NIPR President Calls for Effective Engagement of Citizens in Anti-corruption Campaign
The President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku has urged the federal government to foster an effective collaboration with citizens in the effort to reduce corrupt activities to the barest minimum across various sectors of the country's economy.
He spoke on Monday, October 21 in Abuja while delivering his keynote speech at A One-Day Workshop On Effective Collaboration In Corruption Prevention organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
In the speech titled, "Power of the Pen in the Fight Against Corruption", the NIPR boss said that the campaign to reduce corruption in the country can only be successful with the buy-in of citizens.
He commended the Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu for recognising the huge role the media plays in preventing and exposing corruption in Nigeria and the society in general.
"Time has come for anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations to come together and create a unified front against corruption because it denies us of our development.
"The media as the fourth estate of the realm is very vital in the campaign to discourage, prevent and expose corruption. Journalists must be provided with the needed training, materials and resources to do their work. This is the best way to foster citizens engagement in dealing with the issues of corruption which has remained antithetical to nation-building", he noted.
Dr. Neliaku further remarked that the recently inaugurated Anti-Corruption and Consumer Protection (ACCP) Hub of the Institute is part of NIPR's contribution in the fight against corruption through strategic communication, aiming to educate citizens on the risk, danger and trauma of initiating and executing corruption.
He also called for institutions to be strengthened to checkmate influence of highly placed individuals in the fight against corruption.
"Fighting against corruption requires every institution doing what they ought to do at the right time. But Nigeria has people that are stronger than our institutions", he bemoaned.
He listed more investment in education and civic awareness, technology, international cooperation, consensus building and inter-agency collaboration as key ingredients in tackling corruption.
