Corruption: Nigerians must live within their means, says Buhari


President Muhammadu Buhari has said that one way to fight corruption in Nigeria is for citizens to live within their means.

He added that as long as Nigerians want to live flamboyantly, corruption would continue to thrive.

Buhari said this in an interview with the national broadcaster, NTA on Thursday.

When asked about the new leadership of the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and how the fight against corruption had been revamped, Buhari said, “The problem of corruption is a continuous one for a developing country like Nigeria. People have to accept living within their means. As long as people don’t want to live within their means, so long will corruption be with us.”(sic)

Speaking further, the retired general said, “The best way is funding by departments, ministries and especially by states. Now, look at local governments in this country, the third tier of government, it is getting less and less effective and they are supposed to be the most effective because they deal with bottom-up especially when it comes to education, healthcare, which are the basic things for the majority of Nigerians.

“Nigeria must conserve resources to give education and healthcare to the needy.”

Buhari had in the last two days been interviewed on national TV where he spoke on issues affecting the country, from insecurity to economy, state policing and more.

Fighting corruption was been a major campaign point of the Buhari’s administration from its inception and had been repeated over the year. However, stakeholders have varied thoughts on the success of the anti-corruption fight.