ICPC calls on youth to speak out against corruption

Corrupt practices are a “dream killer,” according to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which has urged youngsters in Nigeria to avoid them.

Here is the statement made by Suleiman Achile, Assistant Director, Education Department, ICPC, at the inauguration of Students Anti-Corruption Clubs (SACs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday in Abuja.

In order to safeguard their rightful aspirations and future, Achile urged the youth of Nigeria to join the fight against corruption and related vices and lend a hand to the ICPC.

“Only you and corruption stand between you and the fulfilment of your aspirations. Corrupt practices will eventually find a way to undermine your efforts to achieve your goals, he warned.

Also, according to him, corruption occurs when someone takes advantage of the public’s confidence for their own benefit, when someone is dishonest or engages in criminal activity that seems like cheating, or when someone steals from the public treasury. Corruption also includes, in his view, immorality and the transgression of society’s normative ideals.

While corruption raises crime and unemployment, it weakens the moral principles upon which society is based, including honesty, integrity, diligence, quality, and merit, according to Achile.

“It causes vital services, such as power, roads, hospitals, and schools, to be underfunded and fall into disrepair.”

In addition to reporting instances of corruption at home or school to parents or trusted adults, he emphasised the need of youngsters fighting corruption by being truthful and speaking up for integrity.

John Odey, Deputy Director of Education at the ICPC, took it upon himself to educate the students about the anti-corruption efforts of the commission, which encompassed public awareness campaigns, enforcement of existing laws, and prevention of corruption.

Odey urged the administration and faculty to do their part by working to establish anti-corruption clubs and make their schools free of corruption.