Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC) Wednesday, held a One Day sensitization workshop on behavioural change in society using national ethics and integrity policy, with a call on members of the society to change their negative behaviours and imbibe positive character inorder to stamp out corrupt practices in the society.
Ambassador Nweke(First left)
Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye SAN, OFR, made the call while declaring open the event which was
held in Enugu in conjunction with Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria(ACAN), a research and training arm of the ICPC.
He said that the Commission was aware that the stakeholders were already working in the area of behavioural change, hence, the need for patnership with them to consolidate it.
Represented by the Resident Anti-Corruption Commssioner, ICPC Enugu,,Ebonyi states, Kennedy Ebhotemer, Owasanoye, said that the workshop was supported by the MacArthur Foundation, which is partnering with ICPC/ACAN.
He added that the commission in the course of it’s work, observed that,” it has become imperative to acknowledge that the law and order approach to the fight against corruption (enforcement) alone is not enough to get rid of the menance from the society .
Participants
“With the present realities facing the nation , if we do not change our behaviours , we may not be able to bring about the changes that we desie in our society.
“The ideal behavior for citizens is that they should respect the laws of the land, keep their words, do their duty with deligence, respect and value other human beings, not get involved in stealing from the government, cheating others or any form of deception.
Participants
“Unfortunately, the reality is that many people are far from the ideal.Therefore, there is need to make intentional efforts to turn around negative behaviours to positive ones through the inculcation of positive values”, he said.
According to the chairman, the commission had designed several programmes and initiatives to bring about behavioural changes in the society. They include, the National valuee curriculum for teaching of posetive values to pupils and students at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, the national ethics and integrity policy for promoting integrity in the society generally, the ethics and integrity compliance scorecard of ministries, departments and agencies to measure the level of compliance to integrity standards in Government bodies among other and to help spread the information and message of behavioural changes.
He stressed the need for the constant communication of the initiatives to the relevant stakeholders to get their support, hence , the purpose of the workshop.
The ICPC chairman said that the Federal Executive Council on August 2020, approved the National ethics and Integrity policy as a response to the many damaging effects of corruption on both the public and private sectors, with a view to help restore and revitalize them .
He added that the policy was developed by the ICPC in collaboration with office of the secretary to the Government of the federation and the National Orientation Agency to enhance Nigeria’s core values in the society.
“Using the behavioural change approach, the policy seeks to strengthen efforts at positive national transformation saving the country from an erosion of ethics and collapsed of values and to help the country reach national development goals among others.
“The Commission through ACAN , organised training for public servants and the general public to be able to tackle corruption within their areas of operations,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Country Director of ,Global Society for Anti -Corruption, Amaka Nweke, emphasised the need for people to make necessary changes to stamp out corruption in the society.
She said,” Our negative character towards things bring about corruption. We cannot talk about stopping corruption if we cannot stop the negative things in us that brought about corruption.
“We must have behavioural change . Corruption cuts across every nook and cranny of our society. There is a remedy.. it is not late. We will achieve success”, she said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Assistant Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner, ICPC, Enugu and Ebonyi states,Enosa Omighibo noted that the workshop was conceived as an outreach platform to practically engage the major stakeholders in the fight against corruption, using positive behavioural change methods.
He noted that the commission believed that it’s only through a collective effort that corruption could be stamped out of the society.
Presentations were made on “Overview of ICPC initiatives and the fight against corruption”, “Context and Pillars of the EIP and the implementation strategy for invited groups”, among others.
The mandated initiatives of ICPC-NVC , included national value curriculum, constituency and executive projects,, tracking initiative, sexual harassment, ethics and Integrity compliance scorecard, illicit financial flows and public service Integrity awards.
Participants at the One-Day sensitization workshop were from the Civil Society Organizations,media, Faith -based Organizations,Community-based Organizations, youth groups, professional bodies, and organised private sector.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama