The federal government has explained why corruption and other social vices are endemic in the civil service.

It said civil servants engage in corruption and other practices because of their meagre salaries and wages.

To curb corruption in the civil service, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation/Marine and Blue Economy, Magdalene Ajani, said there was a need for constant sensitization to remind civil servants of what is expected of them professionally.

She disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, October 23, at an anti-corruption sensitization workshop organized for staff of the ministry with the theme; “Uprooting Corruption and Promoting Honesty and Integrity”.

Describing corruption, Ajani said: “Corruption includes actions such as bribe-taking or offering, dishonest use of influence or authority and it is one of the issues plaguing Nigeria since independence.

“Yearly, we do sensitization workshops on anti-corruption and ethical practice just to remind ourselves of what we are supposed to do as responsible civil and public servants in terms of efficient service delivery.

“Lateness to work is an unethical practice. People are meant to be at work from 8 am to 4 pm and in some institutions till 5 pm but people are not at their workstations at those times and for the ones who are on the ground, are they delivering services?

“We know that with technology today, some people can choose to be at work and be watching movies online, it is not an ethical practice and does not show any form of professionalism. You should be at your workstation at the right time and deliver the service you are paid to deliver.

“So, the anti-corruption crusade captures the lofty goals of the current administration that focus on the total eradication of corruption in the public sector. So, as a ministry, we are committed to zero tolerance for corruption.”

On why some officials in public offices are corrupt, the Director of Special Duties of the ministry, Vivian Nwosu said poor remuneration was responsible for corruption in the civil service.

She called for a review of the salaries and wages to match up with the current economic realities.

Nwosu said: “There is this belief that most officials of public institutions of government as well as private sector fall victim to corruption because they are poorly paid.

“The federal and state government should review the salaries and wages of civil servants which are down below the current inflationary trends in the country. So, the workshop is to remind ourselves that corruption is a cankerworm to the nation and any nation that wants to grow industrially and in integrity must make an effort to remind the civil servants that corruption is not the end to a meet.

She also called for training and retraining of officials in the anti-graft agencies following the rate of increase in bank fraud.

She said: “With the upsurge of cybercrimes and bank fraud, training of personnel of institutions set up to fight corruption has become paramount. Efforts must be made to train and retrain staff of anti-fraud and security agencies as well as properly remunerate them to be able to combat corruption.” (The Nation)

Update news