Abimbola Akosile
10 July 2009
Lagos — The Federal Government had been called upon to put in place adequate and equitable legislation that would check corruption, as a panacea to good governance.
There was also call for a review of existing anti-corruption laws, which were described as lopsided in favour of the rich, to plug loopholes usually exploited by apprehended corrupt public officials in the country.
These formed parts of a communiqué at a Roundtable on Corruption and Public Service Delivery in Nigeria, organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), led by its Executive Director, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni; in collaboration with National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA.
The roundtable, with a theme, "Corruption and Public Service Delivery in Nigeria: The Real Victims," took place in Lagos, to discuss and highlight impact of corruption on access (or lack of access) of citizens to critical service delivery, such as water and electricity, and to make recommendations for addressing the situation.
The roundtable brought together a group of leading human rights activists and lawyers, anti-corruption activists, academia, media practitioners and journalists, diplomats, government officials, and the private sector; while the Guest Speaker, General R. Ishola Williams (rtd), Chairman, Transparency International in Nigeria (TIN), delivered a paper on the theme.
Other notable personalities included Chairman of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Barrister Femi Falana; Dr Anthonia Egba, who represented Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Public Service Reform; Mr Lawal who represented Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, Mrs. Famoro of SERVICOM.
Williams dwelt on corruption in Nigeria and the need to tackle it from the individual and community levels upwards. He insisted that if the people eschew corrupt acts and fulfil their social responsibilities, government would have no choice than to follow suit; in the quest to eradicate corruption and ensure public service delivery.
He called for a people-centred process whereby any initiative or policy could be effective through a Public-People- Private Sector Partnership (PPPP) agreement.
After the detailed presentation and an exhaustive interactive deliberation, participants observed that the executive is cut off from the citizenry and do not understand the pains of Nigerians, which is inhibiting good public service delivery.
that the civil service is not asking itself questions on service delivery; and that all citizens are victims of corruption in public service delivery.
To ensure public service delivery to all citizens in Nigeria, participants at the Roundtable recommended greater government scrutiny on the use of the monthly federation allocations collected by States and Local Governments, to check corruption.
The participants called for the creation of a new Public-People-Private sector Partnership (PPPP), which must be people-centred; while communities must be empowered and welfare state embraced.
"States and Local Governments need to boost the capacity of their workforce to ensure quality public service delivery; anti-corruption fight should start from the basic groups like the home, family units, peer groups e.t.c.; the principle of 'Naming and Shaming' should be practiced in every sector, to check corruption;
"Nigerians should stand up for their rights and hold government officials at all levels accountable for poor service delivery; also, all relevant anti-corruption laws should be examined and reviewed to ensure equality before the law and to check corrupt practices" the participants stressed.
To them, if the various recommendations are effected by relevant bodies, public service delivery would be boosted in Nigeria, and corruption checked in every sector.
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