By CLEMENT IDOKO in the Nigerian Tribune
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has introduced System Review Mechanism, which is a subtle and ingenious way of dealing with “endemic corruption” in the nation’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
This, according to the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Ekpo Nta, is in line with the ICPC’s enabling Act 2000, which empowers it to deal with manifold corruption through investigation and prosecution of offenders thereof.
It is in line with this, that ICPC in collaboration with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values, recently organised a two-day National Conference for vice chancellors, rectors and provosts and other principal officials of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Abuja. Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, has in executing the mandate of the commission, always emphasised education as a strong tool to prevent corruption in public institutions.
The national conference declared opened by President Goodluck Jonathan, also brought together stakeholders, including academia, civil society organisations and heads of parastatals in the education sector, among others to brainstorm on how to eliminate corruption and entrench ethical values on the nation’s tertiary institutions.
It is important to also note that the Chairman of the commission, Mr Nta, has in executing the mandate of the commission, always emphasised education as a strong tool to prevent corruption in public institutions.
One of the issues that also came up at the conference was the problem of un-accessed funds by these institutions in spite of the hues and cries of poor funding of education in the country. President Jonathan, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, registered his anger on this.
He said: “I have received the report from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund that a good number of our institutions have failed to access the funds allocated to them. These funds which run into billions of naira have accumulated over the years TETFund account. I urged all the respective institutions to do the needful in this regard. We must fast forward sustainable development of our tertiary institutions and we cannot allow inertia or nonchalant to slow us down”.
Mr President also challenged the management of both public and private tertiary institutions to enthrone transparency, probity and accountability in the management of the resources allocated to them. He said: “In addition to accessing the funds, we must build into the system appropriate values of transparency and accountability in dispensing funds that are entrusted to the managers of these institutions, even as we inculcate into our students the ethical values that help drive the development of this country in the 21st centuries and beyond.
President Jonathan said the conference with the theme: “Transparency, Accountability and Ethical Values in Tertiary Institutions for Sustainable Development” was apt, while also commending the conveners, adding that the outcome should help in addressing the challenges bedeviling tertiary education in the country.
He said: “By collaborating to organise this dialogue, these three key agencies have demonstrated the synergy that is attainable when various agencies of government work in partnership to achieve national goals and objectives; this collaboration also signpost the direction and high quality of output that should emerge from the deliberations.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ICPC, in his welcome address disclosed that based on the commission investigations arising from petitions and intelligence gathering, lack of transparency and accountability have been the major factors at the root of the endemic corruption in our institutions; both public and private. He identified some of the unwholesome practices to include admission racketeering, poor record keeping, poor examination management, improper management of funds and facilities among others.
According to Nta, the ICPC in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2012, conducted a pilot system study of corruption-prone processes in the operations of Nigerian universities using some selected universities in Nigeria. “The three universities were selected to cover diverse proprietorship and geoplitical locations: federal, state and private”.
He said: “the intention was borne out of our desire to help the universities identify and deal decisively with some ethically unwholesome, and at times, criminal practices that were inimical to the smooth running of universities.
“Such practices included admission racketeering, poor record keeping, poor examination management, improper management of funds and facilities, etc. This we shared with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, which also faced the challenges of access/utilisation of its intervention fund in tertiary institutions”.
He said: “This workshop would afford you an opportunity to learn what to avoid and who and where to seek help if in doubt. For example, the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTU) is a joint initiative of the Federal Government and ICPC meant to help you monitor and red-flag corruption-prone processes in your institution for urgent redress.
Regrettably, most institutions are yet to fully utilise them except for a few like the Universities of Calabar, Ibadan and Ilorin”. He, therefore, called on all tertiary institutions in the country to establish an anti-corruption unit in their institutions.
Nta, however, said he was happy that some university councils have started a self-cleansing anti-corruption drive in their institutions by clamping down decisively on acts of plagiarism, admission and examination racketeering, financial malpractices, among others.
“Recently, ICPC has noticed the growing trend on ineligible and non-graduates fraudulently mobilising themselves into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme or passing out as corps members and ICPC arrested 45 of them last year”.
The Chairman Board of Trustees of TETFund, Dr. Musa Babayo, in his remark, blamed the rot in the nation’s tertiary institutions on human factor, saying the Federal Government has invested so much in the institutions without the required impact.
He disclosed that in 2011, Education Trust Fund (ETF) was renamed TETFund by the ETF Act No. 16 and refocused it to intervene in only public tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) for maximum impact as opposed to ETF which intervened at all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary).
He also revealed that “Between 2009 and 2014 the fund in keeping with its mandate has injected a colossal sum of N456 billion into the Nigeria education sector, while N65.6 is yet to be accessed. This is exclusive of the recent N100 Billion intervention by the Federal Government based on the Federal Government and Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU) and agreement.
He said: “Given the amount of funds invested in the tertiary education system, I firmly and truly believe that the problem of this sector is not so much the problem of lack of funds or human resources, but rather the problem centres on human factor. No amount of finances can turn around our higher educational institutions if the people managing them are not committed, transparent, and accountable and place high premium on ethical values”.
He said TETFund agreed to collaborate with ICPC and Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values to organise the conference because it is a public trust which places emphasis on transparency, probity and accountability.
He said TETFund would always align itself and team with public institutions that identify with the ideals and primary objective of the fund, which is for rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria.
Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs. Sarah Jibril, in her remarks, said ethics and values must be entrenched in the nation’s tertiary institutions as a fundamental way to build and maintain transparency and accountability.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has introduced System Review Mechanism, which is a subtle and ingenious way of dealing with “endemic corruption” in the nation’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
This, according to the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Ekpo Nta, is in line with the ICPC’s enabling Act 2000, which empowers it to deal with manifold corruption through investigation and prosecution of offenders thereof.
It is in line with this, that ICPC in collaboration with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values, recently organised a two-day National Conference for vice chancellors, rectors and provosts and other principal officials of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Abuja. Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, has in executing the mandate of the commission, always emphasised education as a strong tool to prevent corruption in public institutions.
The national conference declared opened by President Goodluck Jonathan, also brought together stakeholders, including academia, civil society organisations and heads of parastatals in the education sector, among others to brainstorm on how to eliminate corruption and entrench ethical values on the nation’s tertiary institutions.
It is important to also note that the Chairman of the commission, Mr Nta, has in executing the mandate of the commission, always emphasised education as a strong tool to prevent corruption in public institutions.
One of the issues that also came up at the conference was the problem of un-accessed funds by these institutions in spite of the hues and cries of poor funding of education in the country. President Jonathan, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, registered his anger on this.
He said: “I have received the report from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund that a good number of our institutions have failed to access the funds allocated to them. These funds which run into billions of naira have accumulated over the years TETFund account. I urged all the respective institutions to do the needful in this regard. We must fast forward sustainable development of our tertiary institutions and we cannot allow inertia or nonchalant to slow us down”.
Mr President also challenged the management of both public and private tertiary institutions to enthrone transparency, probity and accountability in the management of the resources allocated to them. He said: “In addition to accessing the funds, we must build into the system appropriate values of transparency and accountability in dispensing funds that are entrusted to the managers of these institutions, even as we inculcate into our students the ethical values that help drive the development of this country in the 21st centuries and beyond.
President Jonathan said the conference with the theme: “Transparency, Accountability and Ethical Values in Tertiary Institutions for Sustainable Development” was apt, while also commending the conveners, adding that the outcome should help in addressing the challenges bedeviling tertiary education in the country.
He said: “By collaborating to organise this dialogue, these three key agencies have demonstrated the synergy that is attainable when various agencies of government work in partnership to achieve national goals and objectives; this collaboration also signpost the direction and high quality of output that should emerge from the deliberations.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ICPC, in his welcome address disclosed that based on the commission investigations arising from petitions and intelligence gathering, lack of transparency and accountability have been the major factors at the root of the endemic corruption in our institutions; both public and private. He identified some of the unwholesome practices to include admission racketeering, poor record keeping, poor examination management, improper management of funds and facilities among others.
According to Nta, the ICPC in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2012, conducted a pilot system study of corruption-prone processes in the operations of Nigerian universities using some selected universities in Nigeria. “The three universities were selected to cover diverse proprietorship and geoplitical locations: federal, state and private”.
He said: “the intention was borne out of our desire to help the universities identify and deal decisively with some ethically unwholesome, and at times, criminal practices that were inimical to the smooth running of universities.
“Such practices included admission racketeering, poor record keeping, poor examination management, improper management of funds and facilities, etc. This we shared with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, which also faced the challenges of access/utilisation of its intervention fund in tertiary institutions”.
He said: “This workshop would afford you an opportunity to learn what to avoid and who and where to seek help if in doubt. For example, the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTU) is a joint initiative of the Federal Government and ICPC meant to help you monitor and red-flag corruption-prone processes in your institution for urgent redress.
Regrettably, most institutions are yet to fully utilise them except for a few like the Universities of Calabar, Ibadan and Ilorin”. He, therefore, called on all tertiary institutions in the country to establish an anti-corruption unit in their institutions.
Nta, however, said he was happy that some university councils have started a self-cleansing anti-corruption drive in their institutions by clamping down decisively on acts of plagiarism, admission and examination racketeering, financial malpractices, among others.
“Recently, ICPC has noticed the growing trend on ineligible and non-graduates fraudulently mobilising themselves into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme or passing out as corps members and ICPC arrested 45 of them last year”.
The Chairman Board of Trustees of TETFund, Dr. Musa Babayo, in his remark, blamed the rot in the nation’s tertiary institutions on human factor, saying the Federal Government has invested so much in the institutions without the required impact.
He disclosed that in 2011, Education Trust Fund (ETF) was renamed TETFund by the ETF Act No. 16 and refocused it to intervene in only public tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) for maximum impact as opposed to ETF which intervened at all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary).
He also revealed that “Between 2009 and 2014 the fund in keeping with its mandate has injected a colossal sum of N456 billion into the Nigeria education sector, while N65.6 is yet to be accessed. This is exclusive of the recent N100 Billion intervention by the Federal Government based on the Federal Government and Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU) and agreement.
He said: “Given the amount of funds invested in the tertiary education system, I firmly and truly believe that the problem of this sector is not so much the problem of lack of funds or human resources, but rather the problem centres on human factor. No amount of finances can turn around our higher educational institutions if the people managing them are not committed, transparent, and accountable and place high premium on ethical values”.
He said TETFund agreed to collaborate with ICPC and Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values to organise the conference because it is a public trust which places emphasis on transparency, probity and accountability.
He said TETFund would always align itself and team with public institutions that identify with the ideals and primary objective of the fund, which is for rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria.
Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs. Sarah Jibril, in her remarks, said ethics and values must be entrenched in the nation’s tertiary institutions as a fundamental way to build and maintain transparency and accountability.
Comments
Post a Comment