CALEB AYANSINA
ABUJA – NIGERIA has continued to experience persistent deterioration in the quality of governance, because the rules and regulations for doing official businesses are deliberately ignored or circumvented to facilitate corrupt practices, the Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Barrister Ekpo Nta has said.

Barr. Nta  speaking at the sensitization/enlightenment campaign against corruption for Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) staff in Port Harcourt said the major clog in our wheel of progress as a nation, particularly “our socio-economic development is the issue of corruption”.

Nta recalled how the media were awash with revelations from investigation reports of anti-graft agencies and National Assembly fact finding committees of how huge amount of public funds meant for social needs ended in private pockets.

He noted that the effect of corruption was enormous when huge resources were taken away from the economy, resulting to the denial of “social, economic and other beneficial programmes and engenders poverty and strife”.

He regretted that corruption in Nigeria had been domesticated and grafted into “ethnic and official practices and renamed ‘public relations’,’ appreciation’ etc”.

Barrister Nta stressed the values of integrity and accountability in public service as means of curbing the menace of corruption in the country, maintain that, integrity promotes the attributes of self discipline, honesty, fairness, dependability, reliability and zeo tolerance to corruption in general.

Nta told  NDDC members of staff that “If institutional integrity, transparency and accountability in NDDC becomes compromised, you cannot deliver effective and efficient service no matter the enormous amount of money allocated to the commission, while requesting the management of NDDC to develop Corruption Risk Assessment Procedures to help it minimize or withstand damaging corrupt practices and demands.

He advised that culture of responsibility must begin from the top: “The top- leadership must be in a position to give direction itself not only by talking integrity, but walking transparency and accountability”.

“There is a social contract between you and the people of the Niger Delta, Nigeria and your creator. Remember that each time you do wrong or omit to do what is right you are responsible for the death in most cases of your countrymen”.

Barrister Nta assured the management that ICPC would assist it through periodic system reviews, advisories and “train Corruption Risk Assessors who will help you protect your institutional integrity, transparency and professionalism.