As part of its contributions to the anti-graft battle in Nigeria, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has trained civil society organisations and other agencies to strengthen the synergy in the war against corruption.
The two-day training, which was funded by the European Union, was aimed at bridging the gap between civil society groups and anti-corruption agencies.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the training, themed: Sharing Responsibilities and Building effective partnership: Bridging Civil Society Organisations and State Institutional Gap, UNODC’s National Project Officer in Nigeria, Sylvester Atere, said the training would build the capacity of anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations.
He said: “First, we discovered there is a gap when we don’t talk because civil organisations are working for Nigeria and the anti-corruption agencies are equally doing same but when the two are not talking, there is no cooperation, no synergy, and no cordial relationship.
‘’They will be working at extreme ends, that is why we said come together and speak together so that it will be to the benefit of the country and the citizens.
Continuing, Atere said: “Under this project, we are supporting 14 anti-corruption agencies and building their capacities. Part of what we are doing is to forge a cordial relationship between civil societies and the anti-corruption agencies so that they can workfor the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Also, we have been providing funds for some civil groups under this project for awareness creation and other related activities, and we are not putting them under pressure as to what they do with the funds and how they spend it.
“In any case we don’t implement programmes directly, we do that through the agencies of government but in this we build capacity, support them as you have seen in this atmosphere where we are going from the known to the unknown.
“Tackling corruption is very fundamental to Nigeria fulfilling its potentials in terms of human and material resources, and as an organisation we try to create a synergy between these organisations and the anti-corruption agencies,” Atere said.
Similarly, a resource person, Kehinde Bolaji stressed the need for strengthening the relationship and synergy between the organisations and anti-corruption agencies.
He identified constraints to the present collaborative approach between the two, saying “the first constraint is the lack of trust between them.
“We acknowledge that good mechanisms have been established at the national level. You have the national anti-corruption coalition of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“We also agree that to build a synergy with the government, anti-graft agencies and civil society groups should address integrity, capacity deficit and funding of their programme.’’