YIAGA Africa Partners EFCC on Anti-Corruption Fight
In a bid to intensify the fight against corruption across the federation, YIAGA Africa’s Accountability and Social Justice Team met with officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) about its Bounce Corruption Project, as both institutions are set to partner on the anti-graft war.
Elaborating on the essence of the Bounce Corruption Project, the Program Officer Mrs. Tracy Keshi informed the commission that the overall goal of the Bounce Corruption Project; supported by the MacArthur Foundation, is to promote zero tolerance for corruption and impunity through effective citizens’ oversight and mobilization for open and accountable governance.
Further adding that, the project also aims to build resistance against corruption by exposing corrupt practices and demanding prosecution of indicted suspects.
The Bounce Corruption Project will also mainstream young people in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. At the center of this project is the promotion of collaboration and networking with different stakeholders involved in the campaign against corruption and impunity in Nigeria she rounded up saying.
Mrs. Keshi noted that it is important for citizens especially in rural areas and educational institutions to be well informed about the work the anti-corruption agency is doing on the anti-corruption campaign and how they can also be actively involved in the anti-corruption war.
She assured the commission that YIAGA Africa via its Bounce Corruption project is willing to partner with them on this regard. She also notified the commission that YIAGA Africa through its Bounce Corruption project had just concluded a nationwide public integrity debate competition for students of selected tertiary institutions across the six (6) geo-political zones of the country.
The debate competition provided a platform for harnessing youth views into the anti-corruption crusade as it gave the students the opportunity to analyze the effectiveness & ineffectiveness of the current administration’s anti-corruption strategy. The debate also provided a platform for propagating the values of integrity, transparency and accountability via the establishment of public integrity clubs in those institutions, she informed the commission.
During the meeting which held at the EFCC headquarters Abuja, EFCC head of Enlightenment and Reorientation, Mr Samin Amaddin appreciated the activities of YIAGA Africa in strides recorded in the anti-corruption campaign across the nation through the Bounce Corruption Project. He further stated that the commission can collaborate especially in establishing integrity clubs in schools, which is one of the major objectives of the project as it is a semblance of what the commission are also doing in various institutions across the country.
This informed the establishment of integrity clubs to ensure zero tolerance to corruption. He stated that, the EFCC has integrity clubs in tertiary institutions such as the Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University Kano, thus the impending collaboration with YIAGA Africa via its Bounce Corruption project is timely to improve anti-corruption activities in a bid to reduce corruption in Nigeria. He noted that the commission is doing a lot of work in youth engagement, as against what is mostly heard in public. Considering the challenge of limitations in funding for the commission in carrying out all these activities, he welcomed the partnership with YIAGA Africa as it resolves to work with the commission in the anti-corruption campaign.
Also speaking at the meeting is the EFCC School Desk Officer in charge of public integrity clubs in schools; Mrs. Zainab Bello. She revealed that the commission ensures it creates integrity clubs in every school it engages which includes Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Institution. According to Mrs. Bello, EFCC also engages National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members whose Community Development Project has to do with Zero Tolerance to create integrity club in the school they serve.
As the Grand Finale of YIAGA Africa’s Bounce Corruption Public Integrity Debate is scheduled to hold in May, the commission has expressed its willingness to be part of the finals which will see winners of all zones square-up in the FCT for the knockout and final round of the Public Integrity Debate Competition.
Moshood Isah
Media Officer | YIAGA AFRICA
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