The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) and the Nigeria office of the global human rights group, Amnesty International, will hold a national conference on September 19, 2024, to explore the link between whistleblowing, corruption and human rights as well as take stock of the situation of whistleblowers in Nigeria.
The theme of the conference, which comes on the heels of increased attacks and violations of the rights of whistleblowers, is “Amplifying Whistleblowing to reduce Corruption and Protect Human Rights.”
Whistleblowers play a positive, legitimate and crucial role in the prevention of and in the fight against corruption and the promotion of human rights. Over the years, they have uncovered and disclosed information on various corrupt and suspicious dealings linked to different actors and institutions, including politicians, business figures, security sector officials, those in the academic community, amongst several others in key sectors/communities, leading to wider public debates about corruption, human rights violations and the need for accountability.
According to Dr. Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL, the conference is an important step in the partnership with Amnesty International Nigeria “to deepen the promotion and protection of freedom of expression, association, assembly, peaceful protest and the right of access to information, amongst others, all being fundamental human rights enshrined in Nigeria’s 1999 constitution as amended.”
“Whistleblowing is part and parcel of the right freedom of expression and access to information. It is also closely connected to integrity and accountability and whistleblowers play a positive, legitimate and crucial role in the prevention of and in the fight against corruption and the protection of human rights,” noted Isa Sanusi, Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria.
The conference will be attended by representatives of key civil society organisations, government institutions, donor agencies, human rights advocates, whistleblowers, and the media. It will appraise whistleblowing in Nigeria, and specific challenges facing whistleblowers as human rights defenders.
Maxwell Kadiri, senior legal officer at the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) will serve as keynote speaker with a panel that comprises a whistleblower, representatives of AFRICMIL, Amnesty International, and the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), the unit at the Federal Ministry of Finance that manages the whistleblower policy.
Whistleblowers in Nigeria face a lack of safe and enabling legal environment that can allow them to report wrongdoing without fear of reprisals. The conference aims to further strengthen advocacy for a much-needed whistleblower protection law in the country.
Since 2017, AFRICMIL has been implementing a whistleblower protection advocacy project tagged Corruption Anonymous (CORA), which is supported by MacArthur Foundation.
