The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has called on members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to intensify campaigns aimed at carrying the anti-corruption message to the grassroots, especially among primary and secondary school children.
The charge was made on Friday, 3rd June 2022 when officers of the Commission visited the EFCC/NYSC Community Development Service, CDS, Group, Area 1 Branch, Abuja, to sensitise them on effective ways of reaching their audience when carrying out their sensitisation duties.
The Commission, represented by Martha Ojochokutami Eche of the Public Affairs Directorate, stressed that the anti-corruption fight belongs to all Nigerians and must be fought with all vigour, even by children who are being groomed as leaders of tomorrow.
Highlighting different types of economic and financial crimes perpetrated by children and adults, the Commission advised the CDS group to take the anti-graft message more seriously as foot soldiers of the Commission and strive to imbibe the same in the younger generation.
In response, the Coordinator of the CDS, Hajia Samira Aniki, appreciated the EFCC’s efforts in the fight against economic and financial crimes and the opportunity offered to corps members to be vanguards of the anti-corruption fight. She expressed optimism about a more fruitful partnership with the EFCC.
In Kano, Zonal Commander of Kano Command, Farouq Dogondaji has also called on parents and teachers to teach children good values and protect them against bad influences.
He made the call on Friday while speaking at a one-day workshop organised by the Centre for Information Technology Development (CITAD). Speaking on the topic “Understanding the work of EFCC”, Dogondaji, who spoke through Head of Public Affairs of the Command, Idris Isiyaku urged the participating teachers to take anti-corruption knowledge they acquired at the workshop to their students, to inculcate in them resistance against ills and negative impact of corruption in the society.
The participants were also urged to assist the Commission in realizing its vision of Nigeria free of economic and financial crimes, by enshrining a culture of resistance against peer pressure in the minds of their students through vocational skills and hard work.
Dogondaji also charged the participants to embrace the whistle blowing policy of the Federal Government by taking advantage of the EFCC’s mobile application “Eagle Eye” to expose corruption and corrupt individuals.