As Nigeria marks 60 years of nationhood, Chief Executive of Basic Rights Watch, Austin Ekwujuru, has urged Nigerians to demand accountability and transparency from their leaders.

Africa’s most populous nation, which gained independence from the United Kingdom on 01 October, 1960, has an abundance of natural resources.

Although Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil exporter, and has the largest natural gas reserves on the continent, available data shows that about 87 million Nigerians, or half the population, live on less than US$1.90 per day.

Corruption, according to economic analysts, has given room for diversion of the limited public funds, undermined economic progress and impeded policy changes required for Nigeria’s development.

Ekwujura, against this backdrop, said that every Nigerian should hold their leaders accountable.

‘As citizens, we are duty-bound to ensure that we engage with the government at all levels because it is our responsibility to provide citizen-led oversight over what the government is doing’, he told Development Diaries.

‘We should not stay by the fence or by the corner and say we are doing our thing because at the end of the day government is still using the resources of the nation.

‘They are using taxpayers’ money and the commonwealth to run the country. So if we do not provide a level of oversight then we are not meeting up to our responsibilities’.

On the role of the citizens in the development of the country, he said, ‘The highest office in the land is the office of the citizen, so we should be able to leverage on the opportunity that we have and ensure that civilly we can hold the government to account’.

Ekwujuru, who heads a youth-led organisation focused on promoting the rights of Nigerians, is a staunch supporter of the localisation and implementation of the Open Government Partnership in Nigeria.

Photo source: j-No