The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Monday blamed the failure of successive governments in Nigeria to jail or severely punish thieves and treasury looters for prevalence of corruption in the country.
The minister, who stated this in his address at the 2021 Founders’ Lecture at the University of Port Harcourt, urged Nigerians to stop celebrating people who enrich themselves by stealing public funds.
Such actions, according to him, encourage corruption.
Amaechi, however, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was doing its best in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
The minister said: “Until we begin to jail thieves, corruption would continue. Why corruption is on the increase in Nigeria is because the offenders have not been punished, nobody has been jailed.”
Amaechi also disclosed that the Federal Government plans to construct three new seaports across the country.
He said the government was giving priority attention to the transportation sector because of its importance to the nation’s economy.
“No nation can have an efficient transport system without good seaports. This explains why the Federal government was planning to construct three new seaports across the country.
“These will be located in Onne, Rivers State, Lekki in Lagos, and Warri in Delta State,” the minister added.
