As the demon of corruption festers everywhere, the Government of Namibia has turned to Nigeria, asking the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to help the country fight the monster.
This was revealed by the ICPC, on its website, Saturday, explaining that the partnership being sought is aimed at “exploring training opportunities as well as sharing of expertise with personnel of the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission in the fight against corruption.”
The Namibian government, the statement further revealed, made the call at the weekend when its Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Humphrey Geise, visited the ICPC’s headquarters, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Geise says given Nigeria’s exalted position in Africa, and it’s exploits in fighting corruption, the biggest black nation on earth needs to share its experience and expertise with other African countries.
The Ambassador, the statement further revealed, informed that Namibia also has an anti-corruption agency known as the Anti-Corruption Commission of Namibia (ACC) which would be interested in learning about Nigeria’s success story, especially on the recovery of stolen assets by the ICPC and the EFCC respectively.
Excerpts from the statement: “The fight against corruption is taking a new dimension in the continent and we believe Nigeria should lead in sharing its expertise in the fight against corruption and we hope it will open its doors to other African countries like Namibia to learn.
“We feel ICPC and the EFCC should be able to go the extra mile to share their remarkable achievements. It’s not good for Namibia to go outside the continent to learn this.”
In his remarks, the ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, expressed the commission’s gratitude to the Namibia envoy for attending the launch of ICPC’s Strategic Action Plan 2024-2028, reiterating that the fight against corruption in Africa cannot be fought in isolation.
Aliyu expressed the commission’s preparedness to partner with other anti-corruption bodies to stem the tide of corruption on the continent.
His words: “Those who indulge in corruption have their networks. So, we too on the continent need to come together so that we can distort the illegal methods. By doing so, we’ll have good governance and a vibrant foreign-direct investment on the continent.
“We are aware of the MoU signed by my predecessor, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, I wish to reiterate that our doors remain open for any assistance that the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission may require from us. We have our own Anti-corruption Academy where we train people, I believe when your people come, we can also learn from them as well.”
