By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
“The menace of corruption has become an acceptable norm in Nigeria”. This statement was made by the deputy director of the Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism, Ms Oluwatosin Alegbe in a workshop organised at Ikeja by a Lagos based human rights and advocacy group the Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP) for students of tertiary institutions.
In her keynote address at the workshop with the theme: “Public Awareness And Advocacy Workshop On Anti-corruption, Social Norms And The Roles of Students And Tertiary Institutions In Nigeria”, Ms Oluwatosin Alagbe held that it is the responsibility of students to become advocates of attitudinal change so to have a country that everyone would be proud of.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Executive Director of SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni, enjoined students across the country to join the campaign against corruption so that Nigeria would be better.
Mumuni posited that corruption has hindered Nigeria from attaining its potentials, adding that notwithstanding the efforts by the Federal government and its agencies to combat the menace, Nigeria was placed 144 out of 180 countries in corruption table.
SERAP’s Executive director said: “Nigeria is ranked 27 out of 100 by Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index of 2018.
“SERAP believes that as students and campus journalists, you have a role to play in combating corruption.
“We must continue to demand that Nigeria must become better and be made great for the present and future generations.
“A national survey report of 2,549 respondents across the geopolitical zones revealed that corruption was driven by entrenched social norms.
“The undermining thrust of the report is that factors impeding the efficacy of laws, policies and institutions in the fight against corruption are not found in the laws.
“The factors are found in the larger societal matrix of norms and institutions, which form a key part of the corruption ecosystem in the country.
“The environment, thus constituted, is either conducive to, or largely tolerant of corruption.
“The report, therefore, suggests that for current anti-corruption interventions and efforts to be successful, they must engage broadly with the environment by instigating social change.”
At the workshop in which many students from tertiary institutions attended, the group released a 68-page document titled, “Nigeria: Anti-corruption Social Norms Report” which x-rays corruption perception in the country.