The federal government has been urged to put measures in place to reignite Nigerians’ zeal for whistleblowing as a means to further stem corruption.

The call was made in Abuja on Tuesday by anti-graft stakeholders in a workshop for law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies on whistleblowing and whistleblower protection in Nigeria.

The workshop was organised by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), supported by the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG).

The coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, described whistleblowing as one of the most effective methods of exposing corrupt acts and fostering accountability in the internal management of organisations.

“At the early stage of its introduction as an anti-corruption programme for the country over seven years ago, it generated a considerable amount of enthusiasm among citizens.

“Tips concerning looted public funds and assets as well as financial fraud in government offices were frequently submitted in great numbers to the relevant oversight agencies,” he said.

According to Mr Onumah, most of these disclosures led to recoveries in local and foreign currencies, in addition to tangible assets.

He, however, said that due to the disclosures, whistleblowers in different government agencies increasingly became victims of vicious retaliation in the absence of a protection law.

“Faced by a lack of protection, citizens, mostly public sector workers, began to lose interest in blowing the whistle on corruption and other types of wrongdoing out of fear of consequences.

“Workers face all kinds of punishment, from suspension through denial of salaries and other benefits, punitive transfers, denial of promotion, to outright dismissal.

“The result of these various attacks is a steady reduction in the volume of disclosures recorded over the years, thus making it seem as if the policy has been abandoned,” he said.

However, he said the trend, which he described as ugly, could be reversed through strategic engagements with key stakeholders.

According to him, this necessitated the workshop, with the theme “Strengthening Anti-Corruption and Promoting Accountability through Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection.”

In his presentation, a deputy director from the ministry of finance, Johnson Oludare, expressed concern over declining interest in whistleblowing in Nigeria.

Mr Oludare attributed the lack of interest in the policy to the fear of exposure to victimisation and other dangers, a situation he said posed a serious challenge to the policy’s success.

“Within a few months of the introduction of the whistleblowing policy, the federal government was able to recover huge sums of money.

“Notwithstanding the successes so far recorded, the policy still has a number of challenges, which include, but are not limited to, the lack of involvement by Nigerians.

“Nigerians are yet to take total ownership of the fight against corruption.

“The major challenge we observed in implementing this policy is poor participation, and we wish to encourage Nigerians to take ownership of the fight against corruption.

“This is by reporting economic and financial crimes, using various options available, including the whistleblower policy,” he said.

Mr Oludare said a legal framework for the policy, rewards for whistleblowers, and the development of political will must be guaranteed to ensure a robust policy.

AFRICMIL works with the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a unit of the federal ministry of finance, and other relevant stakeholders.

They work together under a project called Corruption Anonymous (CORA) to promote the whistleblowing policy introduced by the FG in December 2016 to fight corruption in Nigeria.

The project is supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

 (NAN)