BENIN CITY – Media and Civil Society stakeholders in Edo state have expressed their commitment to the actualization of the objectives of the Edo State Integrity and Accountability Strategy (EDSIAS) to promote transparency in governance.
According to the stakeholders who were participants at a two-day Public Awareness Roundtable for media and civil society organizations on the EDSIAS, their resolve to be lead advocates in the campaign for transparency in the conduct of government business stemmed from their realization that unmitigated corruption in public administration had over the years robbed the state and the Nigeria nation the needed resources for development.
The public awareness roundtable was organized by the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (ROLAC) in collaboration with the Edo State government on EDSIAS documents aimed to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and synergy of the institutions, laws, and measures designed by the state and local governments as well as the private sector to prevent and combat corruption and to engage the public more actively in the process.
The stakeholders said they have resolved to play their roles in the anti-corruption campaign which include but not limited to being the anti-corruption watchdogs in the state, support for State’s anti-corruption institutions in popularizing and implementing the state anti-grafts strategy, and to provide public education on the menace of corruption and its negative consequences on the society.
Other areas of intervention the stakeholders said would include the formation of coalition and platforms in support of the fight against corruption and being anti-corruption champions themselves by refusing to participate in corrupt practices.
The stakeholders had earlier been lectured on their role in the fight against corruption by Prof Onyukwu O. Onyukwu in a paper titled, “The Role of the Media/CSOs In The Fight Against Corruption”, where he espoused on the essence of the workshop which according to him was to draw attention to the risk of corruption becoming a normal culture in view of declining public criticisms of manifestation of acts corruption.
Prof Onyukwu said critical stakeholders like the Media and CSOs were needed to create the needed synergy with the public with the aim of moderating their psyche against glorifying corrupt practices as currently being observed among some segments of our society.
“Corruption is gradually being considered as a necessary evil in the sharing of the proverbial national cake. Critical attitude of citizens against corruption is getting weakened and we have got no choice other than to do everything to revalidate it” Prof Onyukwu said.
