NISER Commences Research on Corruption Reduction
Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) has been named the beneficiary of a MacArthur Foundation Research Grant for empirical exploration of various definitional and social dimensions of corrupt behaviour.
Speaking on actualising behavioral change approaches for reducing corruption in Nigeria’s public sector, the Director General of NISER, Professor Antonia Simbine, said the purpose of the grant is to institutionalise behaviour change approaches for reducing corruption in Nigeria’s public sector.
Simbine noted that the evidence that would emerge from this research effort would form the basis for behavioural solutions design in Nigeria’s public sector. The intervention, courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation, is designed around a three-year cycle starting September 1, 2021, till August 31, 2024.
Concurrent and iterative work streams on the project include Research and Capacity Building, Behavioural Solutions Design, Institutionalisation
of Knowledge, Documentation, Communication and Dissemina-tion.
The NISER’s ABC series is a knowledge engagement platform established for encouraging debates and convening ideas, which would enable the transition from behaviour change theory to practice.
The series commences with a webinar at the weekend on the theme “Understanding and Analysing Behaviour.”
She said the agency is championing a paradigm shift in curbing corrupt practices in the public sector from a traditional approach to a behavioral and attitudinal approach.
Simbine in the webinar organised for the staff of the agency and development partners held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, noted that agency is working round the clock to institutionalise behavior change approaches in reducing corruption in Nigeria’s public sector.
She noted that the agency would not relent in its quest to put a stop to corrupt practices in the public sector and emphasised that all hands must be on the deck to create awareness against practices in the public sector.
She also pointed out that a knowledge engagement platform is established for encouraging debates and convening ideas which will enable the transition from behavior change theory to practice.
The director general pointed out that one of the objectives of the seminar is to explore the complexity-based map of the phenomenal of corruption in Nigeria and redesigned innovative interventions based on localised understanding, attitudes and behavior for the control of corruption.
However, speakers during the seminar noted that the traditional approaches to curbing the menace of corruption have registered a very low success, noting that the behavioral and attitudinal solutions would go a long way in putting an end to the practice
They are optimistic that completion of engagement with critical stakeholders would go a long way to help the government to reduce wastage and looting in the public sector.
