According to a study conducted by anti-corruption organization Transparency International, Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The cost of this corruption on the Nigerian economy is staggering: It’s estimated that the country has lost over $155 billion to illicit transactions by its government. Corruption causes valuable resources to be diverted away from the country’s development, undermines the ability of the government to provide basic services and widens economic inequality.
In an effort to combat deep-rooted corruption, the Nigerian Ministry of Finance launched a whistleblowing program that gives citizens who provide reliable information on corruption-related offenses some part of the sum that is recovered. The program is mainly aimed at the 80,000 public servant staff working within the Nigerian government.
If the information that the whistleblower provides leads to the recovery of the cash lost to illicit transactions, the whistleblower is entitled to between 2.5 and 5 percent of the recovered funds. The whistleblowers have to submit information via a secure online portal and are protected and kept anonymous.
Since its launch, the program has been quite successful, according to reports. Recently the nation’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recovered almost $10 million from the managing director of the state oil company in a corruption case. Whistleblowers have so far led to the recovery of $180 million.
We all know Philadelphia government is and has been rampant with corruption. now-former City Councilmember Bobby Henon just stepped down after facing a federal corruption conviction, and Councilmember Malcolm Kenyatta is currently awaiting a trial of his own. Could this idea out of Nigeria work in Philadelphia?
Read the full story here (via Quartz Africa)
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Header photo by Gracious Adebayo / Unsplash
