The Executive Director of Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), Mrs. Babafunke Fagbemi has called on Nigerians to imbibe an attitude of anti corruption by always doing what is right.
She said even though corruption is a hydra- headed monster , it can be defeated in Nigeria if all hands are on the decks.
Fagbemi was speaking recently at a two-day communication strategy workshop organized in Abuja for consortium members and implementing partners working on an anti corruption campaign in Nigeria tagged: Upright4Nigeria.
The campaign which was led by the non governmental organisation, ActionAid Nigeria seeks to address the social norms that allows corruption to thrive in the country.
”Corruption can end in Nigeria, but it is going to take some time,” Fagbemi said noting that everyone must be on board to have a corruption-free society.
” The corruption landscape is a ruggedly complex one and it is going to take a lot to be able to achieve a corruption-free society,” she added.
Giving insights on the Upright4nigeria campaign partnership, Fagbemi explained: “We are a consortium member for the Strengthening Citizens’ Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption (SCRAP-C) project with the campaign brand name of Upright4nigeria and there are many organisations working on the project. There are three main members of the consortium led by ActionAid Nigeria, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), which leads in the communication component of the campaign.
“This workshop means a lot to us and as the consortium partner for the Upright4Nigeria campaign, communication is the glue that holds our successes on this campaign,” she said.
Speaking on the successes achieved in the project Fagbemi said though the campaign has reached many Nigerians with many of the objectives met, there is still room for improvement.
“We have been doing very well but we want to challenge ourselves to do things strategically. Right now, we have actually passed the middle of the road as we approach the fourth year of the five-year project and we can only improve on the good track records we have got over the years.
“This workshop is very important because we have new partners who joined us midway into implementation. We had the first workshop in February 2018 and we know that for those who were not part of it, there are some gaps we need to close. This is apart from the fact that the workshop was held two years ago, it is amazing and a lot of things have changed, so when strategies have changed on the landscape, we have to adjust, hence this workshop,” she summed.
Mr Oluyemi Abodunrin, Technical Advisor, Programmes for CSSI, advised the Federal Government on its fight against corruption in Nigeria.
Abodunrin said, “Corruption is becoming endemic in Nigeria and it is already changing the culture and the norm that we have. So the Federal Government needs to work with some of its agencies like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to be able to carry some of these campaign that we have around to the nooks and crannies of this country not only among the politicians but every part of the society.
“The Federal Government must let the people know the social cost of corruption so that they can resist, discourage and report it and we need to impute the principles of honesty, integrity and transparency which were actually integral to us as Africans and as Nigerians,” he said.
While delivering the closing remark, Mr Newton Otsemaye, the Project Manager, SCRAP-C and a staff of ActionAid Nigeria, expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the various stakeholders for their commitment towards achieving significant success on the Upright4Nigeria Anticorruption campaign.
“I am happy that we are on the same page and it is a good thing to work together. This workshop has been very resourceful. We pray that we all return safely to our respective states and we hope when next we call you, you’ll be available for the work.”
The SCRAP-C project through its #Upright4Nigeria; Stand against corruption campaign aims to influence social norms and attitudes that help corruption thrive in Nigeria with a view to effect a social change. The campaign is leveraging on social capital and social networks to promote a corruption averse mentality.
The campaign currently has specific engagements in Borno, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu and Jigawa states to represent the different zones in the country.
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