Dr Bolaji Akinyemi is the BOT Chairman of PVC Naija, a frontline Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that advocates good governance, nation building, national development and wellbeing of the Nigerian citizenry.
He is also the Convener of iWalk.
In this interview, he speaks glowingly about iWalk project, a special programme coming up in Abuja this Saturday, which focuses on the need to develop capacity to fight and end corruption in the country with a view to achieving improved national development and good living conditions that the citizenry have been yearning for.
PVC Naija, as a part of its commitment to good governance, nation building, national development and citizenry’s wellbeing has initiated a unique project known as iWalk. What is it all about?
iWalk is one of many successful intervention projects nurtured by PVC Naija as a leading Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with core values in civic education towards citizens’ patriotic drive and commitment to nation building.
iWalk stands for Independent Walk. It is our deliberate effort to develop citizens’ conscious commitment to values that can help build a better and greater nation via annual walks to celebrate the Independence of our dear country Nigeria, in every October.
The maiden edition of the programme was held in October 2022 on the theme: “iWalk, to Say No to Vote Buying!!” The acceptance of the iWalk project by Nigerians is highly commendable as about 100,000 iWalkers have participated in the iWalk since inception.
Another October is here again. As a special programmed held annually in the month to mark the nation’s Independence anniversary, what are you doing about this year’s edition?
Plans have climxed to hold this year’s programme coming up in Abuja next Saturday, October 5 by 7:00 am at Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) where the walk shall begin and terminate later at CBN headquarters, CBD, Abuja.
The challenge of building a better and greater nation remains the cardinal focus of this year’s iWalk as succinctly captured by the slogan of the project: “4 a better and greater nation.” The theme of this year’s outing is: “iWalk for Economic and Financial Creativity for a Greater Country (aka iWalk 4 EFCC).
iWalk is not a cherry picking concept for image laundering but a process to inculcate the virtue of transparency and accountability in stewardship.
Beneath propensity for financial crime is a cry for survival from poverty foisted on citizens by the prevailing poor economic conditions, following the menace of corruption in today’s Nigeria. Pointing of fingers in the direction of corruption culprits can never be the solution. The need to rid our society of the culture of corruption that has snared us in our self-imposed poverty is the best solution, hence, the focus of the 2024 “iWalk 4 EFCC.”
Why do you focus on iWalk 4 EFCC and not iWalk 4 Intelligence Policing?
We derived our acronym from EFCC is Economic and Financial Creativity for a greater Country (EFCC). We believe that the creativity status of our citizens must have an edge over their propensity for crime in the pursuit of livelihoods within the polity.
Many Nigerians are very talented and creative, but worryingly, they lack tendency to deploy their skills and competences in legitimate pursuits. Rather, they cut corners and become purveyors of corruption. Talents are inborn, while creativity is an intelligent expression of one’s talent. But skills and competencies are acquired by training! It is the duty of our leadership to train citizens to fill talents and creativity gaps for human capacity development.
As a people, we seem to have chosen corruption over creative means of livelihood! to which iWalkers are walking to say No! in this year’s iWalk programme.
From your explanations so far, iWalk is a very unique programme. What do you have to say about the involvement of government, private sector and the citizenry?
iWalk is a tripodal nexus between government, citizens and the private sector to collectively take responsibility to WALK and WORK together to end corruption in Nigeria. The citizens are saying yes to us, and the private sector, as usual, are watching the reactions of government to know how to engage with us.
After God is government and you need to be in the good book of the government to safely operate within their territory of sovereignty. But unfortunately, those in government see us as enemies of government instead of seeing us as best of friends as nation builders.
It is high time they realized the need to embrace any entity or group like ours which vision, mission and focus are driven by passion for nation building, national development, prosperity and citizenry’s well being.
Apart from corruption, is there any national issue that bothers iWalk and you would like to talk about?
The iWalk project aims to inculcate a system of transparency and accountability in stewardship, which dates back to ancient times when society began to attribute value to transactions among members.
This started with labour rate as the basis of valuation of transactions such as the biblical pristine marital deal between Jacob and Laban, the father of Rachael.
Abraham was a steward of God, who was called to WALK before Him and be perfect. The demand in stewardship is to go before and be seen, open your book and hide not your ways!
The absence of this philosophy is the mystery of inquity that NNPCL is to Nigeria. Transactions in crude oil is arguably the most documented deal in the world today. Virtually, all costs elements are benchmarked by standards that are globally acclaimed.
The per barrel cost of crude oil extraction, sales in the global arena, freight cost by shipping, refining margin, internal distribution in a jurisdiction and eventual pump price of products to end consumers are crystal clear.
But regrettably, Mele Kayri, the helmsman of NNPCL gleefully boast about a debt burden of $6billion upon NNPCL because what is open to the world is hidden from Nigerians and nobody is asking questions.
What is your message to Nigerians about iWalk?
We invite citizens to register their patriotism and commitment to the Nigeria project by becoming an iWalker! iWalk is a Walk to higher ground! This is not about any governmental agency per se, but for Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC). It is only a privilege of coincidence to share the same acronyms that make it our focus this October and at a time like this. However, we are determined to see this partnership through to fruition.
How can an interested Nigerian become an iWalker?
To be an iWalker, simply register in the dedicated portal and participate in any of the exercises of the project; that will automatically confer the status of an iWalker to a participant. Join walk to instantly become an iWalker.
It’s a week to the walk, why is this information coming late?
It is not late. Briefing notes have been out for a while and preparedness have been going on. As a non-protest advocacy walk in this year’s celebration of Nigeria’s Independence, there is need to be on the same page with all security agencies for the safety and security of iWalkers. That is what it will take to get a system to work and deliver for everyone in the system. Let all whose duties it is to do something, do something and deliver it to the next person in the line That attitude and discipline is what is needed to get Nigeria working!
What would you say is driving your passion for this year’s iWalk project?
The 2024 iWalk 4 EFCC is a duty we are determined to deliver to Nigerians. It is our biggest since inception. As I said earlier, iWalk project is a coordinated tripodal nexus between the Government, Citizens and the Private sector to collectively take responsibility to WALK and WORK together to end corruption in Nigeria. iWalk! Is the walk we must walk to make Nigeria better and greater through uncompromising determination for a good and responsible citizenship role in governance. Together with you, we look forward to the success of 2024 iWalk 4 EFCC for a greater Nigeria.
Will iWalk hold in all the 774 Local Government Areas across the country as earlier publicised?
No! Initially, iWalk was designed to hold in all the local government headquarters across the country, but due to the dangers of the #Endbadgovernance protest in August and rumours of another looming one on October 5, we decided not to hold it there any more for fear of being hijacked by non-iwalkers. That’s why we shifted it to one location.
How can Nigerians who are not yet iWalkers be a part of this patriotic project?
Nigerians in their millions can join us on live streaming and share on their pages to tell the world that we are up in the fight to rescue ourselves from the claws of corruption. See you at the walk.
