The U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, met with five steering members of the Religious Leaders Anti-Corruption Committee on August 25 to discuss their ongoing efforts to counter corruption in Nigeria through teaching, preaching, and government advocacy.

Reverend Ladi Thompson of the Living Waters Unlimited Church and Imam Shefiu Abdulkareem Majemu of the Strength in Diversity Development Center represented the steering committee for the interfaith group, which took shape after a January 2016 anti-corruption dialogue between religious leaders in Lagos and U.S. Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs Shaun Casey.

Committee members include Reverend George Diala of the Covenant Foundation Christian Center, Alhajj Tajudeen Atanda Babatunde Osho of the Lagos Central Mosque, and Mr. Soyemi Ololade Ismail of the Strength in Diversity Development Center.

Joined by U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission David J. Young and Consul General Francis John Bray, the committee representatives shared with Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield their views on the effects of corruption on the development of Nigeria, and the weakening of government institutions and accountability.

They discussed their plans to promote anti-corruption norms and efforts through training and mentoring programs, development of educational materials that promote integrity from a religious standpoint, as well as traditional and social media campaigns.

Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield thanked the religious leaders for their work on an issue that was crucial for Nigeria, and urged them to continue to work together as a team, and with the U.S. Mission in Nigeria.

I encourage you to become more focused, more creative, and more collaborative as you continue to work to enhance your anti-corruption impact, said Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield. As moral leaders in Nigerian society, you have taken a very important step to get at the root of the problem of corruption.

She noted that religious leaders would benefit from greater cooperation with other civil society actors, in order to create more peaceful, stable, and secure communities.

8月25日，美国的非洲事务国务卿琳达与“宗教领袖反腐败委员会”的五位领导人会晤，就通过他们正着力采用的教学、传教、政府倡导等手段来抗击尼日利亚腐败问题。

来自“活水无限教会”的教士拉迪与“多样性能力发展中心”的伊玛目代表“宗教领袖反腐败委员会”这个多宗教群体。这一群体继尼日利亚多名宗教领袖与美国宗教与全球事务特别代表肖恩就反腐进行对话后，于2016年1月成立。

该委员会成员目前包括：立约基础基督教中心的教士乔治、拉各斯中心清真寺的巴巴通德、多样性能力发展中心的伊斯梅尔。

美国大使馆副首席大卫、大使馆总领事弗朗西斯也参加了这次会议。会中，来自委员会的几位代表与助力部长托马斯分享了他们关于腐败对尼日利亚发展的影响以及对机关部门和问责制弱化的观点。

他们还商讨了通过培训、导师项目、教育素材制作、传统和社交媒体的活动，来提升反腐标准、增强反腐力度。其中，教育素材制作从宗教的观点来看，能增强正气。

托马斯为各位宗教领袖在对尼日利亚至关重要的议题上所作出的努力，并敦促各位领袖能团结在一起，同时也与美国驻华使馆团结在一起。

托马斯说道，“我鼓励大家在推进反腐工作的过程中提高专注性、创造力和协作性。各位作为尼日利亚的道德领袖，已经在根治反腐的路上迈出了关键性的第一步”。

她也表示道，各位宗教领袖在打造更和平、更稳定、更安全的社群的过程中，也会因与其他民间团体加强合作而获益。

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词汇解析：

1. steer 控制，引导，领导

Nick steered them into the nearest seats.

尼克领着他们到最近的座位。

2. ongoing 正在进行的，持续存在的

There is an ongoing debate on the issue.

关于这个问题争论还在继续。

3. preach 说教，宣扬，布道

He said he was trying to preach peace and tolerance to his people.

他说他正试图向他的人民宣扬和平与宽容。

4. interfaith 跨宗教的，多种信仰的

And we have a set of curricular up there, we have training guys for how to run your interfaith youth service.

我们的网站有一系列课程，我们有培训人员,知道大家如何参与跨信仰青年服务活动。