In a bid to promote the culture of integrity in the public service in the crusade against corruption, officers of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Osun State office, led by the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner (RACC), Mr. Demola Bakare, fsi has sensitized the management and staff of National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), Osun State.
The sensitisation exercise took place recently when the ICPC officials paid a courtesy visit to the NYSC State Coordinator, Mrs. Olayinka Abdulwahab.
In his remarks, Mr. Bakare acknowledged the impact of the partnership between the Commission and NYSC, and the immense contribution of ICPC/NYSC Anti-corruption CDS group to the crusade against corruption. He urged the State Coordinator to empower the NYSC Local Government Inspectors for proper coordination of the Anti-corruption CDS group members.
The Commissioner emphasized on the importance of integrity in the discharge of duties by civil servants.
Three sensitization lectures were delivered by the Commission at the event. The first lecture was delivered by Chief Superintendent, Winifred Ingobro. She explained the establishment, mandate and initiatives of ICPC in the fight against corruption.
In another lecture Assistant Chief Superintendent Sulyman Laaro sensitized the participants on the Role of Public Servants in the Fight Against Corruption. He defined corruption to include bribery, fraud and other related offences and listed some of the corrupt practices in place of work such as bribery, inflation of contract, embezzlement, forgery, job racketeering, sexual harassment etc.
Mr. Laaro further explained the concepts of ethics and integrity with emphasis on the core values of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP), and charged the civil servants to educate their colleagues on the ills of corruption and lead by example, working diligently, demonstrating responsible behaviour, and practicing the 3Rs – Rejecting, Resisting and Reporting corruption.
The last lecture was delivered by Barr. Elijah Akaakohol of Legal Services Dept of ICPC and he spoke on Offences and Punishment in the ICPC Act, 2000.
Responding, the NYSC State Coordinator Mrs. Olayinka Abdulwahab expressed gratitude to the Commission for the courtesy visit which was aimed to promote synergy between the two organizations. She added that the exercise was an eye opener and encouragement to continue to imbibe the culture of integrity. Mrs. Abdulwahab added that the NYSC officers had learned a lot from the lectures and as it has changed their perspectives about the work of ICPC.