The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi has revealed that the Strengthening Citizens’ Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption (SCRAP-C) project in collaboration with the Independent Corruption Practices Commission (ICPC), has tracked 2045 executive and constituency projects worth £111,488,950.22 in 28 states in Nigeria between October 2019 and July 2020.
Ene noted this on Wednesday during the close out ceremony of the project in Abuja after three years and 9 months of implementation in seven states including: Kano, Borno, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Enugu and the FCT.
According to her , this intervention has moved 93 contractors and 259 legislators back to project sites, 261 cases were recommended for investigation, 40 cases recommended for recovery of public funds.
In her address, the Executive Director of Centre for Communication and Social Impact, Babafunke Fagbemi, commended the Nigerian media for the resourceful support that the campaign enjoyed within the period of implementation across the country.
“We are proud of the changes in Citizen’s attitude to corruption. For example, in Borno and Kano States, citizens now have the knowledge of how to report corruption cases to ICPC, EFCC and some state anti-graft agencies.
“I can tell you that, now it does not matter who is involved in the corrupt practice because people can use the anonymous feature on the mobile App to report or send a mail or call on the radio programme to report.
Also, the Country Director of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, revealed that more than 300 children between the age of 6-12 now have access to nursery and primary education in Alimosho Local Government Council in Lagos state.
The Strengthening Citizens’ Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption (SCRAP-C) project has urged Nigerians to embrace the values of Honesty, Integrity and Transparency (H.I.T) as a way of reducing the burden of Corruption on Nigeria and its citizens.
Led by a Consortium of three national Non-Governmental Organisations – ActionAid Nigeria, Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) – the project sought to increase citizens’ capacity to resist, discourage and report the acts of corruption that had made access to a better and improved quality of life difficult to attain for the ordinary citizen. Change to Corruption that has negatively impacted on infrastructure, health and the economy in Nigeria.
For Nigeria to overcome the infrastructural decay and poor socio-economic development from the community to national level, the Consortium maintained that citizens must refuse to take bribes or receive gratification before carrying out services. It further noted that it will become difficult for corruption to thrive if every citizen speaks out against corrupt practices.
Funded by the UK Government through its Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), SCRAP-C deployed an articulate communication strategy in influencing the social norms and attitudes that helped corruption flourish in Nigeria with a view to effect a social change.
The campaign leveraged on social capital and social networks to promote a corruption averse mentality.
