A seasoned journalist and development analyst, Jide Ojo, has urged the Federal Government on the need to ensure the enactment of a whistle-blower law to protect the volunteering of information.
Ojo, who is a columnist for The PUNCH, stated that until the lives of whistleblowers were protected, the war on corruption would be a far cry.
He made this disclosure during a two-day workshop for journalists organised by the Centre for Information Technology and Development with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
Our correspondent, who was one of the selected participants for the workshop, reports that the programme was themed ‘Researching and reporting about accountability and anti-corruption issues to foster the knowledge base of journalists on corruption.’
According to Ojo, other civilised climes have protection laws to ensure the safety of blower, adding that there was the need for the policy to metamorphose to act in order to ensure a corrupt-free society.
Ojo said, “If you know what America spends on whistleblowers they can give you a new identity through plastic surgeries and you will never recognise the person again.
“They can move the person and his family to another place to be safe, there is no whistleblower protection law, what we have is whistleblower policy and policy is subservient to having a law.”
While presenting on reporting corruption to the ordinary citizens; demystifying figures and exploring the consequences of corruption.
He added the need for participants to humanise the overwhelming figures, stressing that by so doing, alot of people would come to reality with the impact of corruption.
On his part, Executive Director of CITAD Yunusa Ya’u, while explaining the reason for the workshop, lamented the increasing level of graft in the country, stressing that journalists were expected to change the narrative.
He said, “An average Nigerian does not grasp the magnitude of mere reporting that someone siphoned N80bn until it is put into the relevant contest for him to see the degree of the problem.
“We cannot mobilise Nigerians against corruption unless we can practically show them how corruption affects them.”
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