Stakeholders comprising the media, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), security agencies, religious and traditional rulers in Borno, have resolved to unite to fight against corruption more effectively. The resolution was contained in a communique issued to newsmen on Sunday in Maiduguri, after a town hall meeting on anti-corruption organised by an NGO, Wadata Media Advocacy Centre ( WAMAC), in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation. “Participants recognised that fighting the menace of corruption and promotion of good governance is a collective responsibility of all citizens. “Participants agreed to intensify their efforts through reporting of corruption issues, by adopting the ”Whistle Blower” policy and advocate for scrutiny of individuals by the community and religious leaders. ”They also seek to stop the practice of honouring people with questionable character, with titles. “Participants called for a change of attitude, and urge speedy trial of alleged corruption cases in various courts. “The Town Hall meeting also called for a structural change in the fight against corruption notably; fighting corruption from homes, by inculcating moral behaviour of piety, truthfulness and fairness in all spheres of life,” the communique stated. It added that the stakeholders also proposed forming anti-corruption clubs within communities to fight corruption while urging the media to campaign vigorously on the dangers of corruption. The participants also advocated for an ‘offenders register’ that would name and shame all convicted corrupt persons, irrespective of their political and religious standing. The communique further urged anti-corruption agencies to interface with journalists periodically and provide them with information and data of convictions of corrupt persons, and to communities to monitor and report wrongdoings in the execution of projects in their localities. The Town Hall meeting, which was also attended by government officials including those from the EFCC Maiduguri zonal office, had as its theme: ‘Community Participation In The Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria Using Local Language’, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Wadata Media and Advocacy Center (WAMAC) called for collective effort to fight corruption in Nigeria. WAMAC supported by MacArthur Foundation held a town hall meeting in Maiduguri on Saturday, as part of its advocacy campaign against Corruption, themed “Community Participation in the fight against corruption in Nigeria Using Local Language” In a Communiqué Signed by WAMAC Chairman and Team Lead, Mr. Zubair Abdurrauf Idris, issued at the End of the Meeting charged Nigerians to join hands to end the menace of Corruption in the Country. At the meeting which participants were drawn from the Media, Civil Society Organizations, Community Based Organizations, Religious and Community leaders as well as anti-Corruption agency (EFCC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Commissioner of information (representing Borno State Governments) The Nigerian Police and other security agencies it was resolved that;

Wadata Media and Advocacy Centre (WAMAC) an NGO with the support of MacArthur Foundation held a Town Hall Meeting to Amply the Fight against Corruption in Local Languages with a theme: “Community Participation in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria Using Local Languages” held on 14th August 2021 at Dujima International Hotel Maiduguri, Borno State. Participants were drawn from the Media, Civil Society Organizations, Community Based Organizations, Religious and Community leaders as well as anti-Corruption agency (EFCC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Commissioner of information (representing Borno State Governments) The Nigerian Police and other security agencies. At the end of the Town Hall meeting the following resolutions were made to fast tract the Fight Against Corruption through Community Participation as follows:- 1. Participants recognized that fighting the menace of corruption and Promotion of Good Governance is a collective responsibilities of all citizens. 2. Participants agreed to intensify their efforts through reporting of corruption issues by adopting “Whistle Blower” policy and advocate for scrutiny of individuals by community and religious leaders humoring people with questionable character with titles. 3. Participants calls for ‘Change of Attitudes’ to fight Corruption and urges for speedy trial of alleged corruption cases in various courts.4. The Town Hall meeting also calls for a ‘Structural Change’ in the fight against corruption notably ;- ( I ) Fighting Corruption from homes by inculcating moral behavior of piety, truthfulness and fairness in all spheres of life. (ii) Forming of anti-corruption clubs within communities to fight corruption and (iii) the media were urged to campaign vigorously on the dangers of corruption.5. Participants urged community and religious leaders to take messages of the fight against corruption to their domain and followers.6. Participants also advocated for ‘Offenders Register’ to named and shamed all convicted corrupts persons irrespective of political and religious status. 7. Participants calls on the anti-corruption agencies to interface with journalists periodically and give information and data of convictions of corrupt persons. 8. Finally, communities were obliged to monitor and report wrongdoings in the execution of projects in their localities. At the end of the Town Hall meeting, Peace Fm Radio, Maiduguri a partner radio station of WAMAC on the fight against Corruption through local Languages in Kanuri and Hausa advised people to speak out on issues of corruption in their communities. This communique was made this day 14th August 2021 at Maiduguri, Borno State ZUBAIR ABDURRAUF IDRIS CHAIRMAN/TEAM LEAD

