The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has challenged Nigerian youths to come together and channel their intellectual and physical strengths into activities that would foster a better future devoid of corruption.
The Executive Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, gave the charge on Thursday at the Uyo zonal office of the commission during a town hall event on youth integrity in preparation for the 2024 International Anti-Corruption Day themed “Uniting the Youths against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity.”
Olukoyede represented by the Zonal Director of Uyo, Johnson Oshodi, encouraged youths to see a better future ahead of them by choosing the pathway of integrity and shunning all forms of corruption that would jeopardise their future.
He also encouraged them to expose tendencies and actions that run counter to accountability and right values in their neighbourhood, saying there was no way corruption could be tackled effectively if they were unexposed or allowed to go unchallenged.
He urged youths to collaborate for progressive innovations and challenge corrupt practices at every level of government even as he pledged EFCC’s readiness to support them achieve that, recalling how a Cyber Crime Research Centre was established to build youth’s capacities against internet fraud.
His words: “Youths need a united voice to challenge unsavoury practices at every level of government. They need to come together to be watchdogs and active forces against any form of corruption.
“More important in this crusade against corruption is the overarching necessity of individual and corporate accountability. This entails making a decision against corruption, without a self-driven resolve to reject such practices, no other framework can work. The youths hold the rod of the future in any nation. They should use their brains and brawn to fashion out the future they desire for themselves.”
In his remarks, the Zonal Director of Uyo, Oshodi, noted that wealth obtained from corruption or fraud is ephemeral and encouraged youths to venture into activities that would allow them to grow.
“There are so many opportunities you can do on the internet using your laptop without going into fraud,” Oshodi noted.
He also regretted sharp practices in the oil and gas sector in Akwa Ibom as well as the illegal mining of mineral resources in the state, saying such has taken a toll on the economy of the state even as he said that the anti-graft agency is beaming its searchlight in those areas.
The event featured an interactive session moderated by the head of the Public Affairs Department of EFCC, T.E. Nwosu. Stakeholders from civil society organisations, community leaders, government officials, Corps members as well as the media made their contributions on how to stem the tide of corruption and internet fraud among youths.