Rev. Fr. George Ehusani faults Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts, saying flawed leadership recruitment, not more agencies, fuels corruption

Former Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and Executive Director of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, has argued that Nigeria’s numerous anti-corruption agencies have failed to deliver meaningful results because of deeper flaws in the nation’s leadership recruitment system.

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Speaking on Saturday in Abuja at the Centre LSD/KAS 23rd Bi-annual Leadership Lecture and graduation ceremony of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development’s Leadership School, the cleric said many countries without specialized anti-corruption bodies like the EFCC and ICPC fare better than Nigeria in global corruption rankings.

“Until such a fundamental error is addressed and the perception of the political leadership recruitment process is also addressed, I do not believe that any number of anti-corruption agencies and crusaders will transform our fortunes,” Ehusani declared.

He lamented that Nigeria remains “comatose and on the verge of disintegration,” blaming successive generations of leaders he described as “thoughtlessly corrupt, senselessly nepotistic, recklessly lawless and astonishingly incompetent” since independence and especially after the 1966 coup.

According to him, the real crisis lies in a political culture that elevates “crooked and devious characters, including ethnic bigots and religious extremists” into positions of authority.

He accused such leaders of exploiting ethnic and religious divisions for selfish gain, while habitually looting public funds and impoverishing citizens.

Ehusani added that other nations with only regular police forces investigate and prosecute corruption cases more effectively than Nigeria, which has created multiple overlapping agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau, Bureau of Public Procurement, NEITI, and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

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Until Nigeria reforms its leadership recruitment process and tackles the systemic anomalies that empower unfit leaders, he said, the proliferation of anti-corruption agencies will remain ineffective in transforming the country’s fortunes.