If there is any lesson from the current suspension and investigation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, it is that there is no silver bullet for fighting corruption. It is also clear that what Nigeria needs are not strong individuals but strong institutions with in-built adherence to the rule of law complemented by effective law enforcement. This is essential to breaking the cycle of impunity in our country.
Even as we lament the growing number of corruption cases, it is also evident that they persist because if any measures were taken to combat the challenge, Nigerians are yet to see the impact. With revelations of how hundreds of billions of Naira of public funds end up in private hands, the federal government can only allow the problem to fester at our collective peril.
Access to information increases the responsiveness of government bodies, while simultaneously having a positive effect on the levels of public participation in a country. Government officials constitute the greatest barriers to access to public information in Nigeria despite the Freedom of Information law. A situation where agencies of government are not audited as at when due leaves much to be desired. There is hardly any government agency that is audited as at when due.