The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that corruption must be reduced to the barest minimum in order for the country to make significant progress in its developmental plans.
The minister stated this at a seminar with the theme: “Corruption: An impediment to the Sustainable Development Goals “ to commemorate the 2016 International Anti-Corruption Day in Abuja on Friday.
Fayemi said that corruption does not only undermine development but also a major enabler for other crimes and anomalies, thereby perpetuating a vicious cycle.
The minister said the federal government had an array of legal framework and institutions to fight corruption as well as the commitment to nip it in the bud. He, however said that governments still had a lot more to do to effectively curtail corruption in the country.
On solid minerals development, the minister said concerted effort is being made to improve the resource base of the country in order to enhance development.
“We have now placed greater emphasis on developing the solid mineral sector. The recently released roadmap for the sector will ensure enhanced revenue for the government and the communities where these natural resources are located while ensuring transparency and accountability in the process,” he said.
He explained that Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) was working to develop an appropriate roadmap for those disclosures in accordance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) principles.
According to him, for the government to succeed in this fight, it must ensure effective implementation of the laws holistically and across board without fear or favour.
According to him, “proactive efforts must be sustained to make corruption risk assessment and implementing remediation and integrity plans a culture within our MDAs.
“To effectively deploy preventive and sanction mechanisms, the anti-corruption and accountability institutions have to be adequately equipped with appropriate financial and human resources.
The Head, Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reform (TUGAR), Ms. Lilian Ekeanyanwu, in her contribution, said that corruption had remained a major impediment to national development as well as to the SDGs.
