-Deborah Akinyosoye
Panelists at a peace summit on Saturday urged Nigerians to take ownership of public funds and hold leaders accountable to eliminate corruption and engender development.
The panelists spoke at the 2024 Justice Development Peace Commission (JDPC) Summit of the Catholic Church.
They said that the nonchalant attitude of Nigerians toward public funds and assets was allowing unpatriotic politicians to steal public funds.
The theme of the summit was “Cultivating a Culture of Peace in Nigeria: A Call to Action”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was attended by members of the civil society, captains of industries, the Muslim community and the Catholic faithful.
It took place at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Ikeja.
Legal icon and one of the panellists, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), decried the nonchalant attitude of some Nigerians toward public assets.
“As a people, we need to take ownership of our patrimony and assets of common good to make headway.
“This seems a general parochial attitude toward public funds and the attendant looting by few, while the majority of us affected by the looting look the other, way and should stop.
“The treasury belongs to all of us. The earlier we know this, the better for us. There is no other people who will put a stop to treasury looting in our society than us,” he said.
The human rights activist urged Nigerians to monitor the disbursement of constituency allocations in the Houses of Assembly and the House of Representatives to know what accrued to their areas and monitor the use as well as protest when wrongly used or diverted.
The Executive Director of Community Life Project (CLP), Mrs Ngozi Iwere, said that the more people showed no concern for public funds and their application, the more the managers deepened looting.
Mr Ayodele Adewale, another panellist, expressed the hope that local government autonomy would make council chairmen more accountable.
Adewale, a former Amuwo Odofin council Chairman, noted that local councils were closer to the people.
He said that reforms at that level would impact more at the grassroots.
He urged the church to sponsor credible youths to run for elections to facilitate development.
In his remarks, the JDPC Director, Lagos Catholic Archdiocese, organisers of the programme, Rev. Fr. Raymond Aniliafo, said that the organisation would continue with its mandate of providing a platform for Nigerians to advance.
The director decried ethnic profiling by some people, especially during electioneering, and urged an end to it.
JDPC is the social arm of the Catholic church with a focus on addressing societal ills.