By Doyin Ojosipe
The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) have commended the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) for its relentless support of the anti-corruption fight through numerous whistleblowing advocacy campaigns.
In its quest for good governance and accountability, AFRICMIL in 2017 launched the Corruption Anonymous project aimed at building public support and confidence in the whistleblowing policy of the government of Nigeria.
The programme, which is being supported by the MacArthur Foundation, was initiated to raise awareness among Nigerians on the importance of supporting the anti-graft war and exposing corrupt individuals.
Johnson Oludare, Assistant Director at the Federal Ministry of Finance and head of whistleblowing unit (PICA), commended the not-for-profit organisation at a one day whistleblowing and anti-corruption capacity building workshop organised for Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and Civil Society Organisations in Kaduna on Thursday, February 13,2020.
He expressed satisfaction over the organisation’s involvement of youths in the whistleblowing and anti-corruption campaign.
“You see the age bracket of the participant, 80 percent of them are below 40, they are young and you hear the kind of questions they are asking, what it means is that they have every tool to engage their colleagues, already, we see the change agents in them and AFRICMIL made this happen,” he said.
Oludare urged Nigerians not to look out for compensation before exposing corrupt persons who have been stealing them.
He said that the participation of some Nigerians in the whistleblowing process was paying off already as the federal government was able to recover over two billion naira from whistleblowing in 2019 alone.
On his part, Director General, NOA, Dr Garba Abari who was represented by Kaduna state Director, Galadima Zubairu Zoha, said despite the odds, AFRICMIL was one of the few CSOs that supports the anti-graft war by assembling virtually all stakeholders for the purpose of raising awareness among Nigerians.
“The workshop,” he observed, “did not only assemble community based organisations that have the mandate to engage, the media is here, agencies of federal government such as NOA, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) are here to add impetus to the awareness campaign against corruption.”
Calling on Nigerians to eschew wrongdoings and be honest in their dealings, Abari said there cannot be development in a corruption-ridden society. He added that some Nigerians had in one way or the other contributed to corrupt practices by pushing or aiding public servants to steal public funds.
Mr Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman, ICPC, who was represented by Kaduna State Commissioner, Mr Shehu Yahaya, revealed that the Commission has launched an application tagged ‘Wahala Dey’ which could be accessed on Androids and IOS by Nigerians to report any case of corruption around them.
He however urged Nigerians to be sure of their reports with proofs before reporting to avoid being sanctioned for false allegations.
Abu Simon, Deputy Director, Defence Service Department, CCB, said the anti-corruption fight seem a bit difficult due to lack of political will on the part of government, noting that until it becomes a war devoid of tribal considerations, success was not feasible.
Earlier, the Coordinator, AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, represented by the organisation’s Senior Programme Officer, Godwin Onyeacholem, said the workshop which was part of the lined up programmes under its Corruption Anonymous project, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, was to introduce local CSOs and CBOs across the country on how they can use the whistleblowing mechanism in demanding for accountability and exposing corruption at the grassroots.
“We hope at the end of the process we would have cultivated a citizenry that is conscious of its role in tackling the menace of corruption,” he said.
In his presentation, AFRICMIL Programme Manager, Abduaziz Abdulaziz said there was a need for citizens to own the anti-corruption fight to ensure it is rooted out. “it is a way for citizens to take back their destinies and country through participation,” he added.
Abdulaziz noted that it was necessary to involve CBOs and CSOs across the country as there are deep seated corrupt practices ongoing in the states that needs to be exposed.
This is the second in the series of the whistleblowing sensitization workshops planned for CBOs. The first was held January 30, 2020, in Calabar, Cross Rivers State.
