Demanding money from relatives in power encourages them to steal - Minister

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has said that putting pressure on family members and friends that are in positions of leadership to give you money is a way of encouraging them to steal and partake in corrupt practices.

Keyamo made the statement while making his presentation virtually at the unveiling of the ‘Corruption Tori Season 2” by SignatureTV in Abuja on Wednesday.

Corruption Tori is a programme produced by Signature TV, in conjunction with MacArthur Foundation to promote grassroots participation and involvement in the fight against corruption by employing local Nigerian languages in disseminating information on corruption matters.

The Minister urged more Nigerians to get involved in the fight against corruption stating that it is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of the nation and must be eliminated for sustainable development to take place.

Also speaking, ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, called on more organisations, the media and civil societies to take a cue from what SignatureTV is doing and get involved in promoting the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

“Corruption is a threat to national security. It is a threat to the social-cultural and political economy. The way forward is for everyone to come on board just like Signature TV is doing. The media, the civil society organizations, critical stakeholders like SignatureTV to come on board and fight this Cankerworm.

“We need more people to get involved in the fight against corruption. We on our part at ICPC have been putting programmes and policies that have enabled us to record significant achievements in curbing corruption in Nigeria lately,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer, Signature TV, Vinmartin Obiora Ilo in his remarks said the project was borne out of the realization that there was a clear disconnect between the majority of Nigerians and the understanding of the implications of the menace, corruption.

He said the anti-corruption messages, no matter how loud or consistent they were, could not get to the ordinary not-so-educated Nigerians at the grassroots become they mostly do not completely understand the English language used in these messages.

“Our Relationship with MacArthur Foundation started in 2018 when we realized that the anti-corruption messages no matter how loud, was not getting to the ordinary-not-so-educated Nigerians at the grassroots.

“Neither do they properly understand nor engage with the English language being used in the anti-corruption messages nor do they feel a sense of ownership of the anti-corruption fight. There was a clear disconnect between the horrible cases of corruption and the appreciation of most Nigerians on the magnitude and impact of the hydra-headed monster.

“So we took a proposal to MacArthur, which they fine-tuned and which gave birth to this project.

“Our Mandate was to use local Nigerian languages of Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba to enlighten and educate Nigerians at the grassroots and amplify anti-corruption voices, activities and actions in Nigeria.

“The objective is to cause attitudinal change and make Nigerians demand accountability and transparency by holding leaders to account.

“To execute this project we found a vehicle in Corruption Tori a Pidgin English programme which is translated into Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Corruption Tori is aired on the Network Service of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and syndicated to NTA Partner Stations, spread in the Six geopolitical zones of Nigeria,” Ilo disclosed.