A network of Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against corruption was Saturday inaugurated in Maiduguri.
The initiative was taken after leaders of the organised unions attended a one-day town hall meeting organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), with support from ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), geared towards co-opting the unions into the campaign against corruption and maximising their influence in the society as change agents in the anti-graft war.
Speaking at the event, the general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Emmanuel Ugboajah, represented by Comrade Ishaku Monday, stated that corruption has been a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria, urging labour unions to join PAACA in the anti-graft war.
At the event, labour leaders in Borno state were trained on how to use social audit as an impactful community-led approach to fight corruption and bring the menace to the barest minimum in the state. The unionists were also tasked on how to develop and adopt an effective strategy in their social audit function as key stakeholders in the fight against corruption.
The executive director of PAACA, Comrade Ezenwa Nwagwu, educated participants on the need to unite in the anti-corruption struggle, stating that trade and labour unions in Nigeria have the intellectual capacity to fight corruption.
Speaking at the event, the Borno NLC chairman, Comrade Bulama Abiso, commended PAACA for bringing the town hall meeting to the state and pledged to carry all members of their respective unions along to ensure that social audit begins in the state with union members driving the initiative, to bring a positive change to their communities.
The state TUC chairman, Comrade Babayo Hamman, said the town hall meeting was a stepping stone to the next level of greater things to be achieved by the union, through commitment towards the anticorruption fight.
