By Joy Baba -Yesufu
The coordinator, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Dr Chido Onumah has said whistle blowing is a good governance tool, adding that it is also a vital mechanism for achieving transparency, accountability and proper democratic governance not only in Nigeria, but also across ECOWAS member states.
Onumah, who stated this in Abuja at a Workshop for Journalists on Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection in Nigeria said the goal is to instill in journalists the need to consistently promote the culture of whistleblowing and ensure protection for whistleblowers who face attacks for reporting corruption and other wrongdoing.
He further said journalist and whistleblowers have a lot in common as both are dedicated to holding power to account by bringing up the facts.
“We believe that by the nature of what they do, journalists and whistleblowers cannot be separated. Both are dedicated to holding power to account by bringing up the facts. In this era when information is proving more difficult to find, it is only whistleblowers who can comfortably maneuver and supply the information journalists need. But for the relationship between the two to be effective, journalists must understand the risks whistleblowers face and do their best to protect them” he said.
According to him, “we started by engaging it on three major fronts which include creating awareness and sensitizing the public to the importance of whistleblowing as a tool for fighting corruption and checking other forms of wrongdoing in society, advocating honest implementation of the policy, and ensuring effective protection for people who show the courage to blow the whistle in the interest of the public and are going through punishments for doing so.
