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President seeks churches' help against corruption

    ABIDJAN

    President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked Nigeria's churches for help in his crusade to uproot corruption.

    "I appeal to the church this day to go after those who are lost to drugs, who are lost to crime, who are lost to corruption," he said in a message read on his behalf by Justice Minister Kanu Agabi at a meeting in the central town of Jos of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.

    Appealing for church action against other forms of immorality, he said the institution must meet society's moral, social, intellectual and political needs.

    Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said the Nigerian press had performed well in buttressing government's fight against corruption, but should continue to do so through factual reporting.

    "I believe the press has been wonderful in their investigative reports, but I don't believe that their trials should take place on the pages of newspapers," `The Guardian' reported him as saying.

    Support for the anti-corruption drive has also come from the
    African Development Bank (ADB). Visiting ADB president, Omar Kabbaj, said at a dinner in Abuja that the Bank "fully supports" Obasanjo's efforts to build good government.

    Kabbaj said the bank was ready to help its members achieve economic growth and social development, and reduce poverty.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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