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MEMORANDUM
PRESENTED BY THE ZERO-CORRUPTION COALITION TO THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON
INFORMATION ON THE OCCASION OF A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION BILL ON THE 26TH OF APRIL 2005.
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THE
COALITION
The Zero-Corruption Coalition is an
association of Civil Society Organizations engaged in the campaign against
corruption. The coalition was formed in 2001 with a mission ‘to
stimulate the active involvement of the populace in the fight against
corruption” and a vision of “Zero Tolerance for corruption”.
The ZCC currently has a membership of over seventy Civil Society
Organizations spread across the six geo-political zones.
NIGERIA’S
CORRUPTION PROFILE
Nigeria is saddled with the unsavory
reputation of being one of the most countries in the world. An analysis
of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index-CPI
shows as follows:
·
In 2000 Nigeria was
ranked 90 out of 90 countries surveyed and had a CPI score of
1.2.
·
In 2001 Nigeria was
ranked 90 out of the 91 countries surveyed with a CPI score of
1.0
·
In 2002, there
appeared to be a marginal improvement when, though it remained the
second most corrupt country ranking
101 out of 102 countries surveyed, the CPI
score increased to 1.6
·
In 2003 Nigeria ranked
132 out of 133 with a reduced CPI score of 1.4
·
In 2004, Nigeria
ranked 144 out of 146 countries with a CPI score of 1.6
Coming back home, The Nigerian
Governance and Corruption Survey commissioned by the Ministry of
Finance with support from the World Bank in 2001 reflects as follows:
1.
87.3 % of Nigerian
respondents to that survey consider corruption to be “very
serious.”
2.
64.3% of respondents
have observed acts of corruption by Government officials
3.
The business
environment is perceived to constitute growth road blocks
4.
Small enterprises are
more adversely affected by the distortions in the system
5.
Problematic access to
information was identified as one of the impediments to
growth.
Further, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Company –NDIC annual report
for 2002,
indicated that fraud is on the
increase in Nigeria. According to the report,
·
In 2002, 77 out of the
99 banks in operation recorded 796 cases of fraud involving a total sum of
N 11.2 billion.
FALLOUTS OF PERVASIVE
CORRUPTION:
·
Increased unemployment
·
Increased economic
crises and reduction of foreign investments
·
Decreased potentials
of local industries
·
Increased poverty and
feelings of psychic despair and loss of patriotism among
Nigerians.
·
Brain drain and
undignified migration
·
More recently, loss of
foreign aid and reluctance to grant debt relief.
These issues have been highlighted
to underscore the urgent need to combat corruption with all the weapons in
our arsenal. With the magnitude of the problem of corruption in Nigeria,
it is necessary to address the issue from the platform of comprehensive
and multi-dimensional strategy and action plan, which will grant entry
point to a diversity of actors. Such a strategy must locate the Civil
Society prominently within this agenda because it constitutes the single
largest block of stakeholders. For this purpose, the civil society must be
given an inclusive definition to embrace the NGOS, CBOS and the amorphous
group for whom they advocate.
THE ROLE OF THE
CIVIL SOCIETY
The traditional role of the
specifically focused CSOS has been defined in two broad thematic and
programmatic areas. –Shouting and Counting.
1. SHOUTING. [The elements of this
strategy are as follows:
·
Identification of key areas and issues in need of reform
·
Public enlightenment and awareness creation
·
Critiquing
Even though sometimes adversarial,
this strategy is nonetheless effective in building accountability in
governance.
2.
COUNTING; this strategy is collaborative in approach and has the following
characteristic;
Inputting into the agenda in the
following ways:
·
Designing
·
Mobilizing public opinion
·
Monitoring the implementation
·
Completing the feed back loop by accessing public response.
·
Legitimizing processes by lending support
In both of these strategies, the
role of the civil society in the developmental process and nation building
cannot be overemphasized.
COMBATING CORRUPTION
Effective combative strategies for
corruption can best be located in the context of key principles of
transparency and accountability, which are as follows:
An interrogation of each of this
component of an effective anti-corruption strategy will prominently locate
the role of CSOS
LOCATING ACCESS
TO INFORMATION
The role of an access to information
regimen can best be appreciated by interfacing each of the components of
the role of CSOS with the combative strategies in an effective
anti-corruption regimen.
1. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY: As the
saying goes, ‘Sunshine is the best disinfectant”. It is
generally accepted that openness and transparency is an anathema to
corruption. It follows therefore that an environment of secrecy and
censorship of information is a favorable breeding ground for corruption.
Transparency can only be achieved where there is access to information as
a matter of right and not of discretion.
An ancient and modern characteristic
of governance and leadership has always been opacity. To achieve the
level of transparency capable of reducing or banishing corruption
therefore, a proactive process has to be initiated to counteract this
ancient custom. It is increasingly recognized in modern polity that part
of this process is the institution of an access to information regimen. At
present, over forty countries round the world have already embraced this
doctrine. Nigeria being touted as one of the most corrupt countries
globally has a critical need to sign on to this process.
The civil society is the object and
beneficiary of transparency in governance, and it goes without saying that
it is the most critical stakeholder. Therefore, an evaluation of the
transparency profile of governance can only be done in the context of the
space allotted to civil society.
It is not surprising that the core
of all civil society activism is the quest for transparency and its
attendant good governance.
