The recent 2019 NBS report that placed Plateau state as second least corrupt in Nigeria got a thumbs up from the state government recently. MUHAMMAD TANKO SHITTU writes on how the feat was achieved.
Corruption is a bane to meaningful development of any society, community and the nation. Unfortunately, Nigeria has, for decades, been battling with the dastardly act that appears to have not only taken root, but has continued to dig deep into the fabrics of the society. It is not only peculiar with public service, but even pervasive in the private sector. It is committed either in pecuniary and material gains through the actions and inactions of persons in the course of discharging their functions without recourse to official procedure. This behaviour is to the disadvantage of the offices they are meant to serve for effective service delivery and development.
The peril of corruption is spread across all strata of government. Over the years, laws were formulated for different agencies of government saddled with the responsibilities of ensuring sanity to not only mitigate corrupt practices, but instill financial disciplines. Also, where necessary, prosecute offenders to ensure that norms and values of prudent utilisations of resources are followed. One of such agencies though not saddled with the responsibilities of investigating and prosecuting offenders is the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which in recent times released its 2019 quarterly report indicating states with the high corrupt practices and those with least practices. The report had placed Plateau state as the 2nd least corrupt state in the country.
The NBS report According to the report highlighted by the statistician-general of the federation, Dr Yemi Kale and the country representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, (UNODC) in Nigeria, Mr Oliver Stople christened: ‘The 2nd Corruption Survey Report in Nigeria’, released early December 2019 in Abuja, Imo state was rated the least corrupt state in Nigeria with 17.6% followed by Jigawa and Plateau states, respectively. The NBS says the data was collected from a total of 33,067 persons each in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).“The survey was developed as a tool to assess the impact of the measures put in place by states in fighting corruption in the period after the 2019 elections. It also gives Nigerians the opportunity to assess and evaluate the impact of those measures,” he said. The report gave a state-by-state record of the corruption index in Nigeria with Kogi state leading as the most corrupt state (48%), followed by Gombe at 43%.
Gov Lalong reacts
The NBS report thrilled Governor Simon Lalong who gave reasons why his state attained the feat under his administration. In a press release issued by his director of press and public affairs, Dr Makut Macham, Lalong said the development validates the efforts of his rescue administration towards entrenching good governance, accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.The statement said, “On assuming office, I declared my administration’s zero tolerance on corruption and our determination to ensure that public funds are used strictly for the benefit of the people of Plateau. The declaration led to the establishment of various mechanisms for checking corruption and enhancing transparency in public service.“We were among the first states in Nigeria to adopt the Treasury Single Account (TSA) where we made sure all monies accruing to Plateau state go to a single account for easy oversight and monitoring. We also established the Efficiency Unit that is saddled with the duty of checking all proposals and requests to ensure that they are in line with the vision of the government and offer value for the people. We put in place the Bureau for Public Procurement which has the mandate of vetting all procurements to ensure that there is no wasteful and exaggerated costs,” he asserted.Lalong further said his recent establishment of Project Monitoring and Result Delivery Unit (PMRDU) domiciled in the Office of the Chief of Staff was with a clear mandate to ensure diligent tracking of projects and programmes implementation by all the MDAs in the state. “In addition, the state has greatly improved the ease of doing business through the creation of the One-Stop-Shop as well as enhancing land transactions through the strengthening of the Plateau Geographic Information Systems (PLAGIS) to operate electronically which contributed to increase in revenue generation and removal of incentives for corruption.“This declaration by NBS about Plateau state as the second least corrupt in Nigeria is great news for us as it explains why domestic and foreign investors and foreign envoys are pouring into our state to do business and partner with us for various development efforts. “In the last two weeks, I received the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, investors from Switzerland, Austria and Germany and just this morning, the political counselor at the US Embassy was in my office. “We shall continue to make sure that we sustain this tempo and by the grace of God, Plateau state would be the least corrupt state in Nigeria when this survey is conducted next year.”
Citizens point of viewsNonetheless, some political pundits and public affairs commentators hold divergent views most particularly the reactions of Governor Lalong about the report. Though they commended the efforts put forward by the administration, however, they thought the other way.Comrade Salisu Muhammad, posited that, “It was a good news altogether that our state was rated among the least and that has shown that not only those people within public service but even those that are within the private sector have realised that rebuffing unlawful things is a collective responsibilities of all.”He said that it was a good thing the governor in appreciating the report reacted the way he did but noted that he should have commended the entire people of the state for their contribution to the feat, saying it is not only limited to the effort of his administration. Mr Azi Aware, a resident of Jos, opined that the report was on various fields that encompass sector by sector, not specifically limited to government officials. He said the government should have considered the report as multi sectorial in reacting on it. “It shows how committed, honest and sincere the citizens of Plateau people are.“The report of NBS was carried into different fields not only government officials, it was sector by sector.“Instead of government of Plateau state to narrow it to herself it, should be considered as multi- sectorial.”
According to Aware, civil servants, traders, workers in the private sectors and others in the state don’t frequently accept bribe before carrying their responsibilities. “It is a major success for Plateau state to have achieved this feat now that the entire country is in endemic corruption. I always asked myself whether God created Nigerian citizens different from others.” In their separate remarks, both Muhammad and Aware, shared similar thought that the report should further served as great challenge on both the public servants, the private sector and individual persons to do more than what was obtainable in that report. It is a known fact that corruption in all ramifications has been a bane to the overall development of the state which in the past found itself in grave embezzlement of public funds, hence making it retrogressive from the desired growth. It is now left for not only those in authorities but all citizens to put in more efforts in doing away with the monster.
