By Doyin Ojosipe
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Thursday organised a training workshop on whistleblowing and whistleblower protection for selected lawyers in Lagos state.
The training which was in collaboration with SERAP was intended to establish a team of lawyers who would provide legal services on pro-bono to embattled whistle-blowers.
In a welcome address, Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL, represented by Kola Ogunbiyi, AFRICMIL’s Program Manager noted that the partnership was helpful as the primary duty of lawyers was to legally protect and seek justice for all, including victimized whistleblowers.
“Lawyers are also whistleblowers and so should have as much stake, if not more, than any agency in not only the entrenchment of the culture of speaking up against wrongdoing, but also in the practice of standing up for anyone facing reprisals for doing so”, he said.
Onumah said participants were carefully selected knowing the complexity of the anti corruption fight.
In his words “AFRICMIL went the extra mile to identify and invite as partners for this project lawyers who are in human rights, commercial and criminal law practice, bearing in mind the intricacies and pervasiveness of corruption in all facets of life.”
Similarly, in their papers, the three resource persons at the workshop agreed that the call for pro-bono lawyers was imperative given the fact that the federal government appears insincere about the policy.
Kolawole Oluwadare, Deputy Director of SERAP said establishing a coalition of pro-bono lawyers was a step in the right direction especially in the absence of a whistleblower law.
He said, “More often than not, these whistleblowers are people that can not afford to pay for professional legal fees, that is why I believe that this coalition will step in and do a very good working.”
In his presentation on International Laws and International Good Practices, Oluwadare queried why it was easy for the federal government to observe section 7 of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption which refers to punishment for whistleblowers who raise ‘false’ alarm instead of initially focusing on the other sections that talked about protection for whistleblowers.
He said while the Nigerian government seemed bent on silencing dissenting voices, Ghana became the first African country to enact a concrete whistleblower legislation.
Fielding questions from Journalists, Convener, Criminal Justice Network of Nigeria and Partner Resource Consortium, Nathaniel Ngwu who also presented a paper on Legal Protection for Whistleblowers: ‘The Role of Lawyers and Civic Partners’, said it was important that individuals who want to raise alarm against corruption partner with lawyers right from the beginning of the process to avoid raising unnecessary issues that may turn out to be a hoax.
According to him, a lawyer needs to be part of the Investigative process so as to be able to ascertain at what point the safety of the whistleblower was being threatened.
He urged the federal government to as a matter of urgency enact a whistleblower protection act noting that State Governments also ought to domesticate whistleblowing if corruption must be rid off in the country.
Samson Omodora who presented on ‘Legal Safeguard on Whistleblowing and the Safety of Whistleblowers:The Role of The Bar and The Bench in Expanding Legal Jurisprudence for Whistleblowers Protection’ urged lawyers to join in the anti-graft war as they are all “Social engineers and are charged to ensure that the society is based on egalitarianism.”
Speaking on the issue of non compliance with keeping the identity of a whistleblower confidential, a participant at the workshop, Josephine Ijekhuemen said that it was an issue the federal government needed to look into.
She advised that the government establish laws that will investigate and sanction enforcement agencies who uncovers a whistleblower and refuses or delay in taking actions on tips submitted.
In the same vein, another participant, Olusegun Sojirin said the dwindling implementation of the whistleblowing policy by Nigerians could only be addressed if government would stop being two-faced.
According to him, it was contradictory for the federal government to call on Nigerians to expose corruption while it is busy making laws to gag the people.
Sojirin also alleged that law enforcement agencies have most of the time ignored confidentiality in handling information given to them by whistleblowers although, the Nigerian constitution had provided for the protection of informants.
