The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), has said that for the whistle blower policy to succeed, it was important to protect the identity of whistle blowers to avoid any form of intimidation and or threat to life.
AFRICMIL made this known at a one-day sensitization seminar for staff of financial institutions and government agencies organised by the Avant-Garde Interbiz Projects Limited in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abuja on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.
Presenting a paper on whistleblowing as an integral part of the fight against corruption, the Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, represented by the organisation’s Programme Manager, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, noted that some whistle-blowers have however exposed their identity which has led to their continuous victimisation.
He said that AFRICMIL has been carrying out advocacy to help reinstate them while pushing for effective whistle blower protection and safety.
Onumah emphasized that it was important Nigerians see the ill in concealing information about corrupt practices, as it remains a vicious cycle that has kept the country underdeveloped while the masses suffer the consequences.
Noting that the Federal Government alone can not root out the menace without the input of citizens, he urged Nigerians to take the opportunity offered by government and expose every form of corrupt practices they know of so as to make society a better place.
In his opening address, the Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr Garba Abari, said the seminar was to promote continuous discussions against corruption and to also register the topic in the consciousness of Nigerians.
He said it was imperative for all to begin to see the negative effects of corruption on the entire system.
“The objective is to see that people understand what corruption is all about and why it is dangerous to indulge corrupt individuals,” he said.
Another guest speaker, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, CP Bala Chiroma, advised the Federal Government, including Financial Institutions to be thorough when recruiting staff by conducting integrity tests to ascertain their trustworthiness.
Presenting a paper on cybercrime, fraud, money laundering and security consciousness, Chiroma said staff must be vetted from time to time to ensure their integrity is not in doubt. He said most fraud cases were perpetrated by staff who at some point were noted to be honest but changed over time.
He also noted that money laundering was one form of corrupt practices in the civil service that had impacted negatively on the country’s economy, adding that strong internal control mechanisms must be put in place by both government and private businesses to curb the menace.
Similarly, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), urged the federal government to not only streamline the fight against cybercrime at the State, National and International levels but to establish virtual taskforce targeted at internet-facilitated organised crime.
In his paper on cybercrime, fraud and money laundering, Iyeru Oluwole of the Special Investigative Unit at the ICPC, said it had been a challenge bursting the plans of syndicates due to lack of inter-agency and international cooperation.
He said it was a known fact that in the networked world that Cyber crime is trans-border and transnational.
Other speakers at the workshop were the DG, Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Relations, Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), represented by Longe Abiodun who is the Director, Internal Audit of the NDIC, among others.
