“This programme is for our anti-corruption educators at the grassroots, which was aimed to watershed our onerous assignment of stamping out corruption out of Nigeria’s body polity."
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL has inaugurated a Good Governance, Accountability, Transparency Education (C-GATE) programme in different Local Government Areas of Lagos State.
The programme would run from ten units across the various LGAs in the state.
Toyin Odofin, Media and Publications Officer of CACOL in a statement, said the programme was a culmination of various activities to embark on taking full ownership of the fight against corruption in the country.
Odofin also lamented the adverse effects of corruption, identifying it as a major cause for Nigeria's mono-cultural economy.
He said, “It would be recalled that since the advent of this democracy which many observers, nationwide and internationally, prefer to describe as a civil rule rather than true or wholesale democracy, successive governments have enacted one law or policy programme to fight the menace of corruption.
“Incidentally, none of this policy formulation has been able to effectively tackle corruption in a very radical and ground sweeping manner, devoid of sentiments, cherry-picking or favouritism to provide enough deterrence that would at least, discourage majority of our public office holders from corruptive acts.
“This programme is for our anti-corruption educators at the grassroots, which was aimed to watershed our onerous assignment of stamping out corruption out of Nigeria’s body polity."
Odofin explained further that CACOL initiated the programme, which has been running concurrently in both Lagos and Osun states, to take the fight against corruption from the same elites that are responsible for our economic woes and social miasma, and own the fight for necessary result and effectiveness.
“Consequently, this event climaxed series of enlightenment and education on what constitutes corruption, how to identify, shame and shun it; as well as best ways of engaging our budding public office holders from campaign stage to the assumption of office at various levels.
“The aim is to ensure that Nigeria does not remain the same in our crusade for a sanitized and corruption-free society,” he added.