EFCC establishes 150 secondary school integrity clubs nationwide

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has established 150 Integrity Clubs in secondary schools across the country, in order to intensify the fight against economic and finance crimes.

The Commission’s Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde made the disclosure during the launching of the Integrity Club at the Police Secondary School, Minna yesterday, saying the clubs represent a commission shift from traditional law enforcement to crime prevention, through education and citizens engagement.

He added that there is no better level to start from, than the level of the Nigerian child; it is the reason that the commission established the EFCC Secondary School Integrity club.

“The Integrity Club is an association of students whose goal is to advocate integrity and good governance in schools and the society as a whole.

“The clubs are joint pro-active efforts by schools and the commission to instill in our young ones important core ethical values of honesty, fairness, responsibility and respect for self and others as well as the citizenship”, he said.

Lamorde stated corruption can therefore, be best prevented if an individual imbibes early on in life, strong, moral values of integrity, honesty accountability, transparency, fairness, equity and trust.

Represented by the Deputy Director Public Affairs, Mr. Osita Nwaje, the EFCC boss said it unacceptable that, as an endowed nation in terms of human and materials resources, the greater number of Nigerians live in abject poverty.

“It is also unacceptable that while we are one of the most religious countries in the world, the greater majority of our leaders, in all spheres of life, are only concerned about how much they can steal for themselves and their families”, he said.

Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Umar AbdulHameed urged traditional rulers to stop giving out traditional titles to persons with questionable means of income or dubious persons, as way of curbing corruption in the society.

He also urged authorities of universities to stop awarding their honorary doctorate degrees on illiterate and dubious persons in the society saying that instead, that such awards should be reserve for persons, who had had their first degrees and contributed meaningfully to the society.

Abdulhamid then directed the state’s Secondary School Management Board to begin the process of establishing Integrity Clubs in the 472 secondary schools across the state as part of the ministry contribution to the fight against corruption and indiscipline in the society.