The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (FMHAPA), Abel Enitan has re-emphasized the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s zero tolerance for corruption, and the effort in making sure corruption is reduced to the bearest minimum.
Mr. Enitan stated this in his keynote address during the sensitization workshop on What Constitutes Corruption in the Work Place, organized for the Ministry’s Desk Officers, held in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
The Permanent Secretary represented by the Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Patience N. Oyekunle said “corruption continues to be an impediment to economic growth and social advancement while discouraging business investments, adding to the high cost of doing business and undermining the confidence of the people of Nigerian in its own governance and rule of law”.
“Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately as funds intended for development are diverted therefore undermining government ability to provide basic services . Corruption is a key element in the economic under performance and a major obstacle to Poverty Alleviation which forms part of the core mandate of the Ministry.
“Bringing together the SERVICOM Desk Officers to this workshop is a strategic step aimed at ensuring that this message gets to all the Departments and Units of the Ministry to create the necessary awareness.
“The activities of the Ministry are majorly humane in nature hence there is need to ensure that the services rendered by the FMHAPA benefit the indigents in the society without any form of corrupt tendencies or practice that will hinder or reduce the impact of such intervention”.
Mr. Enitan urged the participants to pay attention & make reasonable contributions in order to make the workshop successful.
In his welcome remarks, the Director, Reforms Coordination & Service Improvement, Odii N. Barry, welcomed all the participants, the representatives from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) and SERVICOM Headquarters to the sensitization workshop.
Mr. Barry said that, the Resource Persons were invited from ICPC and SERVICOM Headquarters to sensitize the Desk Officers on what to expect, how to track corruption and how to avoid/prevent it so that it does not happen at all. He urged the participants to pay attention and acquire as much knowledge as they can from the training for their own benefits and that of the Service in general.
The theme of the workshop was “Corrupt Practices in the Workplace”.
There were Four (4) Resource Persons, two from ICPC and two from SERVICOM Headquarters.
The facilitators from ICPC made presentations on “Public Sector Corruption: Nature and Consequences” and “Entrenching Ethics and Integrity Principles in the Workplace for Service Delivery” by Japhet S. David and Adogo Alonyenu respectively. They spoke about corruption, consequences of corruption and who should check corruption in the workplace with reference to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
They equally spoke on Code of Ethics and Integrity. According to the speakers, Ethics and Integrity promote accountability and due diligence in the workplace. Also discussed was the benefits of Ethics and Integrity.
The two speakers from SERVICOM Headquarters (Presidency) were Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Akinbodewa. and Mr. Oyelude Shittu who made presentations on “The menace of corruption and its effect on service delivery and work ethics in workplace”. They discussed the types, sources of corruption, how to prevent corruption, ways to fight/combat corruption like: ICPC, EFCC, Bureau of Public Procurement, FOIA, IPPIS, GIFMIS and many other ways.
Participants at the training include the Director, Reforms Coordination and Service Improvement of the Ministry, Odii N. Barry, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Patience N. Oyekunle, Resource Persons from ICPC and SERVICOM and Desk Officers from all the Departments and Units of the Ministry.
Rhoda Ishaku Iliya
Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations
