The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has called for a change in tactics in the anti-graft war. It suggested six things to be done at its one-day second feedback session and public lecture held in Lagos, ROBERT EGBE reports.
Two words come to mind whenever you hear Debo Adeniran speaks: Passion and Anger. Passion for Nigeria and anger at corruption in Nigeria. These two were evident when Adeniran, Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) mounted the podium at CACOL’s one-day second feedback session and public lecture.
“Corruption has not allowed our environment and economy to develop. Decades of unchecked corruption in Nigeria’s public institutions and a history of inept leadership have destroyed public faith in governance and created a sense of fatalism,” he said.
Adeniran’s views were echoed by a guest, Human and Environmental Development Agency (HEDA) Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraj, community leaders, CACOL members and volunteers from around the country.
They reasoned that, despite gains, the government’s anti-corruption war would achieve little impact unless it was rejigged, with civil society and community leaders joining.
According to Adeniran, there are at least six things to be done in this regard. They are:
‘Little things matter’
“Corruption does not seem harmful until it is too late,” Adeniran said, explaining that it is often easy to ignore impacts of petty corruption when they appear to be little more than inconveniences. But collective permissiveness of minor graft creates an enabling environment for corruption to fester, resulting in a problem far more difficult to solve.
He advised Nigerians to “stop tolerating petty corruption. Pay attention to the smallest signs of retail corruption in public service delivery and be prepared to demand accountability from government service providers.
‘Little ones matter’
Next on the CACOL chairman’s list is education. Adeniran suggested that education can help prevent corruption “by fostering a culture of integrity”.
He advocated instilling a culture of integrity in children in the home and at school. “An effective way to tackle corruption is to teach children to recognise it, reject it and condemn those who tolerate it.
“Schools must incorporate ethics and civic education in the curriculum. Parents, teachers and school administrators must recognise their responsibility to shape the values of the next generation by exhibiting high standards of integrity, honesty and transparency in their actions,” he added.
‘Fatalism is paralysing’
Nigerians must shed decades-old fatalistic attitudes to the anti-graft war, Adeniran advised. They must believe corruption can be stopped.
He said: “Anti-corruption strategies are less likely to be successful when entrenched practices are considered impossible to overcome…..Citizens are unlikely to be motivated to combat corruption because experience suggests that nothing will change.
“The fight against corruption can be won. New approaches must be adopted to create social incentives for collection action against corruption. Leaders must inspire faith in anti-corruption efforts by implementing tangible reforms in public institutions. Civil society and community leaders must develop and promote a national social contract that rewards accountability and enforces social sanctions for unacceptable behaviour.”
‘Change approach to anti-corruption messaging’
A regular feature of Nigeria’s anti-crime war is the unlawful parade of suspected criminals by law enforcement agencies, or sensational reporting of especially financial charges against politically exposed persons (PEPs).
CACOL suggested that this and other types of traditional sensational messaging desensitises the public against corruption.
Adeniran said: “Traditional approaches to anti-corruption messaging in Nigeria have been characterised by sensational reporting of corruption cases involving huge amounts of money or the use of extreme language to eliminate undesirable behaviour.
“These kinds of messages risk creating apathy in citizens by reinforcing their sense of powerlessness in the face of rampant corruption.
“Anti-corruption messages must be carefully framed to effectively communicate the negative impacts of corrupt behaviour while empowering targeted audiences to take practical and effective action.
“Pro-accountability actors must avoid the one-size-fits-all approach to anticorruption messaging and ensure that messages are assessed for effectiveness before dissemination.”
‘Governance processes must make corruption avoidance practical’
CACOL noted that doing the wrong thing becomes a rational choice if doing the right thing is made too difficult. It advocated “citizen-friendly” governance processes.
Adeniran said: “In Nigeria, avoiding corruption may not be the most practical option. Governance processes are not designed to be citizen-friendly. It is easy to fall afoul of regulations because procedures are needlessly complicated and poorly documented.
“Complying with penalties for relatively minor violations is unnecessarily difficult and creates incentives for extortion by law enforcement agencies.
“Government must rethink and redesign routine procedures for providing public services to ensure they are citizen and business friendly. Options for complying with penalties for minor violations should include online platforms where citizens can lodge complaints, disputes imposed penalties and report instances of solicitation or extortion.”
Politicising corruption can do more harm than good
Lastly, the CACOL chairman reasoned that political bias in the fight against corruption undermines public faith in anti-corruption efforts.
He noted that in Nigeria, fighting corruption can be an excuse to persecute political opponents. Government and its anti-graft agencies, he noted, are often accused of abusing their power and being biased in choosing which allegations of corruption to investigate or prosecute.
“In several cases, court rulings are disregarded,” Adeniran said.
He added: “Fighting corruption is already a difficult mission. The abuse of state power compounds Nigeria’s accountability challenge. The government must be seen to be fair in applying sanctions and anti-corruption agencies must operate independently and within the scope of the law.”
The event also featured the unveiling of CACOL’S Good Governance Accountability and Transparency Education Project (C-GATE) project, with the moto: “Absolute no to corruption”.
