By Emmanuel Elebeke

Abuja—The Federal Government has said it was stepping up its anti-corruption war to revive the nation’s ailing economy.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this yesterday at the 2016 Annual Lecture of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, in Abuja.

He maintained that government was now more committed than ever in tackling both issues of corruption and the economy in order to achieve a better result.

He said: ‘’That’s why the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture launched a sensitization campaign against corruption on January 18, 2016, with a view to alerting Nigerians to the evils of corruption and carrying them along in the efforts by the government to tackle the menace.

‘’Fighting Corruption and Growing a Sustainable Nigerian Economy,’’ he said it could not have come at a better time, ‘’as this administration is stepping up its anti-corruption fight while also seeking to bring the economy out of recession and put it on the path to sustainable growth.

‘’It is also noteworthy that the topic for this 2016 lecture incorporates two of the three cardinal programmes of this administration, which are the fight against corruption and the revamping of the economy to create jobs and provide wealth. The third priority, of course, is the fight against insecurity.’’

The Minister argued that there was a direct correlation between corruption and economic growth, pointing out that corruption stifled economic growth in many ways, including discouraging foreign investment, reducing tax revenue and preventing infrastructural development.

‘’In other words, in countries where you have a high level of corruption, there is reduced economic growth and, of course, higher poverty level.

‘’That’s why the Berlin-based global civil society organization, Transparency International, said corruption, especially public sector corruption, is about so much more than missing money.