Yemisi Izuora
Parents have been asked to take active measures in complementing
governments efforts at eliminating corrupt practices among the younger
generation in Nigeria.
This is against the background of increasing youth involvement in
illicit ambitions and acquisition of funds and assets mostly through
cybercrimes, many times prompted by their parents. The trend has
continued to negatively affect the image of Nigerians in the
international community. Billions of funds are stolen in Nigeria through
cyber-related crimes, many perpetrated by young people.
Participants at a 2-day summit which began in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State
capital on Tuesday also drew a strong link between corruption and
economic and political injustices.
The summit continues in Uyo on Wednesday with over 100 young people
coming from the South South states of Nigeria with the aim of mapping
out effective strategies of dealing with corruption by young people in
the country.
The summit with the theme Corruption and Nigerian Youth: A review of
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Second Survey on Corruption
in Nigeria 2019 was organized by the Human and Environmental Development
Agenda, (HEDA Resource Centre) with the support of United Nations Office
of Drugs and Crime, (UNODC), the MacArthur Foundation, National Bureau
of Statistics, (NBS), TUGAR, Ptcij among many and the National
Orientation Agency (NOA).
Speaking at the event, Professor Shehu Abdullahi of UNODC said young
people should take an exceptional responsibility in the collective
campaign against corruption.
HEDA Chairman Mr Olanrewaju Suraju said “We bring together stakeholders
with the focus on young people. Critical for us is the need to have
young people taking over the campaign against corruption. We seek good
governance and transparency in Governance as conditions for peace and
prosperity in Nigeria.”
He said to fight corruption, Nigeria needs to put the political and
electoral system in order. He said Nigeria remains a classic example
where corruption continues to stunt the country’s economic and political
renaissance. “It is for us to bring young people around the table to
have the conversation on how to make Nigeria corruption-free,”Suraju
said.
Mr Ridwan Sulaimon, Nurudeen Ogbara and Dr Adebusuyi Adeniran made
presentations on corruption and the younger generation of Nigerians. In
the participants’ recommendations, the delegates called for high moral
values and ethical standards among Nigerian youths to deal with the
country’s floundering moral fortunes.
“Ethics and integrity content should be introduced to the Nigerian
educational curriculum which should go alongside functional and
productive education,” participants said urging Nigerians, especially
younger people to take active roles in exposing and shaming those who
take or give bribes.
The participants noted the need for technical assistance and sharing of
information among stakeholders to increase the capacity of younger
people in the anti-corruption campaign.
The summit urged that the social and correctional centres should be
truly remedial by creating a paradigm shift to a system where
responsibilities will be given to youths to take responsibilities, make
mistakes and learn through the curves
The participants noted further that “Younger people should collaborate
with stakeholders to checkmate cybercrimes and ensure perpetrators face
the law. The social reform centres should be truly corrective,
responsibilities should be given to youths to make mistakes and learn
through the curves.”
The Music, Nollywood and the art industry were also urged to reflect the
best of Nigerian indigenous ethics instead of promoting and celebrating
a tradition of impunity.
The summit was attended by people of diverse background including but
not limited to the UNODC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
(EFCC), National Orientation Agency, (NOA), Nigeria Labour Congress,
(NLC), the Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offenses
Commission (ICPC), Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Policy Alert,
Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Code
of Conduct Bureau (CCB) amongst other youth-based groups and the media,
many of who gave their solidarity messages.