-
CLOSING THE
DOORS TO ILLICIT ACTIVITIES: This indicator recognizes human weaknesses
and the propensity to take advantage of laxity and absence of checks and
balances. A holistic anti-corruption regimen therefore has to import
parameters of conduct by reducing opportunities for expressing
corruption. In this indicator also, access to information, is critical.
The anti-corruption agenda has to construct a repository of information,
which will automatically and speedily highlight any infraction in the
system. This repository has to be dynamic and accommodate a smooth and
circular flow of information. In this scenario, policies have to contain
an inherent sensitivity and alarm mechanism to alert actors charged with
policing the process. This can best be achieved where the information
base is dynamic enough to accommodate a smooth and circular flow of
information. It goes without saying that censorship and secrecy
interrupts this flow and generates stagnation.
·
Destructive as opposed
to constructive criticism
·
Lack of literacy in
the key issues, thereby affecting the capacity to input into the
processes.
·
Lack of capacity for
effective monitoring of implementation processes.
·
Failure to facilitate
the interactive flow between government and the people.
While some of these criticisms may
be valid, it is however, submitted that the perceived shortcomings can be
attributed to lack of access to relevant information both at the policy
formulation and implementation stages. CSOS are therefore left with the
frustration driven response of untargeted, unconstructive and speculative
shouting. This scenario accounts for a great part of the tension that
still persists between government and CSOS despite civilian rule in the
past six years. An environment of access to information will not only
de-program government officials from the current culture of secrecy but
will also improve the literacy profile of CSOS in government policies and
activities. This will contribute in no small measure to improving
government CSO relations.
SANCTIONS: This indicator is the
one most visible to the public. Therefore, successes in other areas, in
the absence of effective implementation of sanctions are usually met with
skepticism by the masses. An environment fraught with secrecy and
restrictions is not investigation and prosecution friendly even where
there is political will to do so. The law keepers do not have the benefit
of unsolicited information, which gets thrown up in a freer environment
especially where the counters and monitors do not have access to this
information also.
The fall out is a skeptical and
uncooperative populace who lack confidence in their leaders. In this
set-up, patriotism suffers and development is impacted.
THE ZCC AND THE DEARTH OF ACCESS
TO INFORMATION
The strategic action plan of the ZCC
is as follows:
1. Creating awareness on the
prevalence and consequences of corruption. This
component includes circulatory advocacy with a feedback
mechanism i.e. to the
people and
to the government, with the coalition as the bridge between the two.
2. Campaigning to improve the
processes. This involves monitoring and evaluation.
3. Creating a data base on
anti-corruption
4. Ensuring Compliance through
Public Interest Litigation.
This memo will specifically
highlight ZCC activities under the second component. ZCC in May 2004
commenced monitoring of budgets in one local government in each of the six
geo-political zones. The project was inspired by the publications of
allocations to States and Local governments by the Ministry of Finance.
The rational behind this activity is the recognition of the strategic
importance of the Local Government to the people being the strata of
governance closest to them. Concerns have been expressed in various
quarters about the need to use public funds in a manner that will
translate into optimal benefit to the people. The intended output of the
project is to track the use of public funds and also complete the feedback
loop by accessing the input of the local populace into the budgetary
process. The report card of that project so far is as follows:
·
Reasonable access in
three Local governments
·
Partial access in one
Local Government
·
No access in the two
remaining local governments.
This State of affairs, which can
only thrive in an environment of absence of the right to information, has
impacted negatively on the activities and psyche of the coalition. The
effect is that a CSO has been deprived of the opportunity of acting as a
bridge between the government and the people for greater synergy in
development. That there is an anomaly in the chain of financial
transactions between allocation by the MOF and use in the various Local
Government structures cannot be denied. This is borne out by the recent
law passed by this august body. It is the role of CSOS to isolate the
leprous hand in this chain through monitoring, and inform the relevant
actors. However this can only be achieved where there is a right to
information of this nature.
It is pertinent to emphasize that
everybody loses in the present setup. The people are impoverished due to
misappropriation of funds meant for their well-being and development. CSOS
are frustrated by reduced effectiveness; politicians cannot deliver on
their promises and consequently attract the odium of the people.
Credibility and confidence in the government is eroded.
AWARENESS CREATION ACTIVITY OF
ZCC
The ZCC has robustly engaged in this
activity since its formation. However awareness creation is most effective
when it provides factual information on relevant issues as opposed to
speculation and conjectures. As a result of the impediment of restricted
access to information, the quality and dynamics of our advocacy is
affected.
CREATING A DATA BASE ON
ANTI-CORRUPTION
It is obvious that no credible
database on anti-corruption in any country can be developed without
reasonable access to the government archives, and documentation centers.
Any attempt to do so in the absence of this access, will be speculative
and inaccurate. The dearth of a comprehensive database not only impacts on
the campaign by CSOS but also affects quality of research and studies.
This sector therefore is critically in need of an access to information
regimen.
CONCLUSION
The Zero-Corruption Coalition calls
on the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to pass the Freedom of
Information Law for the following reasons:
1.
It is a critical tool
for combating corruption and ensuring good governance.
2.
It will contribute to
the reduction of poverty and increase in development.
3.
It will enhance the
capacity of CSOS to monitor governance and contribute to
nation building
4.
It will improve
government and CSO relations by facilitating constructive shouting
and counting.
5.
It will facilitate
research and academic pursuit.
LILIAN EKEANYANWU
NATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR
ZERO-CORRUPTION COALITION
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