Corruption: ICPC Seeks Media Support in Projecting Preventive Measures
By Nafisat Bello
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has urged media professionals to reduce the emphasis on high profile arrests and trials, and help the Commission to project preventive measures.
Owasanoye made the call in Abuja during a two-day workshop for reporters covering the Commission.
The Chairman said that the workshop would offer an opportunity for the Commission and the media to agree on how to communicate professionally in order to focus on the entire philosophy behind the anti-graft crusade and not just sensational headlines.
He urged the participants to use the opportunity to establish a relationship with ICPC and not just a relationship that demands the Commission to disclose which high-profile case it was investigating.
“Reporters should seek a relationship that will help discuss how to deal with the scourge of corruption and the attendant challenges and risks associated with that battle,” he noted.
He said that the workshop would also help to improve the capacity of the reporters so that their stories would not become asymmetrical or misleading, or even exaggerated either in favour of, or against, the Commission.
The ICPC boss also revealed that since the first training workshop for journalists was held last year, there had been an improved standard of reportage.
He said that this could be further improved by more engagements and sharing of information and perspectives with stakeholders to close the existing gaps.
“The interaction will help close the gap and strengthen mutual symbiotic collaboration between the agency and the media,” he said.
Speaking earlier in the same vein, the Director of Public Enlightenment and Education Department in the ICPC, Mohammed Ashiru Baba, said the media only focus on the arrest and prosecution of ‘big shots’ in the society, forgetting that it is rewarding to tackle corruption from the foundation.
He said that such practice denies preventive efforts the adequate publicity it deserves
“This one-sided outlook by the media is due to the erroneous belief by some media practitioners that the fight against corruption begins and ends with arrest and prosecution of the corrupt politically exposed persons,” he added.
Baba, therefore, highlighted some of the Commission’s efforts at enhancing corporate good governance through Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs) in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“Others are ethics and integrity scorecards, corruption risk assessments, youth outreach and behavioural change strategies conducted by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN),” he said while expressing regret that the media is silent about them.
He stated that 90 per cent of the Commission’s activities are preventive in nature which should elicit high-level media coverage.
