Accountability, service to humanity must be sacrosanct- Obazee

Special Investigator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and other Government Business Entities, Mr Jim Obazee, is a patriotic and fearless Nigerian. He was saddled with the onerous task of unravelling malfeasance at CBN in the days of the former governor, Godwin Emefiele. During ThisNigeria newspaper’s Annual Lecture and Gold Prize Award themed: ‘25 years of Nigeria’s unbroken democracy: Prospects and possibilities’ held in Abuja last week, Obazee, who received a prize in the Public Service category, spoke glowingly with CLEMENT ADEYI on accountability in governance as well as Nigeria’s democracy, 25 years after

On June 27, you were one of the few distinguished personalities garlanded with special awards by ThisNigeria newspaper during its Annual Lecture and Gold Prize Award, what does the award mean to you?

The award seems to encourage us, especially those of us who believe in service to humanity and who believe in the country with a strong mind-set and determination to make it work and also make life meaningful to the people whom we serve, particularly in our current democratic dispensation. I am delighted that at this time the journalism industry is facing crucial challenges, we still have credible newspapers like ThisNigeria that have come out to demonstrate strategies that involve celebrating those who contribute to humanity. I salute the courage of such credible newspapers, particularly ThisNigeria that came out boldly to demonstrate this kind of commitment to encourage us.

You have zero tolerance for corruption. You also have a penchant for deploying accountability apparatus to uphold the tenets of transparency in public service especially to fight corruption. What is your message to Nigerians and the government in this context?

I am delighted that viewers would know that everybody would account for his acts or actions. To have commenced some means that some are still in process. So, we are looking forward to a situation where we begin to talk about accountability, probity, and transparency. We would also be able to talk about statistical codes of corporate governance so that people would be held responsible. There was a time in this country when a company came out and said that we lied about stocktaking. Instead of them being punished when you go to buy their shares, their shares started going up. It means we are not looking at accountability. But going forward I think Nigerians would need to know that we need to be accountable and accountability should come with consequences.

About accountability that you have emphasized, you would agree that the subsidy removal palliatives that the Federal Government (FG) has been promising to assuage the plight of Nigerians in the wake of the current mass hunger in the country are not forthcoming in most states of the federation as some governors are not living up to the expectations. How do you think accountability could apply in this circumstance and what is your message to the government?

Of course, you know that we have State Assemblies. We also have National Assemblies. The assemblies are there to look at inefficiencies in governance, look at ways and corruption in government businesses. So, the subsidy removal palliatives approved by the Federal Government should be the role of states or national assemblies to address. They should be able to come up with better ways to address it make it a reality and boost the citizenry’s confidence in government and the democracy we are talking about today.

Don’t you think that the special honour marked by the award you earned today is an opportunity to pass special messages to Nigerians?

Yes, indeed. First of all, I dedicate the award to all Nigerians. I also celebrate the president, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for taking a look at the malfeasance at CBN. But let us not only know the truth but also follow it to the point of penalty.

The theme of this year’s edition of ThisNigeria’s annual lecture and gold prize Awards was “25 Years of Nigeria’s Unbroken Democracy: Prospects and Possibilities.” What is your assessment of democracy, 25 years after?

We are making progress. That is what we are seeing. We are making progress and we shall continue to climb. We have no choice. We cannot go back. We just have to look forward to a better Nigeria.