The International Press Centre, Lagos-Nigeria has announced the take-off of its two-year anti-corruption monitoring and media advocacy project through a grant support of N15 Million Naira (88, 382: 00 Euro) by the European Commission.

IPC Coordinator, Mr. Lanre Arogundade announced at a media briefing on Thursday, September 1, 2005 in Lagos that the project would add value to anti-corruption campaign and strengthen media capacity to engage in anti-corruption advocacy in Nigeria through such methodologies as:

• Exposure, monitoring and follow up on at least five major anti-corruption cases being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)
• Improvement of media knowledge of corruption reporting
• Documentation, publication and distribution of journals and books on the monitoring exercise and anti-corruption initiatives in general.

Arogundade listed the first year activities of the project as including:
• Selection and Training of eight monitors
• Monitoring of EFCC’s prosecution of three selected anti-corruption cases (Tafa Balogun, the former Inspector General of Police; Fred Ajudua and others and Mohammed Bulama, former Managing Director of Bank of the North) and wider corruption issues in the media
• Training workshop for journalists and anti-corruption activists on corruption reporting and use of media in advocacy against corruption
• Publication of bi-monthly anti-corruption summary (reports, analyses, messages) in the print media
• Publication of a quarterly journal, “Index on Corruption” to focus on developments in tracking and curbing of corruption

He explained that the Centre would collaborate with the EFCC, ICPC, other anti-corruption bodies and share roles with its Media For Democracy In Nigeria partners to achieve the project’s objectives. The partners are Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER).

He justified the project on the basis that corruption remains endemic in Nigeria. “Many big fishes, so to say, have been caught including an erstwhile chief law enforcement officer of the federation” he said adding that “the billions brazenly stolen or callously misappropriated have impacted negatively on the country’s social, cultural, economic and political development and made mess of the citizens’ desire for the evolution and institutionalisation of good governance, accountability, transparency and openness”.