Nigeria and other African nations are losing $50 billion a year to illegal financial outflows, according to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the NSC, Mr. Pius Akutah, stated this in Lagos during the debate competition organised by some members of the National Youth Service Corps in collaboration with industrial trainees of the council.
The event was themed “Effective whistleblowers protection mechanism: A critical tool in the fight against corruption’.
Akutah, represented by the Director of Human Resources at the NSC, Mrs Ada Okam, explained that illicit financial outflows negatively impact the quality of life in Africa.
He reiterated that every effort at lifting Africans out of poverty and the provision of basic services to Africans had been retarded.
“From research, it is noted that Africa loses more than $50bn annually through illicit financial outflow,” the NSC boss said.
“It is on this premise that the African Union has set aside July 11 every year as a day to remind everyone of the menace of corruption. This is according to the United Nations’ campaign to ensure a reduction in corruption and the promotion of transparency,” he stated.
Akutah stressed the need for the continent to start engaging young ones in discussing issues of national, continental and global interests, adding that they are an integral part of society.
He added that the theme of the competition helped to reflect on the importance of the whistleblower and the need for protection.
According to Akutah, it is an advocacy for effective coordination between investigative, prosecution and judicial systems to ensure the protection of the whistleblower and an effective whistleblowing mechanism as a tool for combatting corruption in society.
“Recognising whistleblowing as a critical element for combatting corruption, there are institutions, laws and policies put in place at the national, regional and global levels to protect the whistleblower,” he explained.
GIK/APA
Nigeria, other African countries lose $50bn annually to illicit financial outflows – Shippers’ Council
