By Musa Yaro, Calabar.
Stakeholders at a town hall meeting on whistle-blowing and whistle-blowers protection have called for the protection of whistle-blowers from victimization.
Held at the Marian Hotels in Calabar, the Cross River state capital with the theme, “strengthening the whistle-blowing policy implementation through whistle-blower protection,” the event attracted representatives from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Civil Society Organizations, the Media among others.
Organized by African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in partnership with Cross River Watch and Policy Alert, the participants advocated for the signing into law, the protection bill.
Chairman of ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, argued for a robust legal instrument for the protection of whistle-blowers.
Owasanoye who was represented by the ICPC Acting Resident Commissioner for Cross River and Akwa Ibom states, Barr Joseph Kalu, affirmed that the Commission in the execution of its mandate, attaches great importance to whistle-blowing as a veritable tool in the anti-corruption crusade.
“It is imperative that we have a comprehensive and robust whistle-blowing legal instrument and congruent framework to ensure order, expectations, and very adequate protection for whistle-blowers.
“This will impact on the willingness of the citizens to fulfill their obligations in reporting incidence of corruption, fraud, abuse of office and related misconduct in public and private workplaces,” Owasanoye said.
In his presentation, the Managing Editor, of Cross River Watch, Jeremiah Archibong, informed that no institution in Nigeria does not cohabit with corruption as a lover, hence the need for everyone to embrace whistle-blowing as a norm.
Archibong who called for the prosecution of wrongdoers, also listed intimidation, retaliation, and poor processing of cases as some of the challenges of whistle-blowing in the country.
Executive Director, Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, also stressed the need to protect whistle-blowers through an enacted law for a safer and more productive workplace.
According to him, citizens have certain localized intelligence that law enforcement agencies don’t have.
Akpan also added that the country needs to be saved from its physical and economic crisis, hence the need for whistle-blowers to be protected.
Earlier, the coordinator of AFRICMIL, Dr. Chido Onumar, maintained that the right to report wrongdoing is a natural extension of freedom of expression which is linked to the principles of transparency and integrity.
Onumar also regretted the non-passage of the whistle-blowing and whistle-blower protection draft bill, by the immediate past administration.
“Although we are happy that the whistle-blowing and whistle-blower protection draft bill which AFRICMIL and other stakeholders came up with was approved by the Federal Executive Council last December, we regret that the bill could not be passed into law before the tenure of the administration ended.
“There is no way people will be motivated to engage in whistle-blowing if they know they will not be protected from victimization for reporting wrongdoing.
“Not even the promise of reward for reports that lead to recovery of stolen public funds is as strong a motivation to blow the whistle as protection against retaliation,” Onumar emphasized.
