* Partners Ahmadu Bello Foundation On Youth Enlightenment On Anti-Corruption
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
The Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, Wednesday, August 4, 2021, charged members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to join the fight against economic and financial crimes in the country.
Bawa told them to "Add your voice to mine because the fight against economic and financial crimes involves you and I. I will play my part, you will play yours."
The EFCC chairman stated this in a sensitization lecture on the Role of Youth in Curbing Cybercrimes presented on his behalf by officials of the Commission at various Orientation camps of the Batch B stream 1 set of corps members.
In Issele Uku, Delta State, Williams Oseghale, Head, Public Affairs Department, Benin Zonal Command who stood in for the EFCC boss, urged the corps members to embrace hard work and shun crime as the consequences were grave. "There is no shortcut to wealth and fame. The fact that the rate of unemployment is high should not be an excuse to resort to crime. Acts of criminality might deliver wealth in the short term but ultimately, they lead to misery."
He charged Corp members to be role models in their area of primary assignment and to join the EFCC/NYSC CD group for a more enduring and robust engagement. "Youth Corp members are dynamic young men and women whose energy can be harnessed for the greater public good by being role models and whistleblowers in their area of primary assignment," adding that "young people must not be mere spectators in the anti-graft campaign rather, they should be foot soldiers leading the mass rout of corruption and economic crimes out of our land".
In Agwu, Enugu state, Bawa charged the Corps members to embrace the whistleblower policy. DSE Bethel Ude, Head of Public Affairs Department in Enugu Zonal Command who presented the Executive Chairman’s speech, stated that instead of youths being mere spectators who sit and lament about the state of the nation, they should join the anti-graft army by becoming whistleblowers.
“The message of the EFCC to you all this morning is that you should become whistleblowers in any place where you find yourself by reporting acts that fail the simple test of integrity. It’s no use lamenting that things are not right with our country. We are inviting you to lend a hand in helping us build a society where there is respect for law and order and where impunity is a thing of the past” she said.
Ude encouraged the corps members to serve as role models by shunning all acts of economic and financial crimes including cybercrimes. In her words, “there is no shortcut to wealth and fame. The fact that the rate of unemployment is high should not be an excuse to resort to crime”.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Head, Cyber Crime Section, Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC, Chief Superintendent of the EFCC, CSE Bassey Effiong while addressing corps members at the NYSC's Orientation Camp in Nowa- Gbam, Rivers State admonished “corps members to embrace hard work and shun crime, stating that Yahoo-Yahoo is not a sustainable way of life. As dynamic young men and women, our desire is to harness your intelligence and energy for the greater public good in your areas of primary assignments”.
Also speaking at the NYSC, Orientation camp in Yikpata, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, by Ayodele Babatunde, Head, Public Affairs Department of the Ilorin Zonal Command, urged the corps members to take ownership of the anti-graft crusade and channel their fertile minds productively to benefit the country.
“We are inviting you to lend a hand in helping us build a society where there is respect for law and order and where impunity is a thing of the past. We urge you, when you see something, to say something and don’t stop there, please do something. Do not be mere spectators”, he said
He used the occasion to admonish the corps members not to engage in internet fraud or any other form of corruption, which could jeopardize their future.
In another development, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, also on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, promised to partner with Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in enlightening Nigerian youth on the ills of corruption and other forms of crimes.
The EFCC boss who was represented by the Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol, stated this when a delegation of the Foundation, led by the Managing Director, Engineer Abubakar Umar Gambo, paid him a courtesy visit at the Commission’s Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.
The EFCC Chairman commended the Foundation for impacting positively on the society and called on Nigerian youth to emulate the late Sir Ahmadu Bello.
“We have seen a lot of NGOs, but the fact that your NGO is doing so much and has impacted society is something you should be commended for. Sir Ahmadu Bello is a household name in this country and everybody knows what he actually stands for; leadership and justice are some of the virtues, everybody, likes to imbibe,” he said.
The EFCC boss also promised to work with the Foundation in enlightening the public especially Nigerian youth on the ills of economic and financial crimes.
“The research and advocacy that you are into is something the EFCC will love to key into. We also like to see some of the research that you’ve done, because the EFCC as a law enforcement agency relies on some of this research to know the trends that are happening and it will help us in formulating policies.”
Bawa cautioned Nigerian youth to desist from all forms of nefarious activities and to be better citizens.
On his part the Managing Director of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Engineer Abubakar Umar Gambo commended the EFCC in its fight against economic and financial crimes.
“We are here to congratulate the Chairman on his appointment as the Executive Chairman of the EFCC. We strongly believe that his coming will inject new vibrancy and zeal in the EFCC and to a large extent, bring investor confidence in the finance sector of the economy.”
He invited the EFCC boss to serve as a guest mentor to beneficiaries of its scholarship program. The enlightenment program designed to educate Nigerian youth on the ills of corruption is scheduled to commence on August 31, 2021.
“We have invited the Executive Chairman of the EFCC to come in as a guest mentor and talk to them and inspire them … we feel there is no better person to do that than the EFCC Chairman”, he said. NNL.
