Why the Vision
Corruption as we all know it exists at every level from the top to the bottom. I will use my personal experiences to highlight my points. I have often experienced sending a staff member on an errand and there is a small change left and the person does not bother to bring back the change, it is automatically assumed that it belongs to them, this really baffles me, but this Naija land, I am told each time I query this habit. If this is acceptable behavior at the bottom of the ladder what is it like at the top?? Our police force, those who are responsible for enforcing the law are the greatest law breakers, from demanding money from you at every police check point. We all have stories to tell, I will just share this one, one evening around 6pm, I dropped up a friend from Lagos GRA to Maryland bus stop and bought a loaf of bread, I did not even take my wallet, I used coins I kept in my car. Whilst making a U-turn under the Maryland bridge, a policeman stopped me, and asked the usual questions and I answered them all, he then asked for weekend money and I said I had none, then he asked for my bread loaf and I politely told him it was for the children’s breakfast and sorry I could not give it to him. I left with mixed emotions, one was the audacity to ask and even ask for my bread loaf and also pity, wondering if he really needed the bread and I was just being mean. These two examples shows that a variety of poor integrity is widely displayed at the grass root level, and if any correction must be made, we must address it at the grass root level as well. These encounters in the flouting of accountability laws, i.e., lack of integrity and responsibility each time I visited Nigeria were the birth pains of the ‘Accountability Movement”, as when I am away from Nigeria, I deal with accountability issues routinely, managing donor funds appropriately and ensuring that the projects are fulling our commitments to the people we are serving. For me, I was living a life of accountability away from Nigeria and generally frustrated by the poor show of it in Nigeria. I felt I had to do something, no matter how small, as the Chinese proverb says, the Journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. I decided to take the first step and with my RRHM family (Renewal and Refreshing Hosanna Ministry) we launched the Accountability Movement on the 15th of November 2015 at Afe Babalola Hall University of Lagos, with approximately 200 people in attendance.
