A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), said in Kaduna on  Thursday that corruption had made governance in the country difficult. He, therefore, argued that the war against the menace must be decisive.

Gowon spoke at the Northern Nigeria Stakeholders’ Town Hall Engagement organised by CITA- NGO at Arewa House, Kaduna.

The former Head of State noted that corruption was responsible for the deterioration of the quality of infrastructure, healthcare delivery among others in the country.

This, Gowon noted, had robbed the government of the respect and loyalty of the citizens and eroded the authority of the state.

Gowon stated, “Truth be told, the fight against corruption is a fight that we must overcome, we must win it and win it decisively.

“Corruption has also caused deterioration in the quality of infrastructure, healthcare delivery and education among others.”

The former Nigerian leader said the current economic situation facing the country was one of the most troubling economic crisis ever.

He added, “I believe that the troubles and problems we have gone through in the past few years have helped Nigerians to see more clearly the difference between a self-sustaining economy and one that relies totally on a wasting asset such as oil.”

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who was the guest speaker at the event, said  the path  to growth and prosperity “is investing  in basic infrastructure like roads, airports railways and information technology as well as enhancing fiscal policy more than ever before.”

Emefile, who was represented by the zonal director of the CBN in Kaduna, Alhaji Ahmed Gusau, said the agricultural sector remained the backbone of the nation’s economy.

He said the apex bank had committed N23bn in the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme with active participation across 14 states of the federation.

“We are gratified that the CBN’s borrower’s programme, together with other initiatives like Commercial Agricultural Scheme and NIRSAL are proving to be successful in several states,” he said.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki , noted that  the role of the CBN  in charting monetary policy direction and its economic management role were  difficult to understand.

The Senate President, who  was represented by a former governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu  Wamako, said that the Senate was working to create appropriate legislative interventions to resolve the issues of obsolete regulatory and legal frameworks in the system, reduce cost of doing business, improve investor confidence and reduce obstacles associated with doing business in Nigeria.”