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has described the indictment of several Federal Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAS) of financial mismanagement in the 2016 Auditor-General’s Annual Report as depressing and an embarrassment unworthy of public consumption. HEDA’s Executive Director, Olanrewaju Suraju made this known while reacting to a petition the organization sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking a probe of N92billion allegedly misappropriated by Federal Government MDAs.Speaking on PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO, the anti-corruption radio program produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja, Suraju decried the role of some civil servants in the worsening corruption in Nigeria’s public sector, stressing that politicians nowadays can barely succeed with corrupt practices without the help of civil servants.“This Auditor-General’s report is less of politicians but more of civil servants and this is where we have the greatest challenge in terms of dealing with corruption in public offices.“The civil servants are almost worse than the politicians that we on daily basis criticize and quite a number of the civil servants are even richer than the politicians and it is almost an attestation to the fact that politicians can barely succeed with corrupt practices without the help of civil servants.“Do an assessment of the lifestyles of quite a number of the civil servants and you would see that the majority are actually living above their legitimate earnings, it is a very huge gap between their legitimate earnings and the level of wealth that you trace with quite a number of the civil servants.”Suraju also disclosed that HEDA’s aim is to encourage the general public to take interest in the Auditor-General’s Annual report, not just at the federal level but down to the states and local government, adding that HEDA was already looking forward to getting the media, civil society organizations, and citizens involved in beaming the searchlight on audit reports of states and local governments.“I think this is an opportunity for everybody to not only focus on what is happening at the national level but also at the state and local government level, and stakeholders must be able to support the process and to ensure that the good things that are happening in government are sustained,” Suraju said.He noted that the challenge with the Auditor-General’s report is that the law only mandates that annual audit reports be sent to the National Assembly and passed on to the Public Accounts Committee before it gets to the public domain. On his part, a Tax Consultant, Taslim Anibaba lauded HEDA’s efforts in seeing that MDAs and public servants that misappropriated public funds are penalized while describing the laissez-faire attitude of anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria in the fight against corruption as a tragedy.Anibaba also lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has not done enough to curb corruption ravaging the public sector and advocated that systemic change will help reduce corruption.He, however, commended the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation for publishing the annual report but noted that the office is not equipped to tackle corruption is exposed.“It is a norm now for corruption to happen in Nigeria which is bad. The point is that the government has to be honest in curtailing corruption, they are not honest right now, they are not pursuing that goal.On reducing corruption, he had these to say: “What about the system, which is allowing corruption to happen? What are the kind of procedures in place, what are the kind of standards that are in those places, who are the kind of people that are heading government offices, and what is their capacity,” Anibaba questioned?Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.The program is supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

The Nigerian Government is making plans to curb the use of WhatsApp – a free and encrypted multi platform messaging application and Thuraya satellite phones in the country. The sum of $9.6m about #4.8b is provided in the 2021 supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly for the Nigerian Intelligence Agency – NIA to carry out the exercise. There is also a continuing argument on a bill with stricter legislation to monitor the press before the National Assembly. The Government recently suspended the use of Twitter in the country indefinitely, after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet which it said violated it’s rules on abuse although the authorities said the suspension was not a reaction to the removal of the tweet. The government said “ there has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences”. The country is also battling with serious security challenges including insurgency, kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies, etc The ban on Twitter by the Buhari led Administration raised serious concerns and outrage amongst the international community and Nigerians with many accusing the Government of seeking to deny them their freedom of expression.

The 17 Southern Govenors have unanimously agreed that for equality, fairness, justice, progress and peaceful co-existence between and among Nigerians, the next President should come from the South. In a communique read by their forum’s Chairman, the Governor of Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu, at the end of their meeting in Lagos on Monday, the Governors said they are committed to the unity of the country based on equity and fairness among other resolutions. The Governors opposed President Muhammadu Buhari’s stand on the return to open grazing practiced during the first republic where herdsmen used designated routes to move around the country, thus they have set a September 1st 2021 dateline for the enactment of anti open grazing laws in all the states of the South. The Forum also rejected the 3% share of oil revenue to host communities by the the Senate in the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill – PIB instead of 5% proposed by the House of Representatives, 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins as well as the ownership structure of the proposed new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited – NNPC. The Governors equally rejected the removal of the electronic transmission of election results from the electoral act and confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court. The forum commended security operatives in the country for their relentless efforts in restoring security and safety and commiserated with families and loved ones of those who died in the line of duty. The Governors re-emphasized the need for state police and resolved that funds deducted from the federation account for the Nigeria Police Security Trust Fund be shared amongst the states and the federal government to combat security challenges. In addition the forum frowns at selective criminal administration of justice and resolved that arrests should be made within the ambit of the law and fundamental human rights. They further said that if for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in any state, the Chief Security Officer of the State must be duly informed. The Governors also unanimously chose Lagos State as the forum’s permanent secretariat.

Thirteen schools in different locations susceptible to attacks in Kaduna State have been ordered to close immediately. This follows the incessant attacks, killings and kidnappings of students for ransom by Bandits who have been terrorizing the state for quite some time now. The order was contained in a memo by the Director General, Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, Umma Ahmed to proprietors of private schools in the state. The DG warns of appropriate sanctions to any school that flouts the directive. Persistent Bandits attacks on schools and the kidnappings of pupils and students are fast becoming impediments to education in Northern Nigeria. Analysts say unless authorities take decisive measures to halt these attacks, the educational system in the region may completely collapse.

Reports from Zaria, Kaduna state say bandits in their large numbers attacked the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre, Saye, Zaria in the wee hours of Sunday and abducted 8 persons. A source at the Centre says those abducted include 3 males and 5 females. The females are all alleged to be nursing mothers who were taking along with their babies. Just as the predawn attack on the NTLC was ongoing, a group of the bandits attempted to overrun the Saye Police station but were successfully repelled. The Kaduna state police command spokesman, ASP Muhammed Jalige confirmed the two incidents in a press release in Kaduna. ASP JALIGE said some spent and live rounds of ammunition were recovered from the scene while the station has been reinforced. Meanwhile the police anti-kidnapping unit, mobile police force as well as the Inspector General of Police – IGP’s Intelligence Response Team are said to be providing technical support in order to rescue the victims unhurt and arrest the bandits to have their day in court.

The Kaduna state police command has confirmed the death of one child while two others were injured when suspected improvised explosive devices the children picked up and were playing with them as football exploded in the Badarawa area of Kaduna on Saturday. One of the two injured children has since been discharged while the other is still receiving treatment at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital where they were rushed to after the explosion. The command spokesman ASP Muhammed Jalige said in a statement that normalcy has returned to the area and the incident is under investigation. ASP Jalige says the command’s explosive ordinance department – EOD is carrying out a through forensic analysis of the devices while efforts are on to unravel those who dropped the explosives and possibly apprehend them to face justice.