The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) assured Nigeria of its support in the fight against corruption. Speaking in Abuja at the commemoration of the international anti-corruption day under the organization of the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT), the UNODC Country Representative, Dr. Oliver Stolpe, stated that anti-corruption education is very essential to stop the menace of corruption else corruption would remain uncurbed and would not stop being a threat to the security of the nation and its citizens.
It was stated that youth and children are the ones who are mostly at stake of the ills of corruption. As a result, encouraging anti-corruption education is critical to the UNODC’s work of empowering, engaging and connecting the next generations which includes working towards shielding sports from corruption. Stolpe further asserted that there will be a renewal of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime partnerships with the Federal Government of Nigeria in aspects of anti-corruption with addition of many new projects in 2023.
UNODC proposes new projects in its partnership renewal with FG.
According to his statements, the first project is the National Bureau of Statistics and UNODC’s conduction of the third National Corruption Survey as a witness to the exemplary leadership of subsequent Nigerian Governments in transparently fighting corruption – which will be done with the support of the MacArthur Foundation. UNODC, in the second project, will embark on a fresh partnership with the Nigerian Police Force and its Complaints Response Unit so as to address a critical finding of the 2019 National Corruption Survey.
This critical finding shows the challenges faced by Nigerian citizens regarding accessibility to existing complaints mechanisms in the process of seeking redress for police misconduct. This second project will be carried out with the support of the Government of the United States and the United Nations Peace Building Fund. These newly introduced projects and initiative go in line with UNODC’s ongoing agreement with the Kaduna State Government to aid provision of technical support to establish its Anti-Corruption Unit.
IATT focuses on the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2022-2026.
In addition, Chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT), Barrister Olusegun Adekunle, also spoke at the commemoration stating that corruption truly is a great challenge affecting the country although the Nigerian Government has not been silent about it and have taken several measures to address the menace. He added that the IATT has its focus on the upcoming 2023 General Elections and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2022 – 2026 which received approval on November 23, 2022.
The Anti-Corruption discussions are handy as it becomes solidified by creating opportunity for greater synergy in the preparation processes of an easy transition to another government in 2023. There have been enactments of legislations and establishment of institutions by the Federal Government for the implementation of the diverse issues under the control of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Likewise, institutions that are dedicated to the anti-corruption cause are continuously strengthened to enable data-policy nexus and inter-agency coordination and collaboration through the IATT platform.
FG runs an anti-corruption agenda that recovers proceeds of corruption.
Barrister Adekunle, who is also one of the chairpersons of the board of the Nigeria Executive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), further noted that the current Nigerian Government is currently organizing an anti-corruption agenda that is based on prevention, sanctions and enforcement, public engagement and recovery of proceeds of corruption. Although the agenda has made reasonable progress, recovering proceeds of corruption remains the highlight of the agenda. The government sees this recovery as a major policy of depriving corrupt citizens of the benefit of their crime, ensuring restitution to the citizens and the country.
Related Link
UNODC: Website
