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Tag: PRIMORG

  • Drugs truncating future of young people, PRIMORG, NDLEA warn

    Drugs truncating future of young people, PRIMORG, NDLEA warn

    The Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have cautioned Nigerians, particularly youths, against drug abuse, describing it as a threat to their future.

    The warning was handed down to senior students at Government Secondary School, Kubwa, FCT, during a Safe Without Drugs (SWiD) Initiative Campaign organized by PRIMORG on Friday, 7th March 2025.

    PRIMORG uses the project to promote drug demand Reduction in partnership with the NDLEA and the FCT Secondary Education Board.

    PRIMORG’s Executive Director, Okhiria Agbonsuremi, led the call during the sensitization programme, warning nearly 100 students present not to experiment with or touch drugs, as well as befriend anyone who is using any psychoactive substance.

    Agbonsuremi stressed that young people remain the future of Nigeria, but their greatness is under grave threat from drugs, which can truncate their bright future if care is not taken.

    “Adolescence is a time for experimentation. This is where the problem often starts. As young people, you like to experiment a lot, but you must stay away from drugs and other harmful substances.

    “Don’t touch drugs or make friends with anyone who is into it. Drugs will truncate your future, and know that one of the significant things standing against your bright future is drugs.

    “So, students must take the fight against drug abuse seriously because it is a fight for your future,” he said.

    Agbonsuremi explained that enlightenment remains key to the fight against drug abuse while disclosing that PRIMORG’s strategy is to get secondary school students early before the drugs get to them.

    He, however, urged parents and guardians to pay extra attention to their wards and go the extra mile to ensure that the drug scourge is reduced reasonably.

    On his part, NDLEA’s Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics, Ahmed Abdulfatai, elucidated the consequences of abusing drugs or psychoactive substances, cautioning that it is better not to taste drugs at all as a rehabilitation programme for people with an addiction is costly and will make them lose their dignity.

    Abdulfatai revealed that smoking is one of the easiest ways people get hooked on drugs, warning the students that drug abuse will truncate and destroy their future.

    “There are grave consequences for doing drugs. Some of them are physical, psychological, economic, and social. Drug abuse is when you take medications outside a medical prescription and for pleasure.

    So don’t ever start, no matter the attraction. Some will say it will help you read well. It is a lie. He warned that it does not help but gives you a habit that will truncate and destroy your future. “

    Towing the same path, the Principal of the school, Dr. Anderson Kolawole, told the students that it is easy to start abusing drugs but difficult to get out, noting that several talented persons and celebrities have had their careers and lives destroyed by drugs.

    Kolawole warned that drug abuse makes them dependent and an embarrassment to their loved ones. Adding that reliance on rehabilitation is not an escape route once people are hooked on illicit drugs or psychoactive substances.

    “I’ve seen drugs ruin many people – footballers, musicians, and so on. If you are not careful, drug abuse will bring you down.

    “For those relying on rehab, let me tell you that it takes a small thing for it to fail, so there is a slim chance of getting out if you get into drugs.

    “Once you become drug dependent, you won’t recognize yourself, and your family will be ashamed and fed up with you, so why would you want to put yourself in such a situation?

    “Even if it is to wrap ordinary paper and smoking, it is dangerous, so run far away from using psychoactive substances,” he advised.

    Kolawole thanked PRIMORG for organizing the life-saving outreach and lauded NDLEA and other resource persons at the anti-drug campaign. He assured that the school will continue in its efforts to ensure students are aware of the dangers of drug abuse.

  • Dataphyte, PRIMORG advocate broader AI use in media, public accountability

    Dataphyte, PRIMORG advocate broader AI use in media, public accountability

    Two civil advocacy groups, Dataphyte and the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, have urged the Nigerian media industry and citizens to adopt the positive use of Artificial Intelligence, AI, in demanding good governance and accountability from leaders.

     

    The groups made the demand during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.

     

    Dataphyte developed Nubia, an open-source AI tool that draws insight from data provided and turns it into readable and relatable stories.

     

    Dataphyte and PRIMORG are partnering to broaden the use of AI in the media ecosystem and to ensure citizens take advantage of the information provided to demand accountability for public officeholders.

