Dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
Kindly permit me sir, most respectfully to start by wishing you a blessed, peaceful and fruitful tenure of four years in office after your victory over legal fireworks at the Presidential election petitions tribunal. I also pray that the Almighty Allah will make you fulfill your purpose in the best interest of Nigerians.
Your Excellency Sir, I write to you with a deep sense of passion, pure patriotism and good intent for your good offices to please reintroduce the whistle-blowing policy and as well remove the process from the office of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC) so as to break the chains of unnecessary bureaucracy which can jeopardize the very essence of the policy.
With this initiative, I genuinely assure you that Nigerians will definitely remember you for your strong will in governance, notable reforms across sectors, infrastructure, human, resource development and ultimately fight against graft.
There is no doubt that the Federal Government had successfully used the whistle-blowing policy to fight endemic and systemic corrupt practices in both public and private sectors in Nigeria.
However, one wonders what has happened to the whistle-blowing policy that enabled money to be found here and there in Nigeria when it was in effect. Two of the landmark recoveries from whistleblowers’ information were the $9.8m recovered from a former Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, and the $11m recovered at an apartment in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Whatever are the challenges bedeviling the whistle-blowing policy, now is the time to resuscitate and sustain the policy under your esteemed administration sir. To begin with, whistle-blowers should be guaranteed adequate protection. No whistle blower or informant would want to risk his or her life divulging information leading to the arrest and prosecution of criminal suspects if the protection of his or her life is not guaranteed by the Federal government.
Similarly, channels for reporting information or for whistle-blowing should be accessible to would-be whistle-blowers. Anonymous whistle-blowing should be encouraged. Whistle-blowers who would like to remain anonymous should be allowed to divulge information as well.
More importantly, the enthusiasm for whistle-blowing appears to have died down probably because the whistle-blowers are not adequately rewarded with better and attractive percentage for their whistle-blowing-risky exercise. Therefore, the Federal Government should ensure that whistle-blowers are adequately rewarded so that many citizens would readily come out to divulge information leading to the unmasking and dislodgement of the many crime dragnets and syndicates.
If the Federal government had successfully deployed the policy in the past to recover humongous sums of money from corrupt persons and institutions, therefore, this administration under your watch should not allow the policy to die or become comatose.
To the surprise of many, the past administration jettisoned the policy right after the minister who introduced it left the office. Painfully the past Central Bank Governor and the leadership of EFCC frustrated the good and patriotic citizens who made frantic efforts to help the federal government. It was indeed a well thought-out policy which gave people the opportunity to be free to give vital information and this must be sustained, thankfully Asiwaju a true trailblazer is now on board to make this happen.
Whist this policy is fully reintroduced again, Mr. President can use the opportunity to set up whistle-blowing boxes in all the toilets, corridors and hidden spaces in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government where people can confidentially drop their opinions to expose financial crimes and malapropism.
All stakeholders must as well bear in mind that the ultimate goal of whistle-blowing is to identify, arrest and prosecute thieves in order to build a corruption-free society. Also, the possibility that more looted funds would be recovered through whistle-blowing is indeed a reality if well managed.
However, while it could be perceived that whistle-blowing can be used as an instrument to persecute perceived political or business enemies, Mr. President can ensure that innocent citizens do not suffer for fabricated information or framed information against them.
More importantly, there is no law at the moment backing whistle-blowing in Nigeria as well as providing for the manner in which individuals may, in the public interest, disclose information that relates to unlawful or other illegal conduct or corrupt practices of others. Therefore it is time to enact a law, whether through an Executive Order or Act of Parliament so as to make whistle-blowing more robust, efficient and successful without contention with any frivolous litigation(s).
Your Excellency Sir, the time is now to make the bold step and leave Nigeria with the lasting legacy of a good, proven, trusted, capable and experienced leader with zest and vision.
I wish you best of luck sir and may God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yours Sincerely,
Mogaji Wole Arisekola
Mogaji Wole Arisekola is the President of the Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (AMPON) and publisher of Ireland based news journal, The Street Journal