WORKSHOP ON CORRUPTION: NESG Restates Commitment to Ethical Business Practices

The NESG in conjunction with the United Nations Global Compact and the Siemens Integrity Initiative today in Abuja held a National Stakeholders Workshop on corruption at the Transcorp Hilton hotel. The workshop tagged “Openness & Transparency: A Stakeholder Commitment against Corruption”, was organized as part of the implementation of the Siemens Integrity Initiative in Nigeria. The Siemens Integrity Initiative is an anti-corruption project midwifed by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and implemented in five countries where Siemens has been indicted and sanctioned for unethical business practices.

The 2-day workshop is part of the build up to the development of a broad and effective coalition of stakeholders with commitment to fighting corruption in Nigeria, in line with global trends.  It is also to further engage government and private sector actors to dialogue and agree on the best ways of deploying commitment to transparency and openness in all transactions, and to educate participants on the weight of global and national coalitions against corruption especially with bringing offenders to prosecution and appropriate sanctions in any country of the world.

In furtherance of these objectives, the United Nations Global Compact at the workshop formally launched the Nigerian Collective Action against Corruption (NCAAC). The workshop is intended to create awareness about the UN Global Compact’s 10th Principle against Corruption that promotes fair market conditions for all economic actors by employing a Collective Action strategy against corruption and fraud in all ramifications.

In his opening remarks, the NESG chairman, Mr. Foluso Phillips expounded on the urgent need for the dialogue, stating that Nigeria’s image has constantly been battered in the international community due to her rating as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.  He spoke on the new Nigerian phenomenon referred to as “the Elite Capture”, where a few elite individuals take advantage of government resources or funds meant for the general public and redirect such funds to benefit an elite group.

Ms. Jobi Makinwa, head of the Anti-Corruption Initiatives UNGC stated that in combating corruption, the business community must surely be a part of the drive for the solution. She asked companies to put in place policies and practices that will address corruption. Citing the example of the Dodds Frank Act in the US, where people can blow the whistle on any company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and get 30% of the recovered funds, Ms. Makinwa stressed the need for Nigeria to also imbibe this practice in order to blow the lid on corrupt practices.

On his own part, the representative of the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ayo Olowonihi spoke about the commission’s internal war against corruption. He lamented the fact that Nigeria is still in the lower indices of survey on the most corrupt nations in the world to do business. Commending Siemens for their drastic turn around following their corrupt practices indictment, he praised the organization for their desire to use the negativity associated with the bribery scandal to their advantage by becoming a trail-blazer for other corporate organizations to imbibe the culture of clean business practices and ethics.

In his presentation, titled “Value Chain of Transparency in Business Processes-The NBC Experience, the CEO of the Nigerian Bottling Company Plc., Mr. Segun Ogunsanya stated “although the company’s philosophy is playing to win, they are also a company with values”.  He charged the gathering, which comprised other heads of organizations that all businesses, national and international should work together against corruption in all its forms including extortion and bribery. He reiterated the belief that for Nigeria to be corruption free, a consequence management system must be put in place to act as a deterrent for corrupt practices.

In his closing remarks, the Director General of the NESG, Mr. Frank Nweke Jr. charged all the participants; individuals and organizations alike that the power to effect change resides with them as citizens. He said, “Once we become conscious and deploy the sovereign power that resides with us as citizens, we can effectively bring about the change that we seek”.

Three workgroups constituted from the participants at the workshop deliberated on thematic areas; Breaking Complicity (Collusion) in Corruption, Effective Enforcement of Anti-Corruption Laws and Non-Legal Sanctions Mechanisms. Some of the issues raised by the groups include the need for a Consequence Management System as deterrent to corruption, a general re-orientation of the value system of the populace, and demand for accountability by our leaders. Other issues raise include those of victimization of anti-corruption crusaders, government interference in the judicial process, and a lack of protection for the whistle blower initiative. The outcome of these workgroups will be reviewed by the NESG and forwarded to the appropriate agencies of government and professional bodies for appropriate policy consideration.