CIVIL Society Organisations (CSOs) should go beyond creating awareness and publicising information to building coalitions across the socio-political sectors and developing action plans in order to breathe new life into the crusade against corruption.

Speaking at a workshop on anti-corruption and good governance in Abuja, a senior lecture at the Nigerian law school and director of research, legal research initiative, Paul Idiornigie, noted that the CSOs were beginning to stick in a not with emphasis being on conferences and workshops or elaborate anti-corruption campaigns. He suggested that the new democratic dispensation in Nigeria offered the CSOs an opportunity to see an effective anti-corruption strategy in forging a partnership with government.

According to Idiornigie, such an anti-corruption partnership should be institutional to the extent of strengthening the offices of the public complaints commissioner and the auditor general.

In a paper titled: "strategic planning in support of anti-corruption management and good governance," jointly written with a colleague - Ibiere Akpana, Idiornigie reminded participants at the workshop - the pioneering members of the West African Organisation for Democracy and Governance (WAODEG) from Ghana, Mali and Nigeria - what roles the CSOs like the media, citizen groups, non-governmental organisations, trade unions, business associations, religious groups etc have played in the war against corruption. Apart from sharpening public awareness on corruption, Idiornigie noted that CSOs had raised the anti-corruption campaign by trying to influence legislative and judicial reforms aimed at making corruption, as in public procurement process, a high-risk activity and by empowering citizens with the knowledge of and confidence in their fundamental human rights. he lauded the CSOs for their role as whistle blowers in bringing such crimes as electoral fraud to the attention of law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.

As part of government's anti-corruption reforms, Idiornigie said that Nigeria's economy should be convincingly open, political institutions more democratic and the media more independent and assured unrestricted access to information. Government should consider good working conditions, promotion, pension rights for workers to live a decent life, in the anti-corruption campaign, Idiornigie advised. The workshop, which took place at Sheraton Hotel Abuja, was organised by Marquette University - Les Aspen Centre (LAC), Washington, USA.