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ICPC boss charges secondary school students to join anti-corruption crusade

By Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh, Uyo
02 December 2017   |   4:13 am
Secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State have been urged to join their counterparts across the country in the war against corrupt...

Secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State have been urged to join their counterparts across the country in the war against corrupt practices by joining the anti- corruption clubs in their respective schools.

Speaking during the inauguration of Anti-Corruption Clubs for public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, yesterday, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Bako Abdullahi, represented by the state zonal officer, Ibrahim Alkali, reminded the students that joining the clubs in their schools would enable them participate actively in the ongoing war against corruption in the country.

He said that the fact that youths have important role to play in the war to guarantee the future of the country informed the formation of the clubs in schools across the country.

He stated: “The ICPC recognises you as a major stakeholders in the war against endemic corruption. As youths, you are endowed with the ability to make people accept new social standards and influence the general public to accept them.

“If young men and women like you shun corrupt behaviours and mobilise others to do same, the nation will be better for it, as it will go a long way towards the enthronement and institutionalisation of integrity, transparency, accountability and sound moral values in our country.

“As the leaders of tomorrow, make a personal declaration today to shun corruption as your own contribution to the survival of this country.

“Total elimination of corruption in a society may be difficult to achieve, yet it is possible to build or evolve a society where the level of corruption would be very minimal.”

Speaking on ‘The imperative of Anti-Corruption clubs in Schools,’ the Zonal Commissioner, South-South, Henry Emore, lamented that corrupt practices are reaching alarming levels in Nigerian schools in recent times.

Emore, represented by Hassan Gadu, added that through the clubs, the youths could check corrupt practices within their school environment and society at large, adding that the chances of winning the war against corruption would be higher if youths, at this formative stage in their lives, imbibe integrity and strong moral values.

“Vices, such as examination malpractices, sometimes aided and abetted by parents, cultism, sexual abuse, extortion, assault on teachers by students and parents, and of students by teachers, have become the order of the day.

“This phenomenon is, to say the least, a threat to the effectiveness of the fight against corruption, because such bad products of the educational system pollute society, rather than refine it. But anti-corruption clubs in schools, when formed, can check corrupt practices by both students and teachers.”

He enjoined members of the clubs to always feel free to report corrupt practices to their school authorities or approach the commission as quickly as possible, where the school authorities fail to take appropriate action.

Earlier, the state Commissioner for Education, Prof Victor Inoka, represented by Director, Educational Development Services, Idongesit Etuk, commended the ICPC for mobilising students to fight against corruption in society, saying the exercise aimed at catching them young came at the right time.

He disclosed that the state government, through the ministry, has approved the establishment of the clubs in selected secondary schools in the state, in the first instance, with the hope to extend it to all secondary schools across the state in the near future.

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