The federal government has been urged to implement measures to further reignite Nigerians’ zeal for whistle-blowing to stem corruption.

The call was made in Abuja on Tuesday by anti-graft stakeholders in a workshop for law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies on whistle-blowing and whistleblower protection in Nigeria.

The African Centre organised the workshop for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), supported by the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG).

The coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, described whistle-blowing as one of the most effective methods of exposing corrupt acts and fostering accountability in the internal management of organisations.

“At the early stage of its introduction as an anti-corruption programme for the country over seven years ago, it generated a considerable amount of enthusiasm among citizens.

“Tips concerning looted public funds and assets as well as financial fraud in government offices were frequently submitted in great numbers to the relevant oversight agencies,” he said.

According to Mr Onumah, most of these disclosures led to recoveries in local and foreign currencies and tangible assets. He, however, said that due to the disclosures, whistleblowers in different government agencies increasingly became victims of vicious retaliation in the absence of a protection law.

“Faced by lack of protection, citizens, mostly public sector workers, began to lose interest in blowing the whistle on corruption and other types of wrongdoing because of fear of consequences.

“Workers face all kinds of punishment, from suspension, through denial of salaries and other benefits, punitive transfers, denial of promotion to outright dismissal.

“The result of these various attacks is a steady reduction in the volume of disclosures recorded over the years, thus making it seem as if the policy has been abandoned,” he said.

However, he said the trend, which he described as ugly, could be reversed through strategic engagements with key stakeholders.

In his presentation, a deputy director from the federal finance ministry, Johnson Oludare, expressed concern over declining interest in whistle-blowing in Nigeria.

Mr Oludare attributed the lack of interest in the policy to the fear of exposure to victimisation and other dangers, which he said posed a serious challenge to the policy’s success.

“Within a few months of the introduction of the whistle-blowing policy, the federal government was able to recover huge sums of money. Notwithstanding the successes so far recorded, the policy still has a number of challenges, which include, but are not limited to the lack of involvement by Nigerians.

“Nigerians are yet to take total ownership of the fight against corruption. The major challenge we observed in implementing this policy is poor participation, and we wish to encourage Nigerians to take ownership of the fight against corruption.

“This is by reporting economic and financial crimes, using various options available, including the Whistleblower Policy,” he said.

Ms Oludare said a legal framework for the policy, reward for whistleblowers, and development of political will must be guaranteed to ensure a robust policy.

AFRICMIL works with the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a unit of the finance ministry and other relevant stakeholders.

They work together under a project called Corruption Anonymous (CORA) to promote the whistle-blowing policy introduced by the FG in December 2016 to fight corruption in Nigeria.

(NAN)