National Youth Corp Members serving in Public Sector organisations in Nigeria have been enjoined to see themselves as the eyes and ears of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and report observed corrupt practices in their places of primary assignment.
The Commissioner, Education Department, Mr. Mohammed Ashiru Baba, made the call when he received the Federal Capital Territory ICPC/NYSC CDS group who paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Mr. Baba, who was represented by Mr. Jimoh Sulahiman, a senior officer of the department told the visitors that corruption was such a serious problem in the country that it needed the concerted efforts of all citizens including the corp-members themselves for it to be adequately tackled. He enlightened them on the three-pronged mandate of ICPC namely investigation, prosecution, as well as public education and enlightenment and said the Commission was confronting the problem with these three strategies.
The Commissioner encouraged them to be gallant soldiers in the war against corruption by using their CDS group to propagate the culture of accountability, openness and integrity amongst Nigerians. He equally enjoined them to be part of the Anti-Corruption Vanguard after their National Youth Service year.
The FCT ICPC/NYSC CDS group coordinator, Mrs Aisha Bature, on behalf of the group, expressed appreciation to ICPC for the good job it was doing with regards to its support to NYSC CDS groups nationwide. She also seized the opportunity to inform the Commission of some of the proposed projects of the CDS group, and solicited the support of the Commission in carrying out the projects.
In his own remarks, the CDS President, Mr. Ifeonu Prof-Collins Onyedikachi, expressed the gratitude of the group to the Chairman of the Commission for the warm reception accorded them and pledged on behalf of the other corp-members to play an active role in the anti-corruption fight as advised.