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Nigeria’s Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Alhaji Hassan Ardo said on Saturday that his stay in his host country had given him a wider understanding of the damage corruption had caused in Nigeria.

Speaking in Jalingo at a dinner with journalists organized to mark the Press Freedom Day, the envoy said Nigerian had a lot to learn from the Caribbean Island on the extent to which a nation could develop if corruption was checked.

“Look at a country like Trinidad and Tobago; it makes most of its earnings from Tourism but because the resources are properly used, the level of development there is just amazing.

“Their roads are well tarred, power supply is constant, and their institutions are working.

“This is because they do not play with corruption; people value their reputation and discipline is not compromised.

“That is why there is low crime rate; there is orderliness and high level of patriotism and respect for the law,” he said.

.He regretted that over the years, successive leaders in Nigeria had failed to do enough to tackle corruption, thereby allowing it to become part of the norm, thereby stagnating development in the country despite the abundant human and natural resources.

“We have the wealth to be one of the most developed countries in the world but today, it is as if we have not even started because some people have decided to loot the country blind.

“Corruption is not only endemic, but literally runs through our veins, and that is why we must have change of attitude

“It simply does not make sense that a person would pack money here and take it abroad without even his immediate family knowing about it.

“One day, he wakes up and decides to die, and that is the end of the money; nobody can trace it; even his family does not benefit from his irresponsibility,” he lamented.

Ardo said he was optimistic that Nigeria could still explore her full potentials if citizens joined hands to fight corruption, especially with the current administration’s determination to wipe out corruption in all facets.

While congratulating journalists on the occasion of Press Freedom Day, Ardo urged them to “remain critical in the discharge of their duties” as the survival of the nation to a large extent, “hangs on their shoulders.”

NAN

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