By Austin Ogwuda
CO-ORDINATOR of The African Centre for Media Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Dr Chido Onumah says plans are underway to institutionalise whistleblowing as a mechanism to achieve transparency, accountability and proper democratic governance in Nigeria and across other ECOWAS Member States.
He stated this at a one-day workshop which held Thursday in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria with the theme, ‘The Role of Journalists in Promoting Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection in Nigeria’.
The workshop was jointly organised by AFRICMIL and Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG) and Supported by MacArthur Foundation.
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said it has trained no fewer than 25 Journalists from various media organisations on whistleblowing and whistleblower protection in Nigeria.
In his welcome address, Dr Chido Onumah, represented by Mr Crispin Oduobuk, Snr. Programme Officer Policy and Advocacy, AFRICMIL said “this workshop is aimed at equipping Journalists with a better understanding of the concept of whistleblowing as a good governance tool.
“And the goal is to instill in journalists the need to consistently promote the culture of whistleblowing and ensure protection for whistleblowers who face attacks for reporting corruption and other wrongdoings.
“We believe that by the nature of what they do, journalists and whistleblowers cannot be separated. Both are dedicated to holding power to account by bringing up the facts.
“In this era when information is proving more difficult to find”, he continued, “it is only whistleblowers who can comfortably maneuver and supply the information to journalists need.
“But for the relationship between the two to be effective, journalists must understand the risks whistleblowers face and do their best to protect them. AFRICMIL had built strategic alliance across sectors since 2017 under a project called Corruption Anonymous (CORA).
“We have been working with Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a unit in the Federal Ministry of Finance and other relevant stakeholders in government, Civil Society and media to promote the whistleblowing policy.
“This policy was introduce by Federal Government in December 2016.
We started by creating awareness and sensitising the public to importance of whistleblowing as a tool for fighting corruption and checking other forms of wrongdoing in society.
“Also advocating honest implementation of the policy and ensuring effective protection for people who show the courage to blow the whistle in the interest of the public and are going through punishments for doing so”, he added.
He stated that AFRICMIL was working “to institutionalise whistleblowing as a mechanism to achieve transparency, accountability and proper democratic governance in Nigeria and across other ECOWAS Member States”.
The Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja, Mr. Johnson Oludare presenting a paper, ‘Understanding the Nigerian Whistleblowing Policy’ pointed out that for journalists to function effectively as whistleblowers he or she must have good knowledge of the Law.
Oludare, represented by Mr Godwin Onyeacholem, the Programme Manager, AFRICMIL, said unfortunately, there was no Law in place to protect whistleblowers in the country, noting that “a whistleblower is one who voluntarily discloses information to government about fraud”.
He noted that the Federal Government had through the voluntary efforts of whistleblowers recovered huge sums of money and rewards for whistleblowing but it comes when recovery on the discovery is made successfully.
The Executive Director, Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG), Austin Agbonsuremi, while presenting a paper on ‘The Role of Journalists in Promoting Whistleblowing and Whistleblowers Protection’ said that the safest and fastest ways to check corruption was for journalists to partner whistleblowers.
He said that journalists must leverage on the Freedom of Information Act and other relevant sections of the Constitution to fight corruption.
He however expressed regret that whistleblowers in the country were not protected and journalists should give them the needed support to check corruption in the society.
“Journalists and other stakeholders should collaborate to ensure that the btill currently before the National Assembly is passed to provide the needed protection for Whistleblowers in Nigeria.
Caption : Lead Speaker, Mr Austin Agbonsuremi, Executive Director, PRIMORG (R)
