A Town Hall Meeting of development stakeholders in Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria has advocated for communities to be monitoring projects, especially “Constituency Projects”, and report any discrepancy to the anti-corruption agencies. 

The Town Hall organized by Wadata Media and Advocacy Centre (WAMAC) with funding from the MacArthur Foundation took place on March 2, 2024, in Ilorin, the state capital.

WAMAC organizes Town Halls on different issues in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

In his opening address, Executive Director of WAMAC, Zubair Abdurra’uf Idris urged community leaders and members, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)  community-based-organizations, and individuals to join hands with journalists to “change the ugly narratives of corruption for the benefit of the future generation.”

The WAMAC Executive Director expressed confidence that collaboration yields positive results.

    “WAMAC and its partner radio station, Albarka FM, Ilorin have unraveled many corruption issues allegedly carried out by a fragment portion of our society but cowardly carried out to the detriment of the larger society. One such investigation that undercover journalists exposed is the leakages in revenue at the government hospitals particularly the pathology department where a series of tests are carried out ranging from genotype, Malaria, and Typhoid fever. Another success is the “Light up Kwara” project which after our programme government asked the contractor to either refund the money collected or complete the project.”

Idris expressed the organisation’s hope for various communities to own the fight against corruption, while community leaders take the lead in sensitizing their respective domains on corruption and hold themselves accountable.  

“Community members and radio listeners will be engaged in anti-corruption dialogue and discourse to achieve maximum results. While communities are obliged to own the fight against corruption. Equally, we urged the public, journalists, and CSOs to make use of the FoI Act which ensures participatory democracy, promotion of Transparency, and Accountability in the affairs of government”

WAMAC convened the Town Hall under the theme – “Empowering Citizens to Own the Fight Against Corruption in Kwara State: a Bottom-Up Approach”

Communiqué

At the end of the Town Hall,  participants came up with an eight-point communiqué. 

The participants include the Media, Civil Society Organizations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the National Orientation Agency, Persons With Disabilities(PWDs), Community-based Organizations, Religious Leaders, Faith Based Organizations,  Market Women Association, and other critical stakeholders.

They advocated for a change of approach in the fight against corruption through a bottom-up to the top-of-the-ladder approach and urged political officeholders to desist from flamboyant life to the detriment of the larger society.

Instilling discipline, improved moral behaviour, and reinvigorating family values to fight corruption is another point noted that would help fast-track the fight against corruption through Community Participation.

The meeting urged the Inclusion of PWDs in the government employment circles to boost their ability in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Again, participants called for monitoring and implementation of budgets by all tiers of governments and urged for full financial autonomy of Local Governments and reduction of governance costs.

There was also a call for a stop to media trials of alleged corruption cases and politicization of the fight against corruption.