The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) FCT chapter, has sought the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its debate program.
A statement on Wednesday by the Commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, says that the request was made on Tuesday, June 11, when the UBEC’s FCT Director of Quality Assurance, Dr. Emmanuel Shuaibu, led a team of the management staff on a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede.
Shuaibu, who spoke on behalf of UBEC’s FCT’s Executive Chairman/Board Secretary, Alhassan Sule, disclosed that the purpose of the debate, codenamed “Head to Head”, and which aims at inculcating good morals in secondary schools students, was to address the out-of-school syndrome by children of school age in the country, as well as to redirect the minds of children and youth on the path of good morals towards a better society.
Shuaibu averred that the campaign against corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of society should not start from the top but from the grassroots, basically from basic education “because basic education incorporates primary schools, early child care and junior secondary schools”, and their minds can be fine-tuned from the beginning owing to the topics that are designed for the debate, such as anti-corruption, which has been the focus of the EFCC.
In his response, the EFCC boss, while appreciating the UBEC team for their visit, assured them of the willingness of the commission to