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NIGERIA: UN PARLEYS ICPC ON FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION Efforts by Nigeria to combat corruption got a boost on Tuesday, as the United Nations (UN) said it has incorporated the anti-corruption agencies in the country in its anti-corruption agenda in Africa. The UN said it had designed a National anti-corruption strategy, which required strengthening the anti-corruption agencies in the country, more essentially to develop the capacity to effectively fight the malaise of corruption in the country. The representative of the UN on Anti-Corruption in Africa, Mrs Maryam Sisoko, made this known in Abuja during her courtesy visit to the National Headquarters of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), stating that the international agency had been willing to assist Nigeria in its anti-corruption battles. She said the national strategy by the UN on anti-corruption involved the need to strengthen the operational capacities of the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, and hence, urged both the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to start synergising efforts in order to effectively fight corruption in the country. Sisoko, who was received by members of the ICPC board led by the acting chairman, Ekpo Nta, hinted that the UN would be holding a two-day workshop beginning from February 22, essentially to review project document on national strategy on war against corruption in Nigeria. The workshop, she further disclosed would also appraise the inputs from donor agencies on the fight against corruption, with a view to enabling the anti-corruption agencies' assess to international donations meant to aide their operations. The UN representative said the agency had, in 2010 organised a training on anti-corruption, which she said the EFCC had been a major beneficiary, adding that the European Union has also been evaluating sources of funding for the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria for their effective use. She called for cooperation between her agency and the ICPC in the fight against corruption, just as she stressed the need for a liaison office between the agency and the ICPC for the purpose of co-ordinating efforts on the task of fighting corruption in Nigeria. The ICPC's acting chairman had earlier sought the help of the UN in assisting countries in Africa, in particular Nigeria to assess their needs in terms of costs and materials required in fighting corruption, so as to know the particular areas it could intervene. He equally called for the UN's assistance in building the capacity of ICPC officials for the fight against corruption, just as he pleaded that the UN should assist the ICPC in setting up e-library meant to enrich the knowledge of staff in the fight against corruption. Ekpo, however, hinted the visiting UN official of preparations by ICPC to set up an anti-corruption academy, expressing hope that the agency would assist in building curriculum for the development of the academy fashioned against its type in Australia. Nigerian Tribune 01/02/2012 |
