BY NGOZI ONYEAKUSI

Buoyed by the ranking as Nigeria’s top performing organisation in efficiency and transparency from 2022 to date, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has unveiled plans to mark the 2024 World Anti-corruption Day on Thursday, 5th December at the Nigerian Content Tower, Bayelsa State.

The theme of this year’s celebration is “Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight against Corruption,” and the celebration at the NCDMB is organized by the agency’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACTU) led by the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu.

According to the programme of event, the day will be marked with a workshop that will feature paper presentations by representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and key officials of the Board.

Another highlight of the day will include the grand finale of the debate competition among six federal government colleges from the six zones of the country, plus a representative from Bayelsa State, which is selected automatically as the host state of NCDMB.

The selected schools are Federal Government College, Odi, Bayelsa State, Federal Government College, Okigwe, Imo State, Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State, Federal Government Girls College, Kazaure, Jigawa State, Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos State, Federal Government College, Maiduguri, Borno State, and Federal Government College, Rubochi, Abuja.

Two students, accompanied by an adult from each of the schools will be camped in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by the NCDMB for four days during which preliminary debates will be held to determine the best two teams.

The debate, whose finale is to be held at the magnificent 17-storey Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Yenagoa, is being organised to “instill the ethics of transparency and public interest in Nigerian students,” to “promote critical thinking, research, and public speaking skills” among that segment of the population, generally viewed as potential future leaders of thought and industry in the country and “encourage students to engage with complex issues that underline good governance and democracy in Nigeria”. Prizes will to be awarded to the winners.

Organisers of the event indicated that the day is being marked at the NCDMB to sensitize staff to eschew corrupt practices in their daily operations and to underline the fact that achieving responsive governance in Nigeria would depend on capacity and effective leadership, as well as deliberate citizen engagement through interest articulation and aggregation.