By
Abubakar Ibrahim
The need for transparency in governance and corruption free society in Nigeria has been stressed.
Guest speaker at a Town Hall meeting on Strengthening Investigative Data Driven Journalism in the fight against corruption in local languages in Nigeria Professor Abdullahi Bashir of the Department of Media And Communication Studies University of Abuja, gave the charge at an event with the Theme ” Accountability in Governance a Panacea for Citizens’s Mistrust organized by Wadata Media Advocacy Center (WAMAC) in collaboration with Radio Nigeria Fombina FM Yola with the support of MC Arthur foundation held in Yola.
Professor Abdullahi Bashir identified the importance of open governance as a way of involving public to know their rights and responsibilities on the government.
He equally advocated the use of information technology to run an administrative strategy that would project what the government is doing in a transparent manner and ensure corruption free government.
He said there was a high level of mistrust between the government and the masses as a result of communication gap as there are lots of expectations that are wrong saying that government needs to open up its activities to be transparent calling on parents and care givers to support their young ones through value reorientation to minimize their chances of being potentially corrupt leaders.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the project manager, Mal Zubair Abdurra’uf Idris highlighted the basis for the engagement as the precious situation that is being encountered everyday by thousands of households due to misgovernance and corrupt tendencies by some political leaders in the country.
Narrating the purpose of the town hall meeting, Mal Zubair said it was to make appraisal of the new concept of fighting corruption with a view of reducing the corruption in Nigeria through citizens participation in governance and enhancing community interface on investigative reporting.
He lamented on how every year corruption indices by both local and global organizations placed Nigeria on spotlights due to corruption and abuse of office, hence the need to chart ways of reducing the trend.
Also speaking, the representative of the State commissioner of ICPC Mr Benjamin Francis who is the officer incharge of public enlightenment in the commission, said there was the need of bridge of trust between the government and the governed through meaningful information and awareness.
In his vote of thanks, General manager Radio Nigeria Fombina FM Yola Alhaji Dahiru Garba Muhammad said it is important for people to demand transparency in the responsibility of their representatives.
While commending the efforts of WAMAC, for organizing the event, Dahiru Garba also expressed readiness of his Radio station to be a partner in progress towards fighting corruption.
There were special concerns raised on the wellbing and the inclusion of people with special needs in governance during questions and answers session at the event.
Participants were drawn from the Media, Civil Society Organizations, People with Disabilities (PWD’s), Traditional Rulers, Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organizations and as well as anti-Corruption agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
