THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has given approval for a National Ethics and Integrity Policy for citizens of Nigeria.
Azuka Ogugua, the spokesperson for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) made this known in a statement emailed to The ICIR.
Ogugua said the National Ethics and Integrity Policy was initiated by ICPC which was co-sponsored by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and National Orientation Agency (NOA).
She noted that the policy which was approved during the 20th FEC meeting, held Wednesday, August 19, 2020 is a compendium of the good and ethical conducts for the Nigerian citizenry.
According to her, the development of the policy on Ethics and Integrity for Nigerians commenced when the ICPC developed the much-acclaimed National Values Curriculum for the teaching of 12 identified core values in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the nation.
“The Curriculum, approved by the National Council on Education in 2004 and infused into existing school subjects is being taught as part of those subjects since 2007/2008 academic session, with a Teachers’ Guide launched in 2012 to assist teachers in the effective communication of the values,” Ogugua disclosed.
She further stated that policy was developed in collaboration and consultation with stakeholders (traditional and religious institutions, civil society, the public and private sector, behavioural change experts, etc.) who also had an opportunity to make their inputs at a webinar held on May 21, 2020.
Ogugua said plans are on-going by the ICPC to convene broader stakeholder meetings to prepare an action plan and consequence management framework for the policy.
Bolaji Owasanoye, the ICPC Chairman in his opening statement in the policy document stated that the development of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy is “a befitting follow-up to the National Values Curriculum initiative”, adding that, “the policy coming at ICPC’s 20th Anniversary and Nigeria’s 60th year of nationhood is timely”.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94