The Policy of Whistleblowing in Nigeria

One of the most direct methods of exposing corruption in corporate or public institutions is whistleblowing. Quite a number of countries, including Nigeria, have introduced a whistleblowing policy. Among its provisions is to deter corrupt behaviours and guide formal investigations into them. However, Nigeria still lags far behind in this respect, perhaps out of structural inertia in dealing with corruption cases. In this article, the author argues that Nigeria can benefit from the institutional, educational and spiritual framework embedded in whistleblowing in Islam through ‘amr bi-l-ma'rūf wa-naḥy ‘an al-munkar i.e., enjoining good and forbidding wrong. The article, through historical and descriptive approaches, explains the policy of whistleblowing from the Islamic perspective, hence, clarifying some Muslims misconceptions. This study, therefore, presents Islamic principles on the whistleblowing policy and explains some pivotal approaches to addressing whistleblowing policy in Nigeria.