CORRUPTION AND WHISTLE BLOWERS: Will The FG's Provide The Solution?

With the level of corruption in the Nigerian society today, many have come to view this menace as something  synonymous with public officials.

The menace has attained an alarming dimension in Nigeria and it is a fact that most of these public officials are part of the monster called corruption that has bedeviled Nigeria for most of its existence.

The economic hardships that Nigerians are currently experiencing has been attributed to the country's romance with corruption several decades down.

The malaise seemingly defied all solutions until the ministry of finance recently decided to try a something new. The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on December 21, 2016 disclosed that the Federal government through a new policy, will be awarding 5% of recovered loots to any citizen who can blow the whistle corruption-related offenses.

At the time, the Federal government said it hoped the Whistleblower policy will encourage individuals who have authentic information on financial misconduct and misappropriation of funds to come forward and report to the government.

Recent events show that this policy have started yielding fruits.

Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, announced to the public the recovery of $9.2 million  from a property belonging to former Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu. The anti-graft agency credited the burst to tip-off from whistleblowers.

A few days later, the Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said it recovered another $151 million and N8 billion looted funds from three sources through whistleblowers.

Mohammed said: “The whistle-blower policy is barely two months old and Nigerians have started feeling its impact, how a few people squirreled away public funds.

“It is doubtful if any economy in the world will not feel the impact of such mind-boggling looting of the treasury as was experienced in Nigeria.

”Yet whatever has been recovered so far, including the $9.2 million by the EFCC, is just a tip of the iceberg,” he said.

So what has embolden people to come forward and provide the government with actionable information?

This 5% Whistle Blower commission might actually be the key to unlocking all these buried millions of Dollars.