Whistleblowing: Of law, justice, and the guardians in between by Chido Onumah - Commentary@ITREALMS

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If a single idea has guided the work of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) over the past years, it is this simple truth: a nation cannot win the war against corruption by sacrificing its most courageous citizens along the way.

The whistleblower is not an inconvenience to governance. He or she is its essential early warning system. And yet, nearly a decade after Nigeria introduced a whistleblower policy, the country still operates without the one safeguard that makes integrity sustainable: a clear, enforceable law that protects those who speak up.

AFRICMIL, Amnesty International to hold national conference on Whistleblowing, corruption and human rights - ITREALMS

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The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) and the Nigeria office of the global human rights group, Amnesty International, will hold a national conference on September 19, 2024, to explore the link between whistleblowing, corruption and human rights as well as take stock of the situation of whistleblowers in Nigeria.

The theme of the conference, which comes on the heels of increased attacks and violations of the rights of whistleblowers, is “Amplifying Whistleblowing to reduce Corruption and Protect Human Rights.”

Whistleblowing: Tasking new ministers on democratic accountability - ITREALMS

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By the time this piece gets to the public, other things being equal, all 48 nominees that had undergone screening for confirmation as cabinet ministers at the senate plenary would have been sworn in by President Bola Tinubu and begun settling in their offices as cabinet ministers, thereby effectively making them members of the federal executive council.

Together with members of the national assembly with whom they share the same partisan convictions, the ministers will occupy the front row in the implementation squad of the Renewed Hope agenda of the Tinubu administration.

Tinubu, whistleblowing and quest for good governance by Godwin Onyeacholem - ITREALMS

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Whistleblowing is steadily growing to become the dominant theme in ethics literature. It has earned a prime position as a forceful vehicle not only for delivering clarity and openness in workplace culture, but also for defining responsible behaviour expected of an individual.

On a wider scale, whistleblowing has shaped up to become a democratic accountability tool, and a check on secrecy and abuse of power in many different contexts.

Whistleblowing: Strategy for reducing health sector corruption in Nigeria - ITREALMS

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If all goes well as is expected, the whistleblowing and whistleblower protection draft bill which sprung from a five-day stakeholders’ retreat on the whistleblowing policy organized by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in May 2021 in Keffi, Nasarawa State, would be considered this month at a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and then transmitted as an executive bill to the National Assembly for passage into law.

Many stakeholders, local and foreign, including citizens who are enthusiastic about the efficacy of whistleblowing as an anti-corruption instrument, are agreed that in addition to mustering the political will for action against corruption, Nigeria is long overdue for a stand-alone legislation that offers robust protection for whistleblowers. The enactment of the law would put Nigeria in the same progressive basket with African countries like Ghana, South Africa and Uganda, which already have whistleblower protection legislations as a means of achieving accountability and good governance.

Corruption, Whistleblowing: Falana, Ribadu for summit

ITREALMS:

Lagos-based prominent human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana and pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu will on Tuesday headline a national summit on whistleblowing and the fight against corruption in Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

The event is being put together by the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), in conjunction with House Committee on Financial Crimes, Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).

The theme of the Summit scheduled to begin at 9am at Rockview Hotel in Abuja is FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: HARNESSING THE WHISTLEBLOWING OPPORTUNITIES.  

According to Chido Onumah, Coordinator of the Centre, “The event is designed to interrogate the whistleblower policy and engage critical stakeholders responsible for promotion of the policy and its implementation.”

Aside Falana and Ribadu, other papers  will also be delivered by Waziri Adio, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Professor Abdullahi Shehu of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

The Summit is part of activities under the Corruption Anonymous project of AFRICMIL aimed at building public confidence and support for the whistleblower policy of the Nigerian government.

The project is supported by the MacArthur Foundation. 

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