GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITYA paper presented by Ezenwa Nwagwu on the occasion of the 3rd Building and Construction Roundtable on May 23rd, 2013 at the Shehu Musa YarAdua Centre Abuja

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Please permit e to stand on the existing protocol.I would like to congratulate you on this economic round table. it couldnt have come at a better time and your choice of theme, indeed reflect the focal point in the global agenda Transparency and Accountability; two words which have the power to turn around any world economy and which Nations of the world are seriously clamouring for.

Transparency and honesty have become pressing issues on matters of development especially that which have a direct impact on humans. To be transparent means to be completely open and frank while accountability is being responsible for an action and capability to explain an action. Now Transparency and accountability are two intertwined words which almost do not go without the other, they both need each other to be mutually reinforcing; together they allow others to see what actions are performed, who performs such actions and the benefit or loss to be derived from such an action; an unbroken and trusted chain of communication from source to recipient.

Building and Construction is a major driver of economic growth and development. According to the Global Construction 2020 Report, its global value is expected to reach $ 12 trillion per annum in 2020, or about 13 per cent of global GDP. Building and construction industry are non to be rivalled in terms of structural and aesthetic development in any nation including Nigeria the spread of industrialisation is altering the environment in which we exist. The explosion of new information and communication technologies is also allowing for a rapid, global diffusion of ideas and practices, enabling developing nations to demand higher qualities in terms of structural enigmas and miracles. The building and construction industry provides the machinery through which these infrastructural miracles are either achieved or abused.It is also possible to be transparently fraudulent. We were ones told a story of an establishment that had somebody they wanted to recruit, theyinserted the prisons competitive edge in the advert they placed.

Despite all the eulogy, building and construction sector remains one of the most corrupt sectors to deal with. Lack of accountability, unethical behaviour and corrupt practices have apparently become so pervasive, and even institutionalized norms of behaviour in Nigeria, to the extent that one may conveniently speak of a crisis of ethics in the Nigerian construction industry. While one could single out a few companies, in which 'tolerable' levels of transparency and accountability exists, unfortunately the opposite is true in construction companies, where outright bribery and corruption, patronage, embezzlement, influence peddling, use of one's position for self-enrichment, bestowing of favours on relatives and friends and so on have become the common practice with an attendant effect on the quality of the buildings we have today in the country. A lot of persons have argued that lack of enabling environment, poor political leadership, and neck rooted corruption are some of the factors that hinder successful enforcement of transparency and accountability in the building and construction sector. However, the growing recognition that unethical practices have contributed to the difficulties that is experienced today in the industry has seen the dire need for transparency and accountability. These defects have propelled the public on many occasions to demand higher standards of ethics, transparency and accountability in the sector.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVEAccountability and transparency are related fundamental concepts that define ethical conduct in any society. They are important ingredients in nation-building and formation of national character. It is clear that accountability and transparency, in a true democracy, represent a universal, equivalent concept of shared responsibility, trustworthiness, and open communication between the government and the governed. Presently, there is an international recognition that lack of transparency impedes development, undermines stability and erodes trust. The pernicious effects shows in poor quality of essential public infrastructure, weak structures, bribery and corruption (to cover up defects) and ofcouse in most cases the after effects of most of these are born by the innocent members of the public, the poor and less privileged people in the society; while the perpetrators at most time goes unpunished.A review of the fight for transparency and accountability by other countries of the world is not a means to ridicule our system, rather an assessment of best international practice that would help us as a nation to put the right pegs in the right holes.It is estimated that, by 2020, upwards of $2.5 trillion annually could be lost on an international level through corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency in construction

In 2007, Asia Pacific Economies (APE) a 21 member Economy country that includes Australia, Canada, Chile, China, USA, and other countries, reported on their legal and regulatory implementation of the APEC Transparency Standards, including those relating to government procurement. The APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Group has called for reporting of APEC leaders and ministers commitments on anti-corruption and transparency. Mexico has instituted an online asset disclosure system. I strongly believe that if Nigeria have being a member state of APEC, and every leaders and Minister who cannot account for his or her office is exposed and blacklisted on the international arena, perhaps, there would be better transparency and accountability in the country. The United States website, http://www.usaspending.gov, provides comprehensive information on all federal procurements and is searchable by date, type of procurement, name of procuring entity and contractor, type of goods or services procured, etc. in any case where there is any for of irregularity, formal reports are made and actions are taken.

On October 22nd 2012, The Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) was launched following a three-year pilot project. The organisations behind the initiative, including the World Bank; The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC); the ONE Campaign and the Institution of Civil Engineers, are calling on international governments, as well as the global construction industry, to commit to incorporating CoST into all public construction projects to create a more transparent and accountable sector, leading to better infrastructure.The core of CoSTs is on the belief that the processes involved in the construction of infrastructure must be made more transparent - the public must be armed with the information they need to hold decision makers to account.The UK was one of the pilot countries, where projects reviewed by CoST have been set out as examples of best practice, and gives a strong basis for projections on potential savings. The UK Government has also committed to implementing CoST as part of its programme to reduce infrastructure costs by 2.5bn per annum. The pilot found that CoST can help tackle corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency, which are also important when it comes to saving money. CoST can lead to better public infrastructure, offering potentially huge human benefits on an international scale. At least three additional countries are expected to join CoST in the next year, with South Africa and Mexico being the latest to express strong interest.WORLD BANK AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION INTERVENTIONS The World Bank maintains a website of debarred suppliers and, in cooperation with regional development banks, has agreed to cross-debar suppliers found to have engaged in illicit practices. In Nepal (a developing country in South Asia) the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department for International Development (DFID) and World Bank (WB) are supporting the new government to undertake a short review to provide initial analysis and recommendations on how to support the growth of the construction sector. The purpose of the assessment is to analyse the constraints and opportunities for enhancing the transparency and accountability of public sector construction work in Nepal, with a particular focus on rural transport infrastructure.RECOMMENDATION Information on public construction should be published proactively: construction companies should tell people what they are doing, for whom, when and how. In addition, this Information should be comprehensive, timely, accessible and comparable in a format that is useful and meaningfulEveryone can request and receive information on construction going on at a particular time or place as far as the person shows evident of concern for such a project. Parties involve should ensure that everyone is able to access the information as and when they wish. Ethic are like the guiding principle in different fields of endeavour and hence I wish to call on the practitioners in this very important sector to once again refresh their minds on the ethics that guide the profession and guard it jealously, making it their watchword in principle and action. There should be a form of a stiff punishment measure to deal with issues of noncompliance with the standard set for construction Companies in Nigeria. This is important because this is what other developing countries of the world do and it has seriously paid off. Initiatives which are geared towards improving the construction and building sector should be emulated from the more developed countries for instance, The G20 in its Seoul Action Plan called for initiatives that would significantly improve transparency in procurement, construction and infrastructure finance. One of those initiatives,to beendorsed at the G20 Cannes Summit, is the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST which I have highlighted earlier. It paves the way for transparency and accountability in the sector

CONCLUSIONIt is obvious that the growing need for construction of all types coupled with a tight monetary supply has provided the construction industry with a big challenge to cut cost; however exception must be made in a bid to balance cost and quality. Today, I call on you all not only to be transparent, but to be conceived as being so, so that in the soonest future, Nigeria Construction sector would be rated as one of the most transparent and accountable industry on the world ratings.All said, our country is inn a state of war, yes incipient war! The general system is driven by greed, no one is concerned for anyone else; we must all join forces to stop the drift by saying NO to Corruption, impunity, Rape violence and such other vice that diminishes our humanity.Thank you.