     

    Dataphyte’s Programme Director, Femi D Amele, underscoring the importance of AI in Nigeria’s media industry, stated that the technology has not only brought efficiency in the job journalists’ do but also helped citizens fact-check public spending and fight corruption.

     

    Amele noted that the acceptance of AI technology by people is on the rise while identifying ethical issues as one of the main concerns of AI innovation.

     

    He said the Federal Government had shown interest in the development of AI in the country, especially on its socio-economic impact, but remains worried about opportunities for young people in AI and adherence to ethics.

     

    Asked how important AI is in fighting corruption in Nigeria, Amele said: “It’s very important. Beneficial ownership helps us trace details of cases in fighting corruption. AI helps us get details of corruption.

     

    “Quite a lot of ground has been covered by AI for over a decade now has several experiences in different sectors but the media in particular, the mainstream media.

     

    “I’m excited that there’s some level of government and media involvement but it is also very compulsory that the media gets into this next level of intelligence because citizens are pushing. They are finding out news on their own, and we, as the gatekeepers, need to be sure to be able to provide that extra intelligence on what citizens discuss and give them things that they can discuss intelligently and to advocate for socioeconomic changes.

     

    “One of the things we are doing at Dataphyte is with our product called Nubia, it’s able to analyze data, but one of the things that we want to conveniently have to analyze from time to time as Nigerians are details such as the budget. So, every year the budget is released, it takes journalists one day or two to source for budget details. Still, with software such as Nubia, all you have to do is to upload that document in whatever format it may come and then internalize it, and it will give you a lot of details”.

     

    Amele, expressing concern over ethics issues, said, “A lot of people in the AI space are working hard to come up with the AI ethics that will help to govern conversation.” Adding that Dataphyte has stayed in the forefront of doing trainings on the use of AI in media houses.”

     

    On his part, PRIMORG’s Media & Communications Officer, Chiidozie Ogbonnaya, expressed the organization’s commitment to ensuring more journalists and media houses deploy AI tools most responsibly by informing the public adequately and holding leaders to account.

     

    Ogbonnaya revealed that the goal of PRIMORG’s partnership with Dataphyte on deepening the responsible use of AI in the Nigerian media industry is aimed at scaling up information for citizens and improving their participation in governance and public accountability.

     

    “PRIMORG is seriously committed to ensuring that AI knowledge goes around as media is the conscience of the society and the 4th estate of the realm, so the public relies on us (the media) to do much. If AI is going to help the media to hold the government accountable, then we are in, and that is why we are collaborating with Dataphyte.

     

    “PRIMORG wants the Nigerian media ecosystem and citizens to positively use the AI tools to advance participation in governance and hold their leaders to account. That’s why we are in partnership with Dataphyte,” Ogbonnaya noted.

     

    The Head of News at 99.9 Kiss FM, Ayoade Olatokewa, said AI is transforming journalism in Nigeria while dispelling the fears of possible job losses as a result of the technology.

     

    Olatokewa cautioned that AI is making some users and journalists lazy while making a strong case against the total use of information from AI by journalists without human editing and double-checking on the information provided.

     

    “For reporters in the newsroom, AI has gotten some reporters too lazy to do research. The challenge is the need to know and master how it works, and some of those things AI brings out are not in reality with our reality.

     

    “We need to know the gap in AI for us here in Nigeria. In as much as AI is making the work easier, we have to redefine it for upcoming journalists. We have to make them know that AI is information given by some people, and we have to verify to be sure that what they are churning out is human-edited,” She said.

     

    Similarly, research and data at Dataphyte Khadijat Kareem, despite acknowledging the importance of the AI media industry, warned journalists and other users against relying entirely on data from AI without further checks.

     

    Kareem stressed the most significant concern of using AI as a data journalist is plagiarism, urging that users seeking AI for sources of information have a reference point.

     

    Her words: “In Nigeria, the data access is limited, so sometimes you have to get on the field to get your data yourself. The use of AI has the good side and the bad side. You can use AI to your advantage, but you have to humanize it. Relying on AI entirely makes your story bland. People won’t be able to relate to your story.

     

    “My greatest concern with AI, especially in the media, would be plagiarism. What AI is giving you is coming from somewhere, so you have to be very careful about using whatever you get from AI directly.

     

    “It’s important to sit with AI and look at it from other angles. Most times, the best way to use AI is to ask it for sources so that you can have a reference point of the information supplied by the AI,” Kareem advised.

     

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Health hazard: Experts call for urgent action against illegal ‘pure water’ factories

    Health hazard: Experts call for urgent action against illegal ‘pure water’ factories

    Professionals in the health sector have raised the alarm and called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to tackle illegal and unfit sachet (pure) water factories littered across the country.

    Former Director of Pharmacy, Federal Ministry of Health, Ologun Taye Joseph (Rtd), led the call during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.

    The reaction is coming on the heels of an investigative report published by TheCable indicting 22 sachet water factories in Sokoto State producing contaminated water, while 12 others run with expired licenses.

    The experts say the distribution of unhealthy drinking water is prevalent across Nigeria.

    Joseph warned that the health challenges of substandard ‘pure water’ produced from several unapproved factories are escalating and becoming endemic, needing a multi-sectoral approach before it will be addressed.

    He added that the rising cases of unapproved sachet water factories are bolstered by systemic failure, NAFDAC’s inability to regulate activities of non-state actors, and corruption.

    Joseph said all hands must be on deck if the menace of unhealthy sachet water production across Nigeria is to be checked, re-stating that NAFDAC cannot alone stop the threat.

    “The problem of contaminated pure water didn’t start today, and we (the Nigerian government) must have a multi-sectoral approach to the issue because it’s becoming a serious challenge in society right now.

    “On one hand, it’s caused by the system’s failure in one way, and on the other hand, non-actors are upping their game in terms of state control.”

    Joseph noted that corruption is not far-fetched in the reasons behind NAFDAC’s regulatory shortcomings. However, it may not be easily proven, “It’s difficult to prove corruption, but it is glaring now that some people are cutting corners, and it is not good for the nation’s health. There are compromises in terms of making a profit and then not using quality material, and some people don’t renew their rent when due, so there are myriads of issues that are embedded, and this also points out that there are corrupt practices underneath”.

    He urged the government to address manpower gaps in NAFDAC and prioritize the use of technology in their operations, as well as massive sensitization of Nigerians.

    “NAFDAC has to do more in terms of sensitization. Another approach is to co-opt some people who will be a team of inspectors in each state and inter-agency collaborations.

    “NAFDAC is trying its best; however, they are very limited in manpower. They have to be able to challenge the volume of issues with them. Some people are retiring and leaving the organization for some reason or the other, and there seems to be no replacement,” Joseph advised.

    Similarly, a medical practitioner and leadership consultant, Dr Victor Otubo, described the quality of sachet water produced and sold in the country as worrisome and a signal of the weaknesses of the Nigerian state.

    Otubo alluded that corruption in the system and lack of consequence for corrupt acts were responsible for the booming illegal and unhealthy pure water businesses across the country while urging the Professor Mojisola Adeyeye-led agency to adopt the late Dora Akunyili’s style of administration to combat the problem.

    He opined that the solution lies in NAFDAC adopting whistleblowing in their operations, increasing surveillance, and localizing industries in the same zone for easy monitoring and public-private partnership.

    “People want to drink water every day. Water is very essential. Our human body is made up of water than any other stuff, that’s why there’s a need for proper regulation. Where there is poor political will or ability to manage things like this, that is where the government should employ two strategies – first is the public/private partnership, just like it is done in the United Arab Emirates, and second, create industrial zones so that factories can be easily monitored”.

    Otubo urged parents to take extra measures for the water their wards consume by encouraging regular hand-wash at school and home and noting that the use of sanitizers and boiling of their water can go a long way to keep children away from diseases.

    “the people who are most impacted by contaminated water are our children. Most kids don’t buy water on the road. They drink from home and in school. So I encourage parents to discuss this matter to ensure that the water that the kids have access to in schools and are drinkable water and also at home ensure the best practices are adhered to,” He advised.

    On his part, an investigative journalist with TheCable, Abdulrasheed Hammad, blamed regulatory failure and corruption for the over 20 sachet water factories producing contaminated water for public consumption in Sokoto state.

    Hammad revealed that sachet water samples from the factories tested in laboratory-confirmed contamination, lamenting that there has been no action taken against the companies indicted by the investigation but rather attacks against him for exposing the illegality.

    “During the investigation, I was attacked and handcuffed at one of the factories I visited. The owners of the pure water factory were using DSS to threaten me, saying that I was going to be arrested if I failed to appear at their station, even after I had informed them I was no longer in Sokoto.

    “It is sad that instead of doing the proper thing by doing further investigation into what I had reported, they went ahead and started haunting journalists that exposed them. This is so sad,” Hammad stated

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • ICPC gives reasons why corruption persists in Nigeria

    ICPC gives reasons why corruption persists in Nigeria

    The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has identified lack of collective effort and individual capacity to demand accountability as major reasons why corruption persists in Nigeria.

    ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), made this known at a one-day project report dissemination meeting held in Abuja on Thursday.

    He emphasized the need for a collective approach to combat corruption, noting that civil society organizations and institutions are advocating for accountability, but it has not yet become a collective priority.

    Represented by the Acting Director, Public Enlightenment and Education Department of the Commission, Mr. Demola Bakare, the ICPC Chairman said:

    “Corruption persists because we’re not benefiting from accountability. Civil society organizations and institutions are advocating for accountability, but it’s not yet a collective priority.

    “We need to engineer a grassroots demand for accountability, making it impossible for leaders to ignore.

    “Honestly, the demand is not where it should be. Corruption persists because we’re not benefiting from accountability.”

    The Executive Director of PRIMORG, Augustine Okhiria Agbonsuremi, presented a report titled ‘Tackling Corruption On Air and On Social Media: The Challenge of Corruption and Integrity Deficit in Nigeria (2021-2024)’.

    The report highlighted the organization’s project, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, which aimed to strengthen anti-corruption and accountability through radio and social media engagement.

    The project, which ran from 2021 to 2024, reached over 10 million Nigerians, leading to improved participation in democratic processes and increased demand for accountability.

    Agbonsuremi said, “The problem of corruption and the dearth of integrity in Nigerian society are undoubtedly some of the major hindrances to national development since independence.

    “Regrettably, corruption runs through every level of the Nigerian government. From considerable contract fraud at the top through petty bribery, money laundering schemes, embezzlement, and ghost workers’ syndrome.

    “The project’s impact is evident in the improved participation of citizens in democratic processes, exchange of insights, and reactions from the government and anti-graft agencies.”

    Prof. Magdalene Igbolo, in her keynote address, highlighted the devastating effects of corruption on the country, emphasizing the need for collective effort to combat it.

    She noted that corruption has led to a high cost of production in Nigeria, compromising economic development.

    She also stressed the importance of moral values and virtues in the fight against corruption.

    According to her, “Corruption is a significant issue in our country. Bribery, fraud, and mitigation are common practices.

    “We need to work together to fight corruption. The cost of production in Nigeria is high due to corruption.

    “Moral values and virtues are declining in our society. Cyber crimes are on the rise, and younger people are engaging in illegal activities due to pressure and lack of opportunities.”

    Kole Shettima, Director of MacArthur Foundation’s Nigeria Office, reiterated the foundation’s commitment to supporting investigative journalism, which is crucial for promoting accountability in democracy.

    He disclosed that the foundation has supported over 100 media organizations in this regard.

    “Investigative journalism needs to be supported, because these reports often take six months or more to investigate and require significant resources.

    “Media organizations usually don’t have the resources to devote to such work, so we provide additional resources to help them do their job,” Shettima noted.

    He commended PRIMORG for its unwavering commitment to promoting accountability and transparency in Nigeria.

    The event brought together representatives of the ICPC, PRIMORG, MacArthur Foundation, media, and civil society organizations, all united in the quest to combat corruption in Nigeria.

  • PRIMORG flags off drug demand reduction campaign in schools

    PRIMORG flags off drug demand reduction campaign in schools

    The Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) will on Friday, January 9, 2024, launch a sensitization campaign against the worsening menace of drug abuse among young people.

    The campaign, which is titled ‘Safe Without Drugs (SWiD) Initiative,’ possesses a wide range of programmes and activities meant to address the multifaceted problems of drug abuse in Nigeria and is billed to take off from Excellent Kiddies Academy, Bwari, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    A statement by PRIMORG’s Executive Director, Augustine Okhiria Agbonsuremi, revealed that the primary goal of the project is to equip young and susceptible persons in schools with the knowledge and skills to run from consumption and abuse of drugs
    The initial targets of SWiD are students in selected FCT Senior Secondary Schools who will be mobilized against illicit drugs and substances in vulnerable circumstances. The advocacy is aimed at discouraging secondary school students from venturing into the use of illicit drugs.

    PRIMORG aims to bridge the gap between the government and the upcoming generation and to shape their minds against the illicit use of drugs.

    The objectives of the SWiD initiative include raising awareness among students, parents and teachers on the effects of illicit drug and substance consumption, discouraging students from falling into pressure on illegal indulgence in drug and abuse and promoting citizens’ awareness against drug abuse through radio conversation.

    PRIMORG is partnering with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), FCT Secondary Education Board, Private secondary schools in the FCT and Civil Society Organisations to achieve the set goal.

    Drug demand reduction advocacy becomes indispensable as a report by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria indicates that 14.4% (14.3 million) of people aged between 15 and 64 years abuse drugs.
    Moreover, in 2021, a prevalence of 20–40% and 20.9% of drug abuse were reported among students and youths, respectively, with cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, diazepam, codeine, cough syrup and tramadol as some of the commonly abused drugs in Nigeria.
    Agbonsuremi says PRIMORG is prepared to work and collaborate with more organizations and individuals concerned with the challenge of drug abuse and how to curtail it.

  • Code of Conduct Tribunal frustrating fight against corruption – CCB

    Code of Conduct Tribunal frustrating fight against corruption – CCB

    … as CSOs urge incoming administration to digitize assets declaration

    The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) says its primary responsibility of checking corrupt practices is challenged by inadequate funding and failure of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to sit on corruption cases ‘for some years now.’
    The tribunal is responsible for the trial of public officers found to have falsified assets in their declaration before and after taking public office.
    Deputy Director Code of Conduct Bureau, Michael Okwose, said that after rigorous investigations, public officers indicted are hardly put to trial.
    Okwose disclosed this while participating in a special radio town hall meeting on corruption organized by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) at the weekend in Abuja.
    CCB is a pioneer anti-corruption agency set up by the Federal Government to maintain a high morality standard and check corrupt practices among public officers. CCT is an independent administrative court of the bureau.
    Okwose, while calling on the incoming Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s government to prioritize funding of the bureau, said the Code of Conduct Bureau could not boast of bringing corrupt politicians or public office holders to book in the last couple of years because Code Conduct Tribunal, which is constitutionally empowered to try corruption investigations failed to ‘sit’ for no known reason in the last two years.
    “The challenge we have in the bureau is our court in the Code of Conduct Tribunal. We carry out investigations. We receive petitions from the public about non-compliance with the conduct of public officers. We receive complaints about people breaching their provisions, and after investigation, we refer our cases to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
    “What I can tell you is the tribunal is not sitting. It makes us (CCB) look like we’re not doing anything.
    “For some years now, the CCT hardly sits. There are so many pending cases before the tribunal. So that is why if you talk about conviction now, there is none because the tribunal is not sitting. That is our major problem,” Okwose emphasized.
    On strengthening the CCB, Okwose urged the incoming administration to empower the CCB. “We need funds to carry out investigation and verification; we also need personnel recruitment. Everything is down to funding”.
    The Chief Operating Officer of 21st Century Community Empowerment for Youth and Women Initiative, Lukman Adefolahan, backed calls for adequate funding of CCB, adding that the incoming administration must tighten public procurement processes, empower the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation and amend the audit law that is currently in use if it truly wants to fight corruption.
    Adefolahan also said the government should digitize the assets declaration of public office holders and work towards cutting the cost of governance immediately by reviewing and implementing the Orosanye White Paper Report.
    “We are still using the 1956 Audit Act in Nigeria, which is pre-colonial. It is very unfortunate. If we can get CCB right, if we get Office of Auditor General right, ICPC, EFCC and others will be doing lesser work,” he stated.
    On his part, the Director of Legal and Documentation, Center for Transparency Advocacy, Tochukwu Ohazurike, said the Tinubu administration must possess the political will to fight corruption if it will make any progress while joining calls for digitization of assets declaration at CCB.
    His words:” If he (Tinubu) has the willpower, let him digitize CCB, digitize issues of property sales and transactions in the entire country. Something must be done about our criminal justice system”.
    Media Consultant & Activist Princess Halima Jubril lamented that the media did not fare well under the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari administration on many fronts, especially the three major mantras the administration campaigned, which were anti-corruption, economy and security.
    Jubril urged the incoming government to be holistic in their anti-corruption approach and ensure adequate funds are provided for CCB to do their job. She added that the media would not relent in their responsibility to hold the government to account as mandated by the constitution.
    The PRIMORG’s Town Hall Meeting Against Corruption series is aimed at calling the public and government attention to specific issues of corruption in Nigeria.
    The syndicated radio program runs with support from the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Macarthur Foundation Africa Director visits PRIMORG

    Macarthur Foundation Africa Director visits PRIMORG

    …gives thumbs up for good utilization of grants

    African Director of Macarthur Foundation, Dr. Kole Shettima, has applauded the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development, PRIMORG, for putting grants from the Foundation into good use over the years.
    Shettima made the remarks on Wednesday during an official visit to PRIMORG’s newly completed office building in Pyakasa, Lugbe, FCT, Abuja.
    He expressed excitement that PRIMORG has been able to build its own office space, noting that the development means the 29 percent overhead cost from the Foundation’s grant has been well utilized. He added that owning an office building is “one of the most important things every organization needs, and not worrying about annual rent, which usually for many people becomes a big problem.
    “Having your own space is a very good idea, and I am happy that you (PRIMORG) have been able to use the resources that you have to have your own space as well.
    “I wanted to say thank you very much for the opportunity to leave what I was doing to come to this place.
    “From my perspective, 29 percent of the overhead cost is to sustain the organization, to institutionalize the organization, and to make sure that the organization continues to thrive, giving all the challenges of fundraising and others. We are hoping that this is going to galvanize every one of you to continue to do the work you are doing.
    “We are very happy and very excited about the work you are doing and the fact that you are in your own space,’ Shettima stated.
    Reacting to the visit, PRIMORG’s Executive Director, Okhiria Agbonsuremi, profusely thanked MacArthur Foundation for their unalloyed support to the organization for about five years and counting.
    Agbonsuremi said that PRIMORG’s new office building was made possible by support from the Chicago-based Foundation while expressing the readiness of PRIMORG to continue to partner with the Foundation in the execution of more projects.
    He praised Dr. Shettima and his colleagues at the MacArthur Foundation Africa Office for their support and assistance in ensuring PRIMORG met its objectives and deliverables.
    “I am so happy that you (Shettima) found time to come because your schedule is very tight. It is the MacArthur Foundation funds that we have used. We are very excited and happy that within a short time, we were to get our own office complex
    “We have internal joy that we have been able to apply the funds sustainably to promote our sustainability,
    “It will help us work harder and move forward, and we will not be able to discount the support of the MacArthur Foundation and the Nigerian team in particular because we have had a lot of support from you.
    “We are very excited that you are giving us all this support,” Agbonsuremi stated.
    Agbonsuremi also praised the Chairman, PRIMORG’s Board of Directors, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, and other board members. He commended Mr. Ayo Ogundele, one of the board members, for assisting the organization in facilitating the acquisition of the new office building.
    PRIMORG’s new office is at Plot C017 and C018 Phase 2 Kanma Homes, off Pyakassa Road, Lugbe Abuja – Nigeria.
    The organization was established in 2017 to among other mandates, promote good governance, accountability, participation and the strengthening of the media through community and media engagements, training and collaboration.

  • Implement Affirmative Action For Women, stakeholders urge President-Elect, Tinubu

    Implement Affirmative Action For Women, stakeholders urge President-Elect, Tinubu

    Stakeholders advocating for gender equality have called on the incoming administration to ensure the implementation of the National Gender Policy (NGP), in order to bring on board a greater number of women in the governance process.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Gender Dynamix Consult LTD, Joyce Ahmadu led the call during PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, an anti-corruption radio programme, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.

    The Affirmative Action (AA) policy has been around in Nigeria since 2006, with successive governments failing to implement it. The policy, which was revised in 2022, demands that 50 per cent of women be involved in all governance processes, whether by election or appointment.

    Ahmadu specifically urged the incoming government not to ensure the activation of affirmative action that will guarantee females to get 50 per cent representations in government as contained in the revised NGP, noting that adequate inclusion of women by the incoming administration has the propensity of reducing public sector corruption.

    She tasked the President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu to be deliberate about including women in his administration and emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan who appointed women into sensitive positions in his administration.

    “The President-Elect has to be much more deliberate.
    “How does he see women in decision making? Does he see value in it? President Goodluck Jonathan made some achievements in improving women participation in governance. He went as far as including gender budgeting where some key ministries had specific budgets for women participation. Those are the kinds of things a leader who values women in governance would do.

    “For the incoming government, I don’t know how gender sensitive he is, we need to see practical actions on the table. We believe that if we bring quality women on the table, they can change the dynamics. I will start by asking the president elect’s perspective in terms of gender mainstreaming. The President elect needs to be intentional about gender mainstreaming to promote gender equality,” Ahmadu averred.

    On his part, PRIMORG’s Media & Communications Officer, Chidozie Ogbonnaya also urged the incoming administration to follow through with the provisions of the revised National Gender Policy and ensure it runs an all-inclusive government.

    Ogbonnaya noted that Nigerian women are doing exploits in the private sector and have also shown capacity before now in public service which should encourage any administration in carrying them along, while appealing to Tinubu administration to implement the revised NGP
    His words: “when you inherit a government, you inherit whatever policy is on ground, so the revised NGP is on ground.

    “The incoming government can look at the NGP and increase the number of women in his cabinet, because in the current Buhari’s administration, there is low representation of women and I believe Tinubu should raise the bar. So, I’m urging him to come in and raise the bar and assuage the complaints and the fact that many women were not able to get into leadership positions through elections”.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Nigeria: Poor welfare driving corruption in Police Force, citizens raise alarm

    Nigeria: Poor welfare driving corruption in Police Force, citizens raise alarm

    Poor welfare has been identified as one of the major causes of corruption in contemporary policing of Nigeria, with junior police officers said to be ‘the most affected.’

    Policemen and other participants made the assertion PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, an anti-corruption radio programme produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.

    Speaking on the relationship between the welfare of police officers and corruption in the system, a senior correspondent with Daily Trust Newspaper, Idowu Isamotu, accused officers at the top echelon of Nigeria Police Force (NPF) of driving corruption and impoverishing rank-and-file personnel.

    Isamotu urged that there should be serious monitoring of allowances due to rank and file officers of the Force. He raised the alarm that some junior officers who participated in the 2023 general elections were yet to receive their allowances, noting that such a situation and other similar incidents affect the morale of junior officers and endear them to corrupt acts.

    “The major problem responsible for the insufficient welfare of our police officers is actually corruption. Let’s just be realistic. A situation where the top hierarchy in the force is expected to manage mega resources meant for the junior officers, and such funds are embezzled by the top echelon in the force is a major problem.

    “In some situations, some officers who are collecting a meagre amount, like sixty thousand, they are the ones protecting some people who are already rich enough. Meanwhile, we all know that salary is not enough, so we are trying to say that in other countries where we have these challenges, what they do is they look at even distribution of resources.

    “The major problem Is corruption, so if we are able to mitigate the corrupt practices in the force, then we will actually get to where we are going. Making sure that the officers who are on the front line are catered for is the way to go,” Isamotu insisted.

    A man who identified himself as Clement and a serving police officer phoned in during the radio programme and had these to say: “Police organization has made the junior ones be demoralized. I’m 15 years in service now, and I sew my uniforms, and I buy my shoes for myself because if I’m not well dressed, I will face disciplinary action. Our salaries make the members of the public look at us like we are just vigilantes.

    “They don’t take care of us, and that is why we are having problems in the Nigeria Police Force, and that is why corruption is very rampant. Because it’s the same market that other individuals go to that we policemen go to, and if you look at the salary structure, it is nothing to write home about. Election allowance both for Presidential and Gubernatorial have not been paid,” He stressed.

    Another caller (name withheld), who identified himself as police personnel, said,” It is our hierarchy that is killing us. We are ready to do the work, but they are not giving us our benefits. President Buhari added to our salaries for us. Six months’ arrears, they have not given us. They offered to others, but they didn’t provide for us. Is that not corruption? If they had given us our dues, we would be doing our best. Please help us to continue advocating,” He stated.

    While on her part, Program Manager CLEEN Foundation, Chigozirim Okoro, revealed that the current police leadership is making a conscious effort to improve the welfare of police personnel through reforms. She noted that funding remains a challenge for the force, urging that the budgetary allocation of the Nigeria Police Force should be improved as it would directly impact the welfare of its personnel.

    Okoro stated that previous police reform initiatives were faulty and not driven by police personnel themselves. She cautioned that ongoing reforms in the Police will not change the law enforcement body overnight.

    “Budgetary allocation of the police is low, and It shows you that the value placed on the security institution as a nation is low. When you look at it vis-à-vis the kind of radical reforms that we want to happen, you’ll see that we have a very long way to go.

    “Budget improvement will work fine as the police are underfunded,” Okoro advised.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Nigerians cry out over persistent extortion at airports

    Nigerians cry out over persistent extortion at airports

    …immigration, security officials, others indicted

    Nigerians have cried out over the relentless extortion of travellers at airports by immigration and other security officials, as well as staffers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    Participants at an anti-corruption radio programme in Abuja heaped the blame on systemic corruption, faulty recruitment, and poor remuneration on the pervasive extortion of passengers at airports across Nigeria.

    An investigative report published recently by Daily Trust had fingered operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) and other security agencies in the gale of extortion of air travellers at the two most prominent airports in the country.

    Speaking during PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, an anti-corruption radio programme produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja, Daily Trust’s journalist, Usman Balarabe, said findings show that Lagos and Abuja airports are major hubs for extorting air travellers.

    According to Balarabe, Immigration officers are using different schemes to extort money from unsuspecting air passengers and adding that the investigation was borne out of the outcry of people and the need to end the menace of criminality at airports.

    “There is something they (Immigration officers) call divided passport techniques. Immigration officials usually use the technique at various airports, especially international airports, to extort passengers who are first-time travellers or people who have no record of travelling overseas.

    “When travelling, regardless of whether you have your visa, passport and everything, having known that it is your first time travelling, they will frustrate you in such a way that they will force you into parting with a sum of money because you will be afraid since it is your first time travelling.”

    Balarabe insisted that the Federal Government can cure the prevalence of sharp practices at airports by ensuring adequate consequences for actions, getting recruitment of personnel that work at airports right and better remunerations.

    “The security agencies should put mechanisms in place to ensure that anyone caught engaging in such menace should be dealt with immediately. Also, the government needs to sanitize recruitment processes and increase the welfare or remuneration of staff.”

    Similarly, a public good advocate, Prince Kevin Fyneface, alluded that security agencies working at airports are not new in extorting, noting that the government continues to find it challenging to stop extortion going on at airports due to poor reward system in public service, corrupt recruitment process and poor remuneration.

    To fix the problem of bribery and other forms of corruption at airports, Fyneface stressed that Nigeria must focus on purely merit-based recruitment, advising that Nigeria should emulate Western countries where personality clarity profiling is used to assess job applicants before recruitment.

    “Get people who are truly qualified for those positions. Not everybody is designed to work in immigration. Yes, we have the quota system that we must look out for, but the quota system must be based on merit.

    “We have to look at remuneration. The average police and immigration officer earns far less than they work. You cannot be generating so much money, and you’re not giving them the right remuneration,” Fyneface warned.

    Nigerians also called into the programme and decried extortion and other ill-treatment at airports.

    Sharing his experience, a caller from Abuja, who identified himself as Tochukwu, said: “If you’re not ready to part with your money to the Immigration officials, that’s when they begin to unnecessarily, rigorously search you to frustrate you to hurry you to give them money. It’s ugly to be treated as a foreigner in your own country,” Tochukwu lamented.

    According to the Daily Trust report, FAAN is aware of the ongoing extortions at the nation’s airports and has vowed to stop anyone found guilty from working in any airport again. While the NIS, through its Public Relations Officer, revealed the service has been taking disciplinary actions over extortion allegations, stressing that “the service will not wait until allegations against any of its officials are proven before taking preliminary actions on such officers.”

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.