A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), has trained journalists on contributing to the fight against Illicit Financial Flows (IFFS) in Nigeria during a two-day workshop under the broader SecFin Africa programme supported by the European Union.
The capacity-building workshop for journalists was part of efforts to enhance their understanding of illicit financial flows, strengthen investigative reporting and promote public accountability drive in addressing financial crimes in the country.
It also provided a platform for the participants to demonstrate improved understanding of Illicit Financial Flow issues and the existing legal and institutional frameworks to achieve follow-up actions.
David Ugolor, executive director, ANEEF in the opening address pointed out ‘illicit financial flows remain one of the most persistent obstacles to Nigeria’s development’ adding that ‘through corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, trade misinvoicing, procurement fraud, profit shifting and related illicit practices, vast resources that should support economic growth and improve citizens welfare are quietly diverted from productive use in plain sight and often only ever exposed through painstaking investigative work.’
According to him, the cost is not only measured in figures but in the schools that are never built, the hospitals that go unequipped and the roads that remain in bad condition. Every naira siphoned away in a naira unavailable for education, healthcare, infrastructure, social protection and job creation and the cumulative effect is weaker institutions, deepening poverty and a citizenry increasingly sceptical of governance itself.
He said Akwa Ibom state being part of Nigeria, the true cost of these losses is ultimately paid by the ordinary people.
Noting that ‘Nigeria has over time instituted legal , policy and institutional frameworks to combat financial crimes including anti-money laundering and anti-corruption mechanisms,’ he explained that ‘frameworks and agencies alone do not guarantee accountability, they require active engagement and informed public scrutiny to function as intended adding that explains where the media should step in and where your work carries weight far beyond the newsroom.’
‘Nigerian journalists and media organisations have over the years produced groundbreaking investigations that advanced anti-corruption efforts and sharpened understanding of governance issues. But the terrain keeps shifting. Illicit financial flows now move through increasingly sophisticated channels and reporting on them requires journalists to grasp concepts as beneficial ownership, money-laundering typologies, digital and cross-border financial transactions and the workings of international financial networks.
‘As a journalist, your responsibility goes beyond reporting events as they happen. It includes helping ordinary citizens make sense of issues that shape their lives, digging beneath the surface to uncover further details, illicit transactions, amplifying voices that would otherwise go unheard and in doing so, strengthen the foundations of democratic accountability,” he said.
In his remarks, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), urged the media to develop new strategies capable of identifying and blocking illicit financial flows at their source.
Theresa Nwosu, the commission’s head of public affairs zonal office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state solicited for collaboration among civil society organisations and the media to combat the movement of illicit funds out of the country.
‘The time has come for CSOs and the media to join in the advocacy to stop illicit financial flows from Nigeria and the African continent to other parts of the world,” Nwosu said.
The workshop was attended by journalists from the print and electronic media as well as online bloggers and it had resource persons from various bodies including the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and SecFin Africa.