To advance the anti-corruption fight, there is need to review the activities of commercial banks and implement proper sanctions for erring banks who act or transact businesses in manners contrary to their professional ethics, the ActionAid Nigeria Board of Trustee has said.
A statement issued weekend after a meeting to review the state of the laws of the land said it has been revealed during the trial of the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, that the banks’ actions enabled the fraud to remain undetected for quite a while.
The ActionAid also said boarding school offers networking opportunities and enhances social development of the child, the extreme cases of bullying, especially in Nigerian boarding schools, have become worrisome in recent times.
It observed that parents, school administrators, and relevant government educational authorities seem to be abdicating their responsibilities and duties to the children.
It also pointed out that the growing harassment of judicial officers portends a bad omen for the principle of separation of power and the independence of the judiciary as a whole adding that if the executive arm of government does not address the issue, it can undermine democratic values.
Touching on another problem of the nation, ActionAid said Nigeria’s budding sectors such as telecommunications, agriculture, power, and tourism have provided a veritable platform for the real estate sector to thrive. It however observed that “Challenges facing the sector have hampered it from realising its true potential. Bribery and corruption markedly have a negative effect on the real estate sector. Low compliance with regulatory and environmental laws is the major cause of the incessant reports of collapsed buildings and other ecological problems.
“Nigeria needs to tackle the growing construction of structurally distressed buildings that endanger Nigerians by cracking down on unscrupulous real estate developers. The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria – CORBON, whose function is to establish and oversee the construction industry and coordinate its development must work with other critical stakeholders to ensure stricter measures to enforce regulation in the building and construction sector.”
