A civil society-based organisation, the Accountability Lab, has disclosed that it has concluded plans for award on five nominees lined up for its 2019 edition, saying its interest was to “name and fame” honest public officers in Nigeria.
According to a press release made available to Blueprint, the group’s communication officer, Price Chimaroke Chukwuka, said the five finalists, who were independently nominated by Nigerians for the 2019 award include Kacheilom Betram-Roberts Ndukwe, CSP. Francis Erhabor, Tina Odinakachi Iirmdu, Christian Ngozi Ahiauzu and Tani Ali Nimlan.
The statement said with introduction of the yearly awards tagged Integrity Icon, “The Lab hopes to inspire a new generation of public servants who are more effective.
“Corruption in the Nigerian public service has led to gross inefficiencies across all sectors of our economy and reduced public trust in the system. Integrity Icon aims to amplifying the stories and voices of honest government officials so as to rewrite the common narrative that the civil service is corrupt.”
Speaking at a pre-event show recently hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in Abuja, Country Director of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Friday Odeh, told attendees that people needed civil service heroes to look up to.
“We need people to stand up and take action. We just need people to stand up and do the right thing. We know the society we’re in, and for you to stand for integrity, it takes a lot and you need to be brave”, he said while explaining the objectives of the initiative.
Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Carl-Michael Grans, in his remarks in support of the programme also said, “What you do as an Integrity Icon is really crucial for a successful government in any country. Spreading democracy is a top priority for the Swedish government; promoting accountability, transparency and fighting corruption is really key for democratic development”.
While explaining that the Integrity Icon campaign is currently in its third year since its launch in 2017, and that this year’s summit and award ceremony is slated for January 20 and 21, 2020, the statement noted that nominations are already open for the 2020 edition, as same can be made via https://cutt.ly/iin2020 until March 30, 2020.
