corruption campaign, which critics argue has mostly targeted his
political opponents.
At this event, the panel will debate the effectiveness of domestic efforts
to tackle corruption, as well as the broader global picture.
The Panama Papers leak highlighted that corruption of the scale seen in
Nigeria has only been made possible by a network of offshore secrecy
jurisdictions and tax havens – many of which are overseen by the UK and
directly benefit certain British interests.
From public awareness campaigns, to registers of beneficial ownership and
the demand to return stolen assets held in British banks, there are a
range of approaches proposed to addressing the problem of corruption.
This interactive discussion will assess the foregoing and other
approaches, with commentary from experts and questions from the live
audience at King’s College, London.
Audiences in Nigeria and globally will join the discussion via the event’s livestream channel.
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