ISSUE By Louis Achi
According to former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, “The fight against corruption is the fight for the future. Corruption corrodes the fabric of society and undermines trust.” The world’s former top diplomat’s position certainly finds fundamental resonance with the position recently canvassed by Justice of the Supreme Court, Moore Abraham Aseimo Adumein.
Justice Adumein had recently declared that the nation’s justice system depends on credible evidence, effective investigation, and proper handling of cases while commending the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), for deploying cutting edge technology and forensic tools to root out corruption and financial crimes in the country.
“This is a game changer in winning the war on corruption and financial crimes currently bleeding the country dry,” His Lordship proclaimed recently during the Institute’s 9th Direct membership training graduation and Fellowship award ceremony at EFCC Academy in Abuja, shortly after his conferment as a Fellow of the Institute.
According to Justice Adumein, “CIFCFIN continues to engage with international investigative frameworks and proposes their adoption in sensitive national processes, such as the electoral system management and public sector reforms. These practices must be guided by credible reports, transparency, and professionalism.”
The circumspect Supreme Court Justice also added that one of the most outstanding achievements of CIFCFIN is the training and capacity building of over 5,000 forensic professionals across Nigeria and beyond since its inception. His words: “This is no small effort. It has deepened institutional knowledge, expanded professional competence, and enhanced our ability to respond to complex realities. Through this work, the institute has positioned both public and private organisations to adopt structured forensic methodologies.”
For good measure, he added the institute’s efforts had strengthened transparency, reinforced control systems, and improved organisational resilience, noting that the efforts had significantly contributed to a world where institutions must address increasingly sophisticated threats and challenges.
With a significant sense of history laced with awareness of effective nation building, Justice Adumein brought even sharper clarity and urgency to his position. His words: “Winning the war against corruption is a task for all Nigerians. We should always examine our consciences and if we do so by standing firm, honest, just and equitable in what we do in our respective offices or in all areas of our endeavour.
“I can tell you that we will live up to some of the portions of our renewed National Anthem, and we will definitely build a nation ‘where no man is oppressed, a nation blessed with peace and plenty, and handover to our children banners without stain.’”
He correctly stressed that forensic practice has moved to the centre of justice administration, providing clarity, supporting evidence-based conclusions, and strengthening accountability. The Justice was further quoted as saying that, “Forensic practice supports this directly and indirectly, strengthening both operational processes and institutional integrity.”
It could be recalled that on receiving the news of his winning the 2017 Nobel prize in literature, the British author Kazuo Ishiguro observed that, “It comes at a time when the world is uncertain about its values, its leadership and its safety.” Today, Nigeria is uncertain about its values, its leadership and its safety. And according to emerging consensus, a key take off point of changing this regressive narrative is caging corruption.
Lending a bold voice to this transformational project, especially from the conservative background of the nation’s apex judicial establishment, speaks to new hope of a new Nigeria. Significantly, Justice Adumein has an impeccable track record in the Nigerian judiciary long before his ascension to the Supreme Court.
This visibly informed his choice as one of the few Nigerians on the bench found worthy and given approval to undertake a Post Graduate Certificate course in Corruption Studies at Hong Kong University in collaboration with the world-renowned Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Academy, Hong Kong.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, the President and Chairman-in-Council, CICFIN, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, said that Justice Adumein is an anti-corruption warrior who the Institute is privileged to have as an ally “as we roll up our sleeves to root out corruption, fraud and other financial crimes in Nigeria.”
This is also a good time to recall former French president, Giscard D’Estaing’s counsel to statesmen and world leaders: “There can be no response to history without effort.” D’Estaing’s sage counsel was clearly inspired by the environment of the human crisis that defined his era. He was born during the First World War and fought in the second bloody, global conflagration.
Cut to the bone, D’Estaing’s core, timeless message was simply that there can be no meaningful response to history, no transformative change without concomitant effort, especially at a time of crisis. By speaking genuinely to the issues that bog the national journey and endanger the nation-state, Justice Adumein is keying into the sage counsel of the former French president, as well as reaffirming the sturdy principles that have driven his professional trajectory to-date.
Corruption is indisputably a complex phenomenon that continues to persist in many countries across the world. It has a direct impact on the three dimensions of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental – and affects each of the five pillars of the 2030 agenda: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships.
Despite progress, corruption is still a pressing challenge. Resources lost to corruption globally exceed the estimated $10 trillion required to eradicate poverty by 2030. Money lost to corruption is development denied to those most at risk of being left behind.
In Nigeria, despite the massive efforts being made by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to stem the malaise, corruption remains an existential challenge to be conquered. The process is undoubtedly on. But it definitely needs powerful voices from powerful establishments to speak up and dig in for the long haul. Justice of the Supreme Court, Moore Abraham Aseimo Adumein is clearly one such voice and from one such establishment.
And just as Ban Ki-moon accurately proclaimed: “The fight against corruption is the fight for the future. Corruption corrodes the fabric of society and undermines trust.” The fight for Nigeria’s future must indeed begin today.
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