By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede has charged Nigerian youths to unite against corruption and shun fraudulent activities.
Olukoyede stated this in his speech he delivered on Thursday, 5 December, 2024 to mark the 2024 International Anti Corruption Day.
The ant-graft czar, who said he was delighted to address youths to commemorate the 2024 International Anti-corruption Day, added that the yearly gathering has become an occasion of stock-taking and pragmatic analysis of anti-graft initiatives across the world.
Speaking on the theme: “Uniting the Youths against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity’, Olukoyede, said it resonates deeply with the compelling need for young people to close ranks and confront the monster of corruption.
“Corruption affects every age group but bites harder against the prospects and possibilities of youths. This makes it more binding on young people to tackle it more fiercely than any other age group. The scourge of graft limits and vitiates the opportunities of youths for self-actualization. Every young person needs an equal opportunity for self-expression.
“But this is impossible in societies where favouritism, nepotism, partisan and other extraneous considerations tilt opportunities in favour of some few privileged people. This is not good for the youths and it is for this reason that they need to forge a united front against corruption,” he said.
While stating that corruption makes youths vulnerable to fraudulent practices, he added that one of the dreadful effects of internet fraud is its bandwagon effects on youths, just as he also added that the allure of easy money is drawing young people into the vortex of criminality.
According to him, this explains “why institutions of higher learning are struggling to make students stay away from internet fraud. Any young person that is tainted with cybercrime faces a grim future. There is no sustainable success in internet fraud.
The EFCC boss said youths need collaborative efforts for progressive innovations, saying that they cannot achieve this in a corrupt environment.
He said that the attendant strength that comes from a positive outlook and reform-minded pursuits is too important for youths to compromise on the altar of corruption.
Olukoyede added that youths need a united voice to challenge unsavoury practices at every level of government, just as they also need to come together to be watchdogs and active forces against any form of corruption.
Stating that no other age group will do this for them, he pointed out the route that can be taken by youths to achieve unity in the fight against corruption.
One of those routes, according to him, is deliberate synergy against graft, explaining that that they can do this by forming associations, clubs, think tanks, societies that promote good values.
“It is high time youths joined hands together to pursue values that will add strength to their lives,” the EFCC boss said, adding that another means of uniting against corruption is to lend forces and voices in support of activities of anti-corruption agencies like thr EFCC .
“Progress-inclined youths should be more vibrant in identifying with the activities of the Commission. There are structures in place for active engagement with youths at the EFCC. At the primary and secondary school level, we have the Integrity Club serving as a rallying point for students. At the tertiary institution level, we have the Zero Tolerance Club. They are all platforms for engagement against corrupt practices.
“Youths can also unite against corruption by exposing tendencies and actions that run counter to accountability and right values in their neighbourhood. This is simply a whistle blowing opportunity for youths. There is no way corruption can be tackled if we allow it around us without a challenge. Youths have formidable roles to play in this regard.
“More important in this crusade against corruption is the overarching necessity of individual and corporate accountability. This entails making a decision against corruption. No matter the structure any youth may want to form against corrupt practices, without a self-driven resolve to reject such practices, no other framework can work. This means that personal choices and decisions against corruption count better than any other force,” Olukoyede said.
The EFCC boss, who said every unifying action against corruption promises better prospects for all youths, urged them to embrace this alternative and make it a new rule of engagement against corruption.
“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” he said.
Olukoyede said that the commission under his stewardship is always willing to lend a hand in this regard, just as he also said the agency has initiated so many measures to educate and engage young people and even building a Cyber Crime Research Centre to build capacities against internet fraud.
He said Nigerian youths have brighter future awaiting them if they imbibed the culture of the noble way of integrity.
“Let our youths see a better future ahead of them by choosing the pathway of integrity. As we always say, taking short cuts always cuts people short. Reject the shortcut of corruption and your future will be established,” he said.
