former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili
Akunyili, who was the guest lecturer at
the 7th lecture of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Bells
University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, on Wednesday, said the
desired change in the country had been hampered by corruption,
insecurity, poor leadership among others social vices.
She said, “In China, it is death penalty
for corruption. I believe if we are really serious about fighting
corruption, there is the need to insert harsher clauses to make
corruption less attractive, just like they do in China.
“Once, one, two, three, four corrupt
people are executed for corruption, some others who have such tendency
will definitely fall in line.”
According to Akunyili, if the government fails to punish corrupt practices, it might as well be promoting it.
She added, “We just have to find a way to decisively fight corruption before it completely ruins this beautiful country.”
The former minister, who presented a
paper entitled ‘National Transformation: the Challenge of our Time’,
also suggested that the government must introduce a social security
scheme for the unemployed youths as done in the United States and the
United Kingdom.
She noted that government in those
countries paid stipend to their unemployed so that the lives of the rich
and middle class would be secured.
She added, “It is common sense that the
rich will remain unsafe in the midst of a hungry and angry majority.
Government in the Western world understands that the negative energy
vibrating from such people is enough to create discomfort.”
Akunyili, who suggested that the
government could start the scheme with the physically challenged and the
aged, commended the Ekiti State Government for introducing a social
security for the aged.
“To me, being a good leader means being a
principled leader, and being principled simply means being a man or
woman of your words, being guarded by the right moral compass, doing the
right thing anytime, anywhere and even in the face of threats of any
type. It is simply leadership by example,” she stated.
According to her, when a leader
compromised his position by sharing filthy lucre with his or her
subordinates, he or she has lost the right leadership authority and
incapable of instilling any discipline in the work force.
She said, “When I was in NAFDAC, if I had
allowed officers in the ports or the registration desks and other
sensitive areas to make returns to me, we would not have been able to
record any success in sanitising the food and drug sector.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof
Isaac Adeyemi, said the institution invited Akunyili because of her
pedigree and contributions to the nation’s development.
Punch
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