Abuja – Mr Olajide Olakanmi, the Rector of the Pan-African Institute of Para-Legal Studies, says whistle-blowers can be effective in fighting corruption if personal relationship is separated from official position.
Olakanmi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
According to him, whistle-blowers now occupy strategic position in the fight against corrupt practices endemic in the Nigeria’s polity.
• Cue in audio
“Whistle-blowers in the 21st century have become very strategic response, into managing our affairs at the level of curbing and coping with excesses of those who are managing us.
“In other climes especially in Europe, whistle-blowers have taken a very big toga.
“And that they have been used extensively in exposing corruption, managing crisis and issues that would have degenerated into major crisis could be managed by whistle-blowers.
“Only that in our clime, we still don’t have the maturity of separating personal relationship from official position.
“And they have a situation whereby people even use the so called whistle-blowers as personal vendetta.’’
• Cue out audio[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Olakanmi expressed regret that whistle-blowers are not adequately protected, saying this class of Nigerians need to give important information about underhand dealings to which they are privy.
He noted that evidence-based fight against graft will go a long way towards nipping corruption in the bud.
The rector maintained that mere rumours should not be condoned if the country must win the war against corruption.
He explained that in the advanced countries the whistle-blowers’ actions are backed by empirical evidence, saying they are both “strategic and important” if only “we are able to manage them very well in Nigeria”. (NAN)
