FG holds youth confab Feb to vitalise anti-graft laws

In its commitment towards engaging youths in the fight against corruption via good governance, the Federal Government has announced that select youths would be sponsored to hold a national conference in February next year.

President Bola Tinubu in his October 1, Independence anniversary broadcast, disclosed the decision of the government to fund it, to ensure the voices of the youths are heard and acted upon.

This, he said, is to ensure that “transparency, accountability and integrity” in governance in public and private sectors are upheld.

Speaking on Monday at the 21st International Anti-Corruption Day in Abuja, with the theme: “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity,” the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said the government’s commitment in that direction would be taken seriously.

He said corruption would be tackled by strengthening and implementing the enabling laws and the 2022 – 2026 National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).

Meanwhile, the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee members of the NACS held their meeting between December 10 and 11, in Abuja to fine-tune the Strategy’s document and preparation for the upcoming monitoring and evaluation exercises at the Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs).

During the meeting, the chairman of the Monitoring and Evaluation of the NACS, Dr. Busayo Fawale; the Head of the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Mrs Jane Onwumere, who was represented by a Senior official, Mrs. Bosede Oguntuberu and the chairman of the sub-committee on the drafting of the 2022- 2026 strategy template, Chukwuma Chinaka, all expressed optimism for a successful implementation of the second phase.

Fagbemi, who recalled the efforts of the 21-member Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) and the support from the European Union; International IDEA/Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme; the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); the MacArthur Foundation and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) since the commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day in 2003, said they motivated his office to put in place the Inter-ministerial Committee on the NACS, and the funding framework.

He said: “The Federal Government has also scheduled the Nigerian National Youth Conference for February 2025, which is an aftermath of the President’s Independence Day commitment to address key youth-centred issues such as unemployment, education, and political participation.

“I wish to emphasise that NACS has key roles for youths in the fight against corruption. The NACS action plan has identified key laws, policies and structures that need to be strengthened.

“I, therefore, call on the National Assembly and all relevant agencies of government to ensure effective implementation of their assigned roles in the Action Plan.”

Other speakers at the event included the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN); the Programme Manager of the International IDEA RoLAC 11, Dr. Emmanuel Uche; the Head, Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Mrs. Onwumere; the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Cheikh Toure; the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Victoria Fila Ojogbane.

Fagbemi expressed gratitude to them for their various roles in combating corruption in Nigeria.

He stated that his Ministry is working hard to put in place the necessary structures for the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, the development of the Anti-Corruption Funding Framework (AFF) and the resourcing of the NACS Secretariat.

On a broader fight against corruption in the West African sub-region, the AGF appealed to ECOWAS, particularly his fellow Attorneys-General, to, as a matter of necessity, push for the ratification and full implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol against Corruption.

In his contribution on behalf of the United Nations General Assembly, the Country Representative of the UNODC, Toure, noted the importance of listening to the contributions of the youths, consisting of about 1.9 billion globally, by the government of any day for sustainable development.

Toure regretted the devastating effects of corruption and circumvention of laws, describing them as cancers that eat away societal dreams and opportunities of healthcare, education, job opportunities, infrastructure and others.

He warned that youths’ aspirations, concerns, appeals and innovations “should be heard and acted upon.”

Similarly, the country representative urged the youths to operate within the laws and utilise their technological savvy in leveraging the Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and other digital platforms for the good of the nation.