Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Friday, described corruption as a deadly cankerworm that leaves great nations in ruins and puts the people at a great disadvantage.
Soyinka said that without attitudinal change and the readiness of everyone to begin to do the right thing, winning the war against the mounting corruption challenge in the country remains an impossible task.
The world-renowned scholar disclosed this at the 26th annual Wole Soyinka Lectures organised by the National Association of Seadogs, otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity, to mark the 90th birthday of Soyinka, who, along with six other undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, founded the group in 1952.
The lecture held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, had as its theme “The Baby or the Bathwater: Navigating The Dark Tunnels of Systemic Corruption to Nationhood.”
Soyinka, while commenting on the lecture delivered by former governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said that the challenge of corruption is such that runs from the top to the bottom in Nigeria.
The guru added that only the decision of every citizen to change for the better can help halt its deadly march in the country
He said, “The particular aspect of this lecture that struck me is corruption. Corruption is not just when you change money, it is a cankerworm that eats deep into the fabric of society from the top to the bottom and corrupts our very nature, our very existence
“And one aspect of the lecture emphasised that a cure for corruption begins from the inside. Yes, we can talk about institutions and government, we can talk about the exercise of power unfairly, inordinately to the disadvantage of the rest of the community, and all that as part of corruption, but ultimately, the solution, short-term, immediate, and long-term, must begin from the inside, and this was one of the motives for establishing Pyrates Confraternity 62 years ago.”
