SERAP advises students on anti-corruption fight

Mon, Feb 10, 2020

By publisher

2 MIN READ

THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) on Monday urged students to join the campaign against corruption to make Nigeria better.

The SERAP Director, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, gave the advice at a public awareness and advocacy workshop on Anti-Corruption Social Norms and the Roles of Students and Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.

Mumuni said that SERAP, formed in 2004, had been in the vanguard against corruption which had hindered the country from attaining its potential.

He regretted that in spite of efforts by the Federal Governments and its agencies to combat corruption, Nigeria was ranked 144 in corruption  out of 180 countries.

“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,’’ he said.

The SERAP director said that 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 to 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,” he said.

Ms Oluwatosin Alagbe, Deputy Director of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, said that corrupt practice had become an acceptable norm in the country.

According to Alagbe, students had the responsibility of becoming advocates of attitudinal change to have a country that they would be proud of.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SERAP,  at the workshop, released a 68-page document titled, “Nigeria: Anti-corruption Social Norms Report” which x-rays corruption perception in the country. (NAN)

– Feb. 10, 2020 @ 14:45 GMT |