After a thorough review of the Nigerian governance system, a former presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, has described the country’s public office system since it’s return to democracy till date as the epicenter of fraud, saying there are more Yahoo boys in government than on the streets.
Obi said that the public officeholders, who have often stand against change to benefit themselves, have structured the governance system both at the Federal, State and Local Government to continuously aid their criminal operations.
The Anambra State former governor stressed that the country, due to the actions of these individuals, is enriching the few at the detriment of the larger population in Nigeria.
He made the allegations on Saturday while delivering his keynote address as guest speaker at the 4th graduation ceremony of Nexford University themed: “Lead the change; ignite your future”, which held in Lagos and attended by the Ecobank boss, Bola Adesola.
Obi’s allegations came days after the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, revealed that 90 percent of the corruption in the country occurred in public offices during procurements.
“For governance, don’t think when we talk about vices, it is only Yahoo boys. There are actually more Yahoo people in government than there are outside because we have turned the entire country into a crime scene where people inside are stealing and people outside are stealing,” he said.
He emphasised on the need for quality leadership to manage the affairs of the country, urging the graduates to become positive change agents in their communities.
“It is about leadership and igniting the future. It is not rocket science but it is difficult. It is being able to have a strong character, the ability not to do the wrong thing.
“It is for you to help to bring a better change in that society that you want to live in. You have acquired knowledge today.Use what you have learnt to help us change society.
“You are a victim of Nigeria because our age and the age before has refused to do what is right and you are suffering it,” he stressed.
The founder of the institution, Fadl Al Tarzi, highlighted that no fewer than 1200 students graduated, earning both first degrees and Master’s.
He said the institution is poised on improving education with the aid of technology, attributing it to the support of the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support learning.
“We have Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialisation for almost five years actually and we have integrated AI in all our courses in all of our programmes.
He stressed that AI could help Nigeria talents connect with global talents and improve the country’s economy.
“AI is going to improve the economy depending on how developed it is and it is going to unfortunately put people out of jobs whether in Nigeria and in other markets but it has the potential to increase productivity and to solve problems that could have taken years to solve significantly to accelerate research and development,” he said.
