The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has called on University undergraduates across the country to embrace the roles of change agents and become heroes of the anti-corruption fight.
He gave the charge recently in Abuja when students of New Gate University, Minna, Niger state, visited the EFCC Headquarters on an excursion.
The EFCC boss who spoke through Head, Media & Publicity and Spokesperson of the EFCC, Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Dele Oyewale, stated that students should rise up and take up roles of builders and architects of new designs. He also called on students to play the role of change agents and focus their attention on serving as ambassadors of change in the fight against corruption.
“There’s role that is waiting for an expression, the role of a change agent, the role of a courageous ambassador, the role of a Nigerian that will say No, we must not continue this way. If we desire a future, then, we must do something new. This role is beckoning to all of you younger people that are undergraduates, if you want a better Nigeria you must fit into a new role that will change the narrative, you cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. No, it will be criminal, it will be fraudulent”.
“So, if we want a different result, we must do a new thing. Therefore, what the Executive Chairman is saying is that, the responsibility is on you, on me, on all of us to bring forward new initiatives, new proposals, new energy that will change the trajectory, that will move Nigeria into the path of development because of what we are ready to do against corruption”
“Be among those people that will do a new thing in your little corner, in your department, in that University, do something differently, say something differently, think something differently that will move our nation forward. Until we are ready to do this, there may be no future for anyone and that is why as a Commission, we are fighting every day and night to ensure that we change the narrative, but there is no way we can change the narrative if we don’t agree together that corruption is evil and we must confront it together, that is why at the EFCC, we say, if you see something, you say something and the EFCC will do something”, he said.
An officer at the Cybercrime Unit of the Commission, Deputy Superintendent of EFCC, DSE Olalekan Ogunjobi, decried the level at which citizens fall victim to Ponzi schemes and investment scam, adding that “there seems to be a positive correlation between Ponzi scheme and poverty, you get people who are poor, you discover that a lot of them fall victim of Ponzi scheme because they want to make money as fast as possible.
“The loss caused by cybercrime to the global economy is estimated to reach $10.5trillion by December 2025 and it takes 6.7hours on the average to resolve a cybercrime”, he said.
Speaking on the role of enlightenment and reorientation in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes, Head, Enlightenment and Reorientation Unit of the Commission, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE II Aisha Muhammed stated that the unit enlightens and reorients people’s mentality.
“When EFCC arrests cyber criminals, we don’t keep them in the cell, even while their case is on-going, we take them to court and come back, we always have these therapeutic sessions with them. “We do lots of collaboration, we have clubs in schools, we have our Integrity Clubs at the primary and secondary schools and Zero Tolerance Clubs at the tertiary institutions, then we have the EFCC’s Community Development, CD group at the NYSC. This is how the EFCC follows you, from primary school to tertiary institutions and even when you graduate, all in the bid to empower you against corruption”
“We also expect you to spread this message when you go back to your school, because the fight against corruption is not for the EFCC alone, and we know that we cannot do it alone that is why we have all these collaborations with civil society organizations, students groups and anybody that is passionate about Nigeria”, she said.
The visiting students came from the Cyber Security and Software Engineering Departments of New Gate University and ACE Evelyn Achudume of the Commission’s ICT Unit took time to open up their perspectives on the roles of information communication technology in the fight against corruption. She enjoined them to be abreast of developments in global technologies pointing out that there are several emerging innovations across the world that could help in tackling corrupt practices.
The students appreciated the EFCC for mentoring and hosting them at the Commission’s headquarters. They promised to help the Commission spread the anti-corruption gospel at school, home and community levels.
