Nigeria and Afghanistan are “two of the most corrupt countries in the world”.- David Cameron

 

There was outrage yesterday over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s description of Nigeria and Afghanistan as “fantastically corrupt”.
Although an official of Downing Street, the British PM’s office, said the statement was not meant to be derogatory, the Federal Government expressed dismay.Cameron, briefing the Queen on the anti-Corruption Summit he is hosting in London tomorrow, said Nigeria and Afghanistan are “two of the most corrupt countries in the world”.
He spoke last month at one of the events marking
the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth 11. But the short footage of his speech was aired yesterday by British television station ITV News.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was present when Cameron made the remark.
Cameron said: “We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.
“Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.”
But the Archbishop chipped in that President Muhammadu Buhari is not corrupt: “But this particular president is actually not corrupt; Oh yes, he’s trying very hard this one,” he said.
President Buhari and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani are due to attend the summit alongside United States Secretary of State John Kerry and the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
President Buhari left for London yesterday from Katsina State, where he had been on a visit since last Friday.
The Presidency described the comment as “embarrassing”.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity to the President, Mallam  Garba Shehu, said: “This is embarrassing to us, to say the least, given the good work that the President is doing
“The eyes of the world are on what is happening here.”
He argued that the “Prime Minister must be looking at an old snapshot of Nigeria. “Things are changing with corruption and everything else.”
Shehu, however, welcomed the remarks by the Archbishop of Canterbury who said President Buhari is not corrupt.
“Thank you to the Archbishop. We have great admiration for the good relationship between our two countries,” he added.
Transparency International, an international anti-corruption watchdog, also rose in Nigeria’s defence, blaming the UK and its overseas outposts for encouraging corruption.
Its Managing Director Cobus de Swardt said: “There is no doubt that historically, Nigeria and Afghanistan have had very high levels of corruption, and that continues to this day.
“But the leaders of those countries have sent strong signals that they want things to change, and the London Anti-Corruption Summit creates an opportunity for all the countries present to sign up to a new era.
“This affects the UK as much as other countries: we should not forget that by providing a safe haven for corrupt assets, the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are a big part of the world’s corruption problem.”
According to the Press Association, asked whether Cameron regretted his comment, a Downing Street spokesman said: “Both leaders of ( Nigeria and  Afghanistan) have been invited to the summit because they are driving the fight against corruption in  their countries. The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with them as they do so.”
The spokesman declined to say whether the two countries had contacted Downing Street following the Cameron’s remark
He, however, said that Cameron was aware that he was being filmed when he made the comment. “The cameras were very close to him. There were multiple cameras in the room.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof Fidelis Oditah, who is also a Queen’s Counsel (QC), believes Cameron’s statement is true, but politically incorrect and impolite.
“The comment may be impolite and is politically incorrect because as far as we know, Nigeria and Britain are friendly nations.
“I don’t think it’s good politics to make such a statement about an ally on the eve of the anti-corruption convention.
“Much as it is diplomatically incorrect, I think that the substantive content of that comment is generally correct,” he said.
Oditah does not think Nigeria should demand an apology from Downing Street following the prime minister’s remarks.
“Is Nigeria not ‘fantastically corrupt’? Why should it demand an apology for speaking the truth? It may be impolite, but the fact is that the President said his agenda is to fight corruption to a stand still, and pretty much the first 12 months of his administration has been dominated by headlines of ‘corruption’. I don’t see why people should be so sensitive about the statement.

Source:The Nation