… As AFRICMIL, PRIMORG set to hold a 2-day sub-regional conference on whistleblowing in West Africa

 

BY NGOZI ONYEAKUSI

President Bola Tinubu has been urged to urgently take steps to advance Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight by ensuring there’s enactment of whistleblowing and whistleblower protection laws in the country.

The call is coming ahead of a two-day sub-regional conference on whistleblowing and whistleblower legislation organized by The African Centre for Media & Information Literacy, AFRICMIL, in partnership with the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development, PRIMORG, in Abuja.

AFRICMIL’s Programme Manager, Godwin Onyeacholem, said Tinubu should take advantage of his rapport with members of the National Assembly to urgently pass the draft whistleblowing bill in the administration’s possession into law. Noting that “the best way for the government to show its readiness and sincerity about anti-corruption fight is by strengthening whistleblowing.”

Onyeacholem made this known during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Assessing the anti-corruption fight under the current administration, He said the Tinubu-led administration has not shown enough will and seriousness, urging the former Lagos state Governor to courageously see to the passing of whistleblowing into law.

“There is an Executive Bill as we speak, which civil society groups worked on, which was supposed to be passed by the 9th National Assembly (NASS). It’s now lying on the desk of the President, so he has to re-present it to the NASS, so if they want it passed today, it can be done.

“The President (Tinubu) should take immediate steps to send the Bill to the legislature and ensure a quick passage of the Whistleblower Protection Bill into law.

“I have not seen any concrete fight against corruption under the current administration. First of all, pass this whistleblower protection bill into law immediately. Whistleblowing is the best way so far to fight corruption,” He insisted.

Onyeacholem identified poor leadership and corruption as the main reasons for the inability of many countries in the West African sub-region to pass whistleblowing laws, adding that Tinubu is expected to use his position as the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in galvanizing other members to enact whistleblower protection laws.

“Poor leadership across the board. West Africa has been identified as one of the most corrupt subregions in the world. You’ll see the effects of corruption in West Africa have destabilized some of these West African countries. Nothing is happening yet to fight this monster that has held us back since independence. It still boils down to the political will of the leaders”.

He revealed that the two-day sub-regional conference on whistleblowing and whistleblower legislation for West African countries seeks to “get Civil Society Actors, Media, law enforcement, security, development partners and government agencies to come together and brainstorm on how to ensure there is a protection law in each of these countries across the West African sub-region; and to encourage people to come out and report wrongdoing while they are sure that there is a framework to protect them.”

Onyeacholem, however, urged citizens to see whistleblowing as helping law enforcement agencies perform their duties as enshrined in section 22 of the Constitution.

On his part, PRIMORG’s Media & Communications Officer Chidozie Ogbonnaya joined the call for the government of the day to expedite actions towards getting the nation a whistleblower law, noting that citizens continue to bear the brunt of corruption in the country through poor governance structure and absence of basic amenities.

Ogbonnaya lauded the efforts of PRIMORG, AFRICMIL, and other civil society groups who have remained relentless over the years in advocating for Nigeria to transition from operating a whistleblower policy to legislation.

He reassured PRIMORG’s commitment to urging political leaders to strengthen the fight against corruption and for citizens to participate in building a better country.

“We are collaborating with AFRICMIL to push for the enactment of the whistleblower legislation in Nigeria. We want whistleblowers to be protected, and we will stop at nothing to continue this advocacy, and we want you all (citizens) to join us.

“In the past six years, PRIMORG and AFRICMIL have been on a vigorous campaign on government to do something about whistleblower legislation. And I tend to wonder what the country would be without anti-corruption campaigns, So relenting is not an option. We will continue to push because we must get a better country – we don’t have another country,” Ogbonnaya assured.

The two-day sub-regional conference on whistleblowing and whistleblower legislation in West Africa will be held on 26 and 27 November 2024 in Abuja.

Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.