The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has called on Nigerians from all walks of life to improve on their attitudes and value systems in order to confront and conquer economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.
He made the call in Abuja on Tuesday, while receiving officials of National Institute for Cultural Orientation, NICO, who paid him a courtesy visit. He decried the worsening moral standards in the country, pointing out that moral decadence was at the root of every corrupt practice.
“We must imbibe the culture and orientation that emphasize that you don’t have any business taking what does not belong to you. Taking what does not belong to you is exactly what corruption is all about. If we have this moral reorientation, it will go a long way in helping us to shun corrupt practices”, he said.
The EFCC’s boss challenged NICO to do more in the area of cultural orientation for its impact to be felt in the society. “You have to make a difference in your own time. Let’s feel the impact of reorienting people. Do your bit. Join us and let’s see how we can collaborate. We must all come to a table and agree as a people that corruption is wrong. I also want to let you know that there is much more that we are expecting from your Institute. We need to feel your impact more.
If you take the issue of moral decadence from our society, you would have solved seventy percent of the corruption problem”, he said.
He reiterated his resolve to prioritize the corruption prevention mandate of the EFCC, stressing that it is cheaper to prevent a corrupt act than to fight it. “I will want to channel my strength more on prevention. Let’s begin to look at the area of prevention, to plug the loopholes, to re-orientate people and that’s where your Institute comes in. Let us take this orientation around”, he said.
Earlier in his address, NICO’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Otunba Abiodun Ajiboye stated that his visit was to seek EFCC’s support and cooperation in the pursuit of his Institute’s mandate as “Nigeria’s foremost cultural training institute”. He expressed confidence that the EFCC can leverage on the Nigerian cultural element to tackle corruption and financial crimes.
“There is no denying the fact that cultural appreciation can reduce the financial crime rate and corruption among Nigerians. No culture in Nigeria encourages criminal behavior or greed. There is the need for the EFCC and NICO to collaborate in stepping up the advocacy to return Nigeria’s cherished cultural values”, he said.
