By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Dr Efe Anaughe is a legal practitioner and President, Warien Rose Foundation, a leading organization in the fight against corruption, money laundering, and terrorism financing. The Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) unit of the Foundation is dedicated to promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance. By this it is a member of the AML/CFT CSO Forum ECOWAS. It promotes transparency in asset management through research, capacity building, and advocacy. By virtue of the collaboration between the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and Warien Rose, the Foundation is an implementing partner of GIABA’s initiative on Enhancing Asset Recovery and Management in Nigeria. This has enabled it provide unwavering support to the vital work of agencies like the EFCC, ICPC, and AMCON in fighting corruption and recovering stolen assets. In this regard, it offers technical assistance, runs capacity-building programmes, and extends expertise to enhance their efforts. Through the partnership with GIABA, the foundation works to strengthen stakeholders’ capacities through targeted training and technical assistance, facilitate knowledge sharing and best practices among regional and international partners, to recover stolen assets and redirect them towards national development priorities. In this interview, she speaks on the glaring need for the citizenry to become a bulwark against corruption and money laundering.
When you look at our nation, do you get this feeling that Nigerians are have become comfortable with corruption in the governance space?
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Nigerians are not comfortable with corruption, but we are passive. We’ve gotten to a point where we have come to accept it as a way of life. And it is affecting every part of us. And for a lot of people, they even try to benefit from corruption and see absolutely nothing wrong in it. In a way we do not walk the talk. It is really sad, but there’s a popular saying that the people get the kind of governance they want. Our governance or our government is a reflection of the people. You see where a politician gets into office, the people expect that politician to pay school fees, hospital bills, give money to start business, money to build a house, rent an apartment, get a shop, start a business or pay debts. Where do you want that politician to get the money from to cater for everybody’s needs? It’s like the demands are endless. Nobody cares about the roads, public hospitals, and nobody is talking about electricity. All that the average person will say is ‘Thank God, my brother is there now, I will go to him.’ The demand is so much and if the politician does nothing, he or she is seen as a bad person, who does not care about his people. As much as we blame politicians we should turn the spotlight on the attitude of the people.
Like Michael Jackson sang in his song, ‘The Man in the Mirror’ we the people need to look at ourselves and do some soul searching. What are we doing? Are we contributing to what is going on?
One person alone, for instance a state governor, minister or top civil servant, cannot launder money. Are other Nigerians complicit in this issue of money laundering?
The absolute truth is yes. Nigerians have almost normalized corruption such that if you talk about it you become the lone voice in what seems like Nigeria’s wilderness. People look at you and wonder what is wrong with you. Why are you doing it? You are left wondering why they can’t see the damage being done to the nation and the next generation. People should be horrified at what is going on, but they are not.
But there is a whistleblower policy or legislation in place?
No, there is no extant Whistleblower Act. What we have is just some words in the Central Bank of Nigeria policy. A substantive Whistleblower Act does not exist in Nigeria. If you want to talk about a Whistleblower Act, you have to also talk about protection of the person blowing the whistle and pinpointing a particular case of corrupt enrichment with evidence.
So, until Nigerians get serious, sit up and say, ‘Look, we need a substantive Whistleblower Act. Until they truly realise the enormous damage being done to the country by the twin demons of corruption and money laundering and then really get angry with the situation, we will continue to suffer. Getting angry with corruption does not mean the kind of thing we did with #EndSARS. That kind of anger did not produce anything: pour into the streets, make demands and eventually go back home. Rather we should work towards creating a reset of the minds of the people, by engaging in a massive re-education campaign. We need to start from the younger generation, to let them know.
Unfortunately, the millennials and GenZs are now caught in the vice-grip of the get-rich-quick syndrome. They have become Machiavellian in their mindset. That is why several of them are careening downhill in their quest for ritual money (YahooPlus) and other forms of getting fraudulent money. Nobody sees anything wrong in it. It has reached the point where mothers of the Yahoo-Plus boys now have associations. No one cares how you get it, just get it. Therefore, we need to have a cultural mind shift. It has to start somewhere. Who will start it? The answer is ‘You and I’. Until we do something about that we are deceiving ourselves. We must extensively utilize technology to trace illegal financial flows. That is why I said earlier that Nigerians have to get serious in making the necessary demand and insisting on the enactment of the relevant legislation. We will use technology to ferret out the where the financial skeletons are hidden.
Warien Rose Foundation has a subsisting relationship with GIABA. How does that fit into what you are saying about fighting corruption in the governance space?
First, GIABA is the acronym for Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa). The collaboration between GIABA and Warien Rose Foundation is built on mutual interests in combating money laundering, asset recovery, and promoting financial integrity. GIABA, as a specialized institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), works with organizations like Warien Rose Foundation to leverage networks in enhancing anti-money laundering efforts and asset recovery in the region while the Warien Rose Foundation and others leverage on the expertise and resources of GIABA.
Briefly discuss the goals achieved so far since the collaboration commenced and impact made by the two organisations.
Since the commencement of the collaboration, GIABA and Warien Rose Foundation have achieved several key goals, including: capacity building, whereby law enforcement personnel, legal professionals, community leaders, NGOs and CSOs and other stakeholders have been trained on how to trace assets and undertake recovery process. We have embarked on efforts to raise public awareness through campaigns on the impact of money laundering and the importance of asset recovery in combating corruption. Beyond this, we have taken steps aimed at influencing policy through joint advocacy for stronger anti-money laundering frameworks and asset recovery mechanisms in Nigeria. The impact of this collaboration would be seen in enhanced capabilities to track, freeze, and recover illicit assets, thereby reducing the financial gains from crime and corruption across the ECOWAS Region.
What should be the minimum expectations of the public from the current training on asset recovery and management?
The public should expect the asset recovery and management training to equip participants with practical skills in asset-tracing and recovery; enhance understanding of legal and regulatory frameworks around asset recovery, foster international cooperation and information sharing, promote best practices in managing and utilizing recovered assets for public benefit.
In what practical ways can citizens get involved and boost the fight against corruption and money laundering?
A basic fact which is known is that official corruption and the money laundering that accompanies it cannot succeed without broad-based citizen engagement and participation in financial and physical assets tracing. To boost citizen engagement, it’s crucial to educate and raise awareness by informing citizens about the impact of illicit financial flows on national development; create platforms for participation, by establishing mechanisms for citizens to report suspicious transactions or assets; ensure transparency in the handling of recovered assets and thereby build public trust. Another vital step is to provide incentive for whistleblowers by protecting and rewarding whistleblowers who contribute to successful asset recovery cases. The people must now demand for a substantive whistleblower law.
Luxurious estates have been recovered from prominent personalities, particularly in Abuja. What are your thoughts regarding this successful effort?
The recovery of the luxurious duplexes in Abuja is a significant step in demonstrating the government’s commitment to accountability and asset recovery. It underscores the importance of robust asset declaration and verification mechanisms for public officials. The management and disposition of such recovered assets should be transparent, with proceeds ideally being used for public benefit or repatriated to the state coffers.
Are there private CSO-driven legal mechanisms to ensure that recovered illegal assets are not re-looted through under the table, opaque transactions as has been witnessed in the recent past?
There is a need for private and civil society organization-driven legal mechanisms to ensure transparency in the management of recovered assets. This could include establishing independent bodies to oversee the management and disposal of recovered assets; regular public reporting on the status of recovered assets and their utilization and engaging civil society, media, and the public in the oversight process to prevent corruption and ensure assets are used for the public good.
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