Today the 9th of December 2021 is lnternational Anti - Corruption Day (IACD), this day is celebrated globally every year by united nations (UN), non- governmental organizations and the private organizations. The theme to mark this year's event is "Your right, your role: Say No to Corruption". Corruption as we all know is prevalent in almost all facets and sectors in Nigeria, and it has eaten deep into the social fabrics of our daily lives. Corruption has become a cankerworm and a protracted cancer that has eaten up Nigeria as a country with wounds that have refuse to heal . The devastating effects of corruption in Nigeria is unimaginable. Corruption has caused Nigeria alot, and the resultant negative effects of corruption can be seen manifest in critical areas such as the poor state of infrastructures, to bad economy, bad leadership, poor governance, unemployment and the high rate of extreme poverty in the land with antecedent effects of treasury loots and resource plundering all boiling down as a result of corruption. Hence to mark this year international anti- corruption day, l will write on the topic " how to fight economic and financial crimes to make Nigeria great." Before l delve into this topical national issue, l will really have to explain what economic and financial crimes are all about. Economic crimes covers a wide range of offenses from financial crimes committed by banks, tax evasion, illicit capital heavens, money laundering, crimes committed by public officials (like bribery, embezzlement, traffic of influences among many others. While financial crimes includes fraud, electronic crimes, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, market abuse and insider dealing, information security etc.
Nigeria is a very large country with over 200million people as at date. Nigeria is regarded as the giant of Africa and a country that is richly blessed with both human and natural resources, but our greatest challenge as a nation is the poor utilization and mis-management of these resources for national growth and development. From the inception of Nigeria as an independent country in 1960 till date, the country has been bedevilled with high level of corruption among the political class and those in governmental circles with massive mis-appropriation and diversion of public funds meant for infrastructural development and also for the general well being and betterment of Nigerians being diverted into personal accounts for private use by the political leaders who are saddled with the responsibilities of governance at all levels of government. This ill doings by the political class and those in position of authorities has negatively slow down the pace of development across key sectors of the economy and also draws the progress of the country aback. Presently, according to the 2021 U.S news and world report rankings, Nigeria is ranked 1st among the top 10 most corrupt nations in the world, and among the top 50 most corrupt countries and ranked 31st in the world according to the corruption perceptions index of 2021. Nigeria is ranked 154 out of 180 countries by the transparency international corruption perception index of 2021. According to transparency international, Nigeria is ranked 2nd most corrupt nation in West Africa for the year 2021. This is totally unacceptable and this development has battered the image of Nigeria in the international scene and among the comity of nations. For Nigeria to achieve the war against corruption, economic and financial crimes at all levels of governance and in all sectors and spheres of our social, political and economic life should not be treated with kid gloves, a lot needs to be done by the government, relevant stakeholders and institutions saddled with the responsibilities of stemming the tide of corruption, economic and financial crimes so as to nip it in the bud. Proactive measures should be put in place by the government in power to tackle corruption in Nigeria headlong.
Firstly, the Nigerian government have to build strong institutions to fight corruption, economic and financial crimes in Nigeria and empower these institutions both in functions and personnel, by strengthening these institutions with the constitutional powers and the maximum support they required to apprehend and persecute any citizens of Nigeria no matter how highly placed in the society if found wanting, guilty or charged with corruption and sharp practices. They should be no room for sacred cows in the cause of these institutions carrying out their constitutional mandates to persecute, most especially the political elites and the bourgeoisies in the society. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW. These institutions should be autonomous without any interference with the government in power to influence their decision making processes.
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING FOR PEACE (CYPLP) TRAINING WORKSHOP TO MARK INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY (IACD) 9TH DECEMBER, 2021. KADUNA, NIGERIA.
ANTI- CORRUPTION TRAINING WORKSHOP TO MARK THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI - CORRUPTION DAY (IACD) ON 9TH DECEMBER 2022. KADUNA, NIGERIA.
Secondly, institutions such the economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) and independent corrupt practices commission (ICPC) that are saddled with the responsibilities of fighting corruption, economic and financial crimes in Nigeria should strengthen multi- stakeholders and cross cutting partnerships across the globe to strengthen anti- money laundering legal frameworks and develop capacities of national agencies to investigate money laundering and disrupt illicit financial flows and support the recovery of stolen assets. This will enhance institutional ability and integrity to execute reforms to fight corruption at all levels and in all sectors of the economy in the country. They should also build and strengthen relationships with international organizations such as transparency international, united nations office on drugs and crimes (UNODC) and other related global corruption prevention and detection organizations to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise and global best practices, and also engages in exchange training programs and technical assistance to develop or improve the capacities required for national authorities to combat economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC) - ANTI- CORRUPTION GRAFT AGENCY IN NIGERIA.
Thirdly, Nigeria must commit herself by committing to implement the united nations conventions against corruption (UNCAC) conventions which is the only legally binding universal anti- corruption instrument to date. As a matter of urgency to address the high rate of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria, the Nigerian government should create financial intelligence units (FIUs) at all levels of government, government agencies, ministries, extra- ministerial departments and parastatals to serve as watchdogs and whistle blowers to checkmate the activities of government officials at all levels of governance. The Nigerian government and institutions such as the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) should put up stringent measures and mechanisms to combat money laundering in Nigeria, engage in cooperation with sister agency the independent corrupt practices commission (lCPC) through joint investigations and creating special investigative techniques to investigate corrupt government officials with criminal records, and also to adjucate, prosecute and sanctions erring government officials without fear or favour, and establish a criminal record book and database for all corrupt government officials and criminal citizens in Nigeria. The Nigerian government should also confiscate and seize all belongings and stolen properties of corrupt government officials and criminal citizens, their properties sold to recover stolen public funds back to the coffers of national treasury. All corrupt government officials and criminal citizens that have been found guilty of corruption by a competent court of jurisdiction in Nigeria should be blacklisted from contesting and holding any political or elective public offices in Nigeria to serve as deterrent to others. The issue of plea bargaining should not be granted to any corrupt public officer and citizen if found guilty of corruption, his or her final abode should be prison.
Fourthly, the financial sector of the economy should be strengthen and stringent policy frameworks enacted and put in place. Being the financial market place where financial transactions are being carried out within and outside Nigeria. The financial institutions in Nigeria should have a very strong bond and a good working relationships with national agencies such as the economic and financial crime commission ( EFCC) and the independent corrupt practices commission (ICPC) to cross examine financial flows within and outside to the country. Enhanced requirements for domestic regulatory and supervisory policies for banks and non-bank financial institutions should be set forth, along with guidance for cooperation and the exchange of information at the national and international levels to investigate suspected money- laundering activities and cybercrimes. Nigerian banks must adopt and integrate into their financial infrastructure procedures to identify customers, keep effective records of financial inflows and outflows and report suspicious transactions to national authorities. Nigerian banks must also impose customer identification ("know your customer ") this must be taken very seriously to curb impersonation and identity theft, and suspicious transactions reporting requirements mechanisms put in place. As a matter of urgency and a necessity, the Nigerian government must ensure that specialized financial intelligence units (FIUs) are created in all banks in Nigeria, to exchange information with foreign counterparts to counter illicit financial flows and money laundering in Nigeria. To checkmate the activities of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria, the Nigerian government and all Nigerian banks must endorses the use of special investigative techniques (SITs) such as controlled delivery, electronic surveillance, and under cover operations. SITs are methods for gathering information that are applied by law enforcement officials for the purpose of detecting and investigating crimes and suspects without alerting the target persons.
Lastly, to fight economic and financial crimes to make Nigeria great, practical measures should be put in place to freeze all accounts of corrupt public officials and criminal citizens in the country to keep offenders from financially profiting from their crimes through confiscation so that criminals will not be able to enjoy their illicit earnings after serving jail terms. When all these policy frameworks and legislations are implemented in Nigeria, a new Nigeria will emerge and the issue of economic and financial crimes will be defeated and Nigeria will be great once again. Corruption affects all areas of the society. On this year's international anti-corruption day everyone has a role to play to tackle corruption and build a better world for all.
THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION MESSAGE BY UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIMES (UNODC) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - GHADA WALY.
"On this international anti- corruption day 2021, let us remember that each and every one of us has a role to play in standing up for what is right. For our inclusive recovery, for our hopes to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and for the rights of everyone, let us all live up to our roles in saying "No To corruption".
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIMES (UNODC) FEATURED CYPLP IN THEIR NEWSLETTER TO MARK THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI- CORRUPTION DAY (IACD) 2021.
It can be viewed here below:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/ngos/civil-society-organisations-across-the-world-mark-iacd-2021.html
#GlobalGoals #SDGs #lnternationalAntiCorruptionDay2021 #lACD2021 #UNODC #EFCC #ICPC #Transparencylnternational #SDG2030 #Agenda2030 #CYPLP #ECOWAS #AU #EU #euinnigeria UKinNigeria #UNDPNigeria #UNDP #UN_Nigeria #UN
A BRIEF PERSONAL PROFILE OF ENOBONG EKWERE (ANTI - CORRUPTION FIGHTER AND GOOD GOVERNANCE ADVOCATE IN NIGERIA).
Comrade Enobong Ekwere is a social influencer, blogger, vlogger, human rights activist, grassroot social mobilizer, SDGs advocate and a global citizen. He is the program manager of children and young people living for peace (CYPLP), an organic, voluntary of experts, youth focused and a think- tank non-governmental organization based in Kaduna, Nigeria. A Higher National Diploma (HND) graduate of Public Administration (Upper Credit) from the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger state, Nigeria. Enobong Ekwere holds a proficiency certificate in management from the Nigerian Institute of Management, Chartered (NIM) Lagos, Nigeria. He is also a graduate member of the institute (Associate member in view). He works with young people in local communities across Nigeria localizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs), accelerating action online and offline, engaging duty bearers and policy makers to be accountable for its implementation by 2030, and also working to advance the united nations convention against corruption (UNCAC) in particular in Nigeria. He is a strong advocate for good governance and democracy, anti-corruption, accountability in government, freedom of information, access to information, free press, social justice and social inclusion. As a youth advocate and a global leader who loves to see social reforms in the society, he uses his personalized blog to write compelling stories on developmental and topical issues on national and global concern that shapes and transform people's lives and impact the larger society for knowledge transfer and lifelong learning. He engages in community service and volunteerism, community outreach, social mobilization and advocacy tours to hard to reach local communities in Nigeria advocating and advancing the cause of the SDGs so that no community and youth in Kaduna state and Nigeria at large would be left behind. CYPLP works primarily in serving vulnerable population of children, youth and women, elderly persons, people living with disabilities (PLWD's) in unserved, underserved, underrepresented, disadvantaged and marginalized local communities in Nigeria. He can be reached via:
Tel/WhatsApp: +2347082558952
Email: julyenobong2020@gmail.com
: enobongekwere825@gmail.com
MY PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES:
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/enobong.ekwere.372
TWITTER:
http://www.twitter.com/Enobongekwere2
INSTAGRAM:
http://www.instagram.com/enobongekwere825
LINKEDIN:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/enobong-ekwere-3271b116b
MY ORGANIZATION'S SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES:
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/cyplp.net.ng/
TWITTER:
http://www.twitter.com/youngpeoplefor/
INSTAGRAM:
http://www.instagram.com/cyplp/
WEBSITE:
www.cyplp.net.ng
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER - INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (IHRC) GENEVA, SWITZERLAND.
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