NBA Anti-Corruption Chair Calls for Moral Reawakening to Fight Nigeria’s Graft
Babafemi Badejo, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee, warned that Nigeria cannot overcome corruption through laws and enforcement agencies alone, stressing the need for a moral reawakening. Speaking at the inaugural Magodo Associates Seminar Series in Lagos on Sunday, June 14, he presented a paper titled ‘Re-awakening the Nigerian Conscience Against Corruption.’ Badejo noted that while institutions like the EFCC and ICPC exist, graft persists due to deep structural and social resistance, with society often celebrating unexplained wealth and weakening its moral compass.
He described corruption as having evolved from a deviant act to a norm, from an exception to an expectation, and from a secretive transaction to a publicly celebrated achievement, leading to what he called ‘moral anaesthesia’—a dulled ability to distinguish right from wrong. Badejo argued that laws work best when they reinforce existing moral values, warning that weak ethical foundations demand unsustainable levels of enforcement. He linked corruption to massive economic losses in oil and gas, weakened healthcare, education, and infrastructure, and worsened insecurity through defence sector fraud that fuels terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping.
To reverse the trend, Badejo advocated for ethics and civic responsibility in school curricula, stronger whistleblower protection, greater support for investigative journalism, and active involvement of religious institutions in promoting integrity. He urged traditional rulers to withhold honors from individuals of questionable integrity and called for anti-corruption agencies to pair prosecutions with sustained public education campaigns. Emphasizing shared responsibility, he said families, communities, schools, religious bodies, and the private sector must join the fight, declaring, “If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us.”