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THE Resident Commissioner of the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Demola Bakare on Friday, December 8, 2023 said the fight against corruption is a collective responsibility.
He made the statement at a Media Parley to commemorate the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day at the ICPC State office in Osogbo, Osun State.
Bakare who said his men have made appreciable progress in checkmating corruption in the state added that the vulnerable poor and the marginalized in the society suffered the consequences of corruption.
He said the essence of the Media Parley is to create awareness in order to curb corruption and fight it to a standstill.
“Although the negative impact of corruption could be felt globally, hence the call for action against the pandemic, however, the most affected are the vulnerable poor and marginalised individuals in the society. This is because the negative impact of corruption on socio-economic development serves as a contributing factor that allows bad governance to thrive in the society and thus deny citizens the benefits of democracy.
The theme for this year’s global Anti-Corruption Day is “Uniting the World Against Corruption for Development, Peace and Security”, because corruption is intertwined with conflict and instability, jeopardises social and economic development and undermines democractic institutions and the rule of law.
Given that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission is the foremost anti-graft agency in Nigeria, ICPC Osun State Office decided to kick off the commemoration of this year’s International Anti-corruption Day with our friends from the media, because as society’s watch dog, you draw attention of relevant authorities to issues that affect the citizenry so that necessary actions could be taken to reverse the negative situation.
Consequently, ICPC regard you as partners in progress in the crusade against corruption in relation to media support and reportage to expose the extent of damage corruption has cost the society and the efforts being made to reverse the situation.
Since establishment, ICPC has vigorously pursued the implementation of its mandate on all fronts, particularly the eradication of corruption in Nigeria by instituting different initiatives aimed at preventing corruption and fostering public support for the campaign.
Some of the initiatives of ICPC include launching of Student Anti-Corruption Clubs (SAC) in Primary and Secondary schools nationwide; Student Anti-corruption Vanguards in tertiary institutions; Anti-Corruption CDS Group for Youth Corp members; establishing of Anti-Corruption Transparency Units (ACTU) in over 404 Government establishments; National Anti-Corruption Coalition, a platform for Civil Society Based Organisations.
Additionally, ICPC sensitizes the public through anti-corruption Seminars and conferences, Town Hall meetings, news publications both in the print and online media and its television programme “Corruption Must Go” aired on National Television Authority (NTA) every Wednesday by 3.30 pm.
The Commission also embarked on System Study and Review in different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to checkmate corrupt practices and encourage culture of integrity in government business which has resulted in Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard administration yearly to know the level of compliance for improvement in the MDAs while recommendations from Corruption Risk Assessment carried out in different sectors of the nation has led to reforms like e-passport, streamlining of pension as well as Health Insurance.
The Commission is also in the forefront of curbing Illicit Financial Flow and creating more awareness on the menace in order to improve the country’s economy.
In recognition of ICPC’s willingness to regularly avail the public with information on its activities with a website designed to achieve that purpose, the Commission was given an award for the best website among MDAs in Nigeria.
To further promote good governance and accountability from lawmakers, ICPC initiated Constituency and Executive Project.
Tracking in 2019 leading to the recovery of government funds and property, identification of fictitious contracts and project and ensuring better budget and qualitative project implementation.
The project tracking exercise was carried out nationwide and the Commission is now in the 5th phase of the exercise.
In pursuit of its preventive mandate, particularly in the area of promoting positive orientation and behavioural change in the crusade against corruption, ICPC birthed National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP), which was adopted and launched in 2020 by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari.
This initiative has led to continued sensitisation of various stakeholders on the core values of the Policy which include upholding the values of integrity, professionalism, national unity, voice participation and patriotism in order to promote high moral standard in the society.
In essence, the ultimate aim of the Commission is to enthrone a Nigeria glowing with integrity, transparency and accountability.”
Bakare said the ICPC in Osun State, during the course of the year organized debate competitions among secondary students in the state in commemoration of 2023 Children’s Day for the children to contribute their quota to the campaign against corruption.
In addition to this, Awareness Walk and Seminar was held on July 11, 2023 at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede to mark the African Union of Anti-Corruption Day.
“At the State level, a debate competition among selected schools was held for Secondary School students in Osun State in commemoration of 2023 Children’s Day and it was an avenue for these children to contribute their quota to the campaign against corruption while a One-Day Workshop was held for leaders of religion in the state.
2023 African Union Anti-corruption Day held on 11th July, 2023 was also commemorated in style with an awareness walk and seminar at the Federal Polytechnic Ede, followed by a One-Day workshop for members of the National Anti-corruption Coalition in Osun State.
A total number of 78 sensitisation sessions covering television, radio and visitations to MDAs have been carried out by ICPC Osun State Office in order to encourage public support and reportage of corrupt practices in the society.
Once again, you are warmly welcome to the commemoration of International Anti-Corruption Day and would like to encourage you to continue to give your full support to the campaign against corruption through speaking out and increase reportage of corruption.
Consequently, positive attitudinal change and discourage the corrupt in the society.
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