The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh the Supreme Islamic Council of Nigeria, National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno,(rtd) have canvassed for preventive and proactive approach to tackling the twin evil of corruption and insecurity in the country.

The Can President who spoke while delivering his goodwill message at the National Policy Dialogue on Corruption And Insecurity in Nigeria, organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC) in Abuja on Friday, noted that for Nigeria to tackle the menace of corruption and insecurity, all sectors must adopt preventive measures. Okoh also declared that value-re-orientaion is the solution to stamping out corruption completely from the system. He noted, “Our nation is being threatened today by combined forces of local and foreign terrorists”. He added, “This is because the seeds of corruption sown many years ago have become our albatross”.

Speaking further, Okoh said, “As insecurity reaches unprecedented level in Nigeria today, everyone is at risk. Nobody knows when and where the misguided elements pepetrating this atrocity will strike”. Continuing, the CAN President stated, “This unprecedented upsurge in insecurity has affected almost all aspects of our national life and economy. Skyrockecting food prices is as a result of the inability of our farmers to plant and harvest their food crops.

“no nation can grow and develop with the level corruption that we experience in Nigeria today. It is an existential threat to our national development and economic growth”.

Speaking at the event also, the Minister of Police Affairs, Dr Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi who was represented by a senior personnel in the ministry lauded the ICPC for the initiative in organising the Policy Dialogue, saying it is pertinent. “Without any contradiction I believe the need to intensify conversation on internalising values, principles and building resistance against corrupt tendency cannot be overemphasised”, he said. He noted that insecurity and corruption are like Siamese or cojoined twins. Dingyadi maintained they are the most important factor responsible for development challenges in many nations including Nigeria. He however called for what he what termed “a stiffer approach to eradicate the malaise in our society”.

According to the Police Affairs Minister, such approach must involve the family, community, religious and traditional to regain our value systems, de-emphasise get-rich-quick syndrome, encourage reward system for excellence and institute stiffer penalties against offenders.

In his own message, the leaders of the Supreme Islamic Council of Nigeria represented at the occasion by Dr Abdul Wahab Oyedokun, all citizens must join hands to fight the root causes of corruption and insecurity. The Council also noted that corruption is a major contributory factor to the continued existence and propagation of insecurity in the country.

For the Emir of Keffi in Nasarawa state, Dr Mohammadu Chindo, corruption and insecurity are problematic issues confronting the peace, progress and development of Nigeria. Commending the ICPC for the dialogue, the Emir however tasked the Commission on concrete models to tackle vote buying during general elections in the country.

The NSA called for all hands to remain on deck.

Mungonu, noted that insecurity has taken a toll on governance and public financing as a result of corruption in the security sector.

He said government’s interventions through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has drastically reduced corruption in the public sector.

He said, “The current implementation of TSA in all MDAs of federal government has resulted in the consolidation of more than 17000 bank accounts leading to the saving of N4 billion in bank charges.

‘Furthermore, the functions and integration of IPPIS and BVN has led to the discovery of 54000 fraudulent payrolls in the pension scheme.”

The NSA who commended some of the tools deployed by ICPC to tackle corruption in government ministries and departments advised for a refocus on the root causes of corruption to enable a corrupt-free Nigeria.

He said corruption fights back, but attention should focus on the root causes of corruption. Also, he canvassed for value re-orientation and promoting good governance.

The Minister of Interior Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola, in his short message stated that preventing corruption is better than fighting it.

Also in his goodwill message, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Ayuba Wabba, pointed out that corruption was the reason for Nigeria been named the poverty capital of the world in 2016 by the World Bank.

In his opening speech, the Chairman of the ICPC, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, has called for proactive prevention measures and a review of extant procurement practices for greater success in the fight against corruption, and by extension, insecurity in Nigeria.

Owasanoye, who also gave examples of how massive corruption was fueling insecurity in Nigeria, pointed out that the Policy dialogue was aimed at “identifying the drivers of corruption-induced and corruption-enhanced insecurity in Nigeria; internal mechanisms within agencies that can enhance capacity for fighting corruption; system-wide approaches for institutionalising anti-corruption and corruption prevention measures; and to recommend approaches for tackling corruption-induced insecurity in Nigeria”

Noting that corruption was a major contributory factor to the existence of insecurity in Nigeria, he also called for a collaboration between security, law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies as research findings by the Commission reveal a correlation between public sector corruption and insecurity.

The Chairman cited examples of ongoing investigations into military contracts. “Recently, ICPC arrested a military contractor that received over a period of less than ten years cumulative sum of about N6 Billion from the Nigerian Army in suspicious circumstances and in violation of extant legislation. The Commission’s recovery … from the premises of the contractor underscore the corruption that often attend military procurement”.

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