ICPC To National Hajj Commission: Infuse National Ethics, Integrity Policy Into Your Operations
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, has urged the Board of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to infuse the National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP) into its operations for the purpose of addressing ethical deficiencies and lack of integrity in Nigeria.
Professor Owasanoye, who was represented by Mr. Hassan Salihu, an Assistant Commissioner, stated this during an Integrity Forum Award Ceremony to honour the outstanding and deserving staff of NAHCON.
According to a news release published on the Commission’s official website, the ICPC Chairman stressed that the state of extreme dishonour that lack of character in service has caused the country and its citizenry should be outrightly uprooted.
He urged all NAHCO staff to own and practise the values of the NEIP including propagation of its principles in offices, homes, within the country and during Hajj operation in Saudi Arabia.
He added, “I enjoin all of you to imbibe core values of the Policy, which include human dignity, voice and participation, patriotism, personal responsibility, integrity, national unity and professionalism.”
The high point of the event was the presentation of an Award tagged: NAHCON Mr Integrity for the year 2021 to Mr. Dan-Asabe Abdullahi Ridwan by the Executive Chairman of the Hajj Commission, Malam Zikurallah Olakunle Hassan.
Mr. Ridwan was also honoured with a gift of a refrigerator, cash of N50,000 from the management of NAHCON and personal cash gifts by some staff and guests at the occasion.
The Hajj Commission Chairman further stated that “The gentleman Mr. Dan-Asabe Abdullahi Ridwan passed all integrity tests conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) and testimony of his superiors have qualified him to be named: NAHCON Mr Integrity for the year 2021”.
The ICPC boss, congratulated the outstanding staff of the year, as he enjoined other Staff of NAHCON to emulate him saying “It is without a doubt that the award will serve as an encouragement to others to also uphold integrity.”
…ACAN To Develop New Norm, Behaviour Change For Public Sector Agencies’ CEOs
New norm and behavioural change programmes are to be developed by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) for Chief Executive Officers of key Public Sector Agencies, the Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, has revealed.
The ICPC Chairman made this known in Abuja while declaring open a three-day anti-corruption workshop for social norm and behavioural change and the review of ACAN curriculum and programmes.
The workshop is being attended by experts from academia and research institutes, among others.
Prof. Owasanoye declared that social norms and behavioural change would now be infused into the revised anti-corruption curriculum and programmes of the ACAN, which is the training arm of the Commission.
He stated that the infusion of social norms and behaviour change in the revised ACAN curriculum had become necessary to enforce compliance with the public and civil service rules and law.
The ICPC boss said, “ACAN has to develop new norm and behaviour change programmes for chief executive officers of key public sector agencies. We need to combine behavioural change policy with law and order.
“Basically, what we want to do is to look critically and evaluate ACAN curriculum and programmes. How do we engage effectively with CEOs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government?
“This project of reviewing the ACAN curriculum and programmes and the infusion of social norms and behavioural change in the revised curriculum falls within the mandates of the Commission which are enforcement, prevention, and public enlightenment and education.”
The Provost of ACAN, Prof. Olatunde Babawale, made a presentation on the relevance of social norms and behaviour to the public sector agencies.
He listed some of the social norms to include: community expectation from people in the office; community protection for persons accused or convicted of corruption; expectation of loyalty from people who helped or supported into office; expectation of donation of huge sums of money to public functions from people in high office, and government officials is expected to enrich or confer benefits on themselves from their office.
“The social norms can underlie corrupt behaviour, including embezzlement, bribery, nepotism, fraud, and abuse of office. The norms can also inform, refusal to report corrupt practices and non-acceptability of anti-corruption initiatives,” Babawale added.
At the workshop, a Senior Research Fellow at ACAN, Dr. Elijah Oluwatoyin Okebukola, gave an overview of social norms and the importance of incorporating social norms and behaviour change in the academy’s curriculum and training.
