Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala talks to Christiane Amanpour on CNN last night during an interview, when asked about how corruption has eaten us deep in Nigeria, she responded emphatically that, Nigeria has about 170 million population and 99.9% of the population are corruption free and they are just hardworking people who go about their businesses everyday to earn a living and that they just need a trusted government to manage their resources
AMANPOUR: You are obviously a passionate defender of your country. You are a person who calls for transparency and honesty and best practices.
There is a huge problem with corruption in your country. The president promised to address this stuff. And the latest is that an ally of his, a former governor who was convicted of stealing millions of dollars, has been pardoned, embezzling $55 million in public funds.
Now, the U.S. calls that a setback for the fight against corruption.
I mean how do you answer that?
OKONJO-IWEALA: How do I answer that question?
OK, listen to what I have to say on corruption. And I think I have quite a bit to say. I wrote a book recently where I also had a whole chapter on that issue called, “Reforming the Unreformable.”
Nigeria does have a problem with corruption. And so do many other countries, including developed countries. I don’t like the fact that when people mention the name Nigeria, the next thing they say is corruption.
This is a country of 170 million people; 99.9 percent of them are honest, hard-working citizens who just want to get on with their lives and they want a government that delivers for them.
What we’ve said is that in order to help block any leakages and help to, you know, stop any attempts at corruption or taking monies, we must build electronic platforms. We must distance people from the money.
These things were recommended by the World Bank and the IMF. I used to work at the World Bank. We are doing them.
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