Thread by @toluogunlesi

Yesterday the papers reported that Kano Gov donated money to EFCC. EFCC has since refuted. Read story closely & you’ll find the donation was for a “National Anti-Corruption Marathon” (12/10/18). Google search throws up website (screenshots below) nationalanticorruptionmarathon.org.ng
#Thread

A little more digging on Google throws up this story about the Marathon, from August:
Min of Sports flagging off registration for the Anti-Corruption Marathon. Story says Marathon organized by “Fair Play Sports Int’l Agency” in partnership w/ FMYS,NOC,AFN
leadership.ng/2018/08/08/dal…

From this story, it turns out that the EFCC was represented at that flag-off ceremony. Which makes a lot of sense. Public engagement & enlightenment are part of the mandate of EFCC. So if there’s going to be an Anti-Corruption Marathon, it makes sense for EFCC to engage, no?

Also this is an event that bears the strong imprint of the FG. It was flagged-off by a Minister, whose Ministry is a key partner in the organization of the Marathon. And the theme falls squarely under the mandate of the EFCC. Are you still with me?

Now look at the story that the papers reported yesterday. This one from the Vanguard. Clearly the Governor donated money to the members of the Organising Committee of the Marathon, when he met with them

When it’s time to report it, the media says the Gov donated money to EFCC.

But it’s also clear from the Marathon website that the convener is a company called Fair Play Sports Agency (news reports say the “National coordinator” of the Marathon is a Jacob Onu, LinkedIn says he’s CEO Fair Play Sports.

Interestingly I can’t find any mention of EFCC on Marathon website (might have missed it). But they’re clearly a ‘partner’ in some way. Even EFCC has acknowledged this in a statement. And media reports prove this (see earlier tweets).
(The partnership is of course not unusual)

What’s the moral of this short story?

The EFCC has to be EXTREMELY careful in the partnerships it enters it and the endorsements it confers on events/organisers.

The sensitivity of its work means that it’s very easy to get its name sensationally dragged like we’ve just seen.

The Media hit sensational gold yesterday with that headline: ‘Ganduje Donates 10m to EFCC.’ In the age of clickbait, that’s what many editors are looking for, sadly

But the lesson is clear: Greater care must be taken in lending the EFCC name to causes, no matter how well-meaning

And it’s not just the EFCC or law enforcement. All Government Agencies. There’s no shortage of private agents seeking to organize events that bear the imprimatur of the FG. Often you will not have control over what these agents do in your name. And embarrassments can happen.

Which leads me to one question: how does the private sector handle this matter of endorsements? Do they typically have any safeguards in place to avoid their brand being dragged into unsavory issues?

Another moral of the story: most media headlines you read are shite. More than ever before you need to go beyond the headline. Sadly you can’t always depend on media to act responsibly in crafting headlines. Everything is done for max clickability, often at expense of the truth