Look beyond detention of culprits; FG, others told

The Provost of the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, Professor Sola Akinrinade, has tasked the Federal Government and all relevant agencies to look beyond arrests and detentions in the on-going drive to fight corruption.

Professor Akinrinade who bared his mind in the Oyo State capital Ibadan at the opening of the UNDPSponsoredTraining Programme On Grant And Project Management for Civil Society Organisations, organised by ICPC during which he raised an alarm over the unfolding faces of corruption in Nigeria, submitted that the anti-corruption agencies in the country cannot win the battle alone.

He recalled that over the years, there has been a preoccupation with the enforcement element of the mandates of the anticorruption agencies, particularly the arrest and prosecution of offenders but remarked, “Experience has shown that the fight against corruption should transcend the arrest and jailing offenders to prevention and enlightenment.”

He declared further, “Corruption has turned out to be a cat with several lives. The phenomenon keeps reinventing itself even as new approaches to tackle it emerge. Anticorruption agencies cannot win the battle alone. Rather we need to build coalitions and construct alliances. For the civil society organisations identified by the UNDP as partners working in this field, the need for capacity building cannot be underestimated.”

Professor Akinrinade remarked that the growing complexity of corruption in recent years has neccessitated experience sharing by various organisations and agencies in order to distil best practices in the quest to rid the country of corruption.

In the case of the present leadership of the ICPC, he said, while not neglecting the enforcement mandate, the leadership has sought to pursue a more sustainable approach by engaging vigorously and actively with the corruption prevention mandate through the examination of corruptionprone systems and procedures of public agencies with a view to minimizing corruption, and educating the public on, and against bribery, corruption and other vices and seeking and fostering public support in combating corruption.