The Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG) said that the problem of corruption and the dearth of integrity in Nigerian society are undoubtedly some of the major hindrances to national development since independence.
At the ‘Project Report Dissemination Meeting’ on Thursday, in Abuja, PRIMORG’s Executive Director, Mr. Augustine Okhiria Agbonsuremi said: “Regrettably, corruption runs through every level of the Nigerian government. From considerable contract fraud at the top through petty bribery, money laundering schemes, embezzlement, and ghost workers’ syndrome. It is, however, estimated that corruption within the state apparatus costs the country billions of dollars annually”.
Worried by the debilitating effect of fraud and the fast diminishing public integrity quotient, the non-governmental organisation based in Nigeria was founded to mobilize citizens’ participation in good governance, promote uncommon integrity by public and private individuals and hold leaders to account.
With support from the MacArthur Foundation, PRIMORG, in the last three years (2021 – 2024), ran a project titled “Strengthening Anti-Corruption and Accountability by Amplifying Corruption-Related Investigative Reports on Radio and Through Social Media”.
The project was implemented around Nigeria’s North-Central Zone and executed through anti-corruption radio programmes: Public Conscience on Radio and Radio Town Hall Meeting, where issues of corruption reported by the media houses are raised and the authorities called to action.
The team produced 123 live radio programmes and syndicated 369 episodes and another 492 repeat broadcasts by five radio stations in Abuja, FCT; Keffi, Nasarawa State; Ilorin, Kwara State; and Jos, Plateau State.
PRIMORG tracked constituency Projects and held community meetings in the form of Radio Town Hall Meetings in FCT-Abuja, Lokoja in Kogi State, and Keffi in Nasarawa State.
Nigerians could also voice their opinions through our Vox pop series ‘Voices Against Corruption’. In the period under review, the PRIMORG team took a wide range of issues to the streets of Nigeria to feel the pulse of citizens on governance, corruption, and national development.
The project’s impact is evident in the improved participation of citizens in democratic processes, exchange of insights, and reactions from the government and anti-graft agencies.
We provided insights and knowledge to rural and underserved communities through our constituency project tracking. This exercise not only provided the team with the opportunity to track and evaluate the implementation of constituency projects but also sensitized beneficiaries on the need to get involved during the needs assessment and implementation of projects in their constituencies, as well as to ensure that the projects are sustained and protected from vandalism.
In ensuring an all-inclusive approach, over sixty episodes of vox pops were produced, and in so doing, we gathered perspectives of Nigerians on topical development issues, ensuring a diverse range of voices were heard.
Despite the challenges in the polity, we successfully engaged and sensitized over 10 million Nigerians through our radio and social media engagements, constituency project tracking, and on-the-street engagements.
Recommendations
The pervasive nature of corruption in Nigeria requires that the fight against it must be collective and sustained.
The Federal Government must lead by strengthening all existing anti-corruption mechanisms, organs, and institutions through proper funding and appropriate legislation.
The anti-corruption agencies, the media, and civil society groups working in the good governance space also need certain levels of support and cooperation from the government to be maximally effective in carrying out their constitutional and legal mandates. These needed supports range from increased transparency in governance through respect for laws and roles to the complete removal and avoidance of undue influence in the works of officials and agencies in the anti-corruption space.
There is an urgent need to enact a law to strengthen the whistleblowing policy of the federal government. The continued absence of a law to protect whistleblowers impedes galvanizing public support against corruption.
The media and civil society space, which continues to shrink through the actions and inaction of the government, is unsafe for national development and, as such, must be nipped in the bud.
The relevant portions of the law, which are open to abuse by officials and agencies of government, should immediately be expunged through an appropriate amendment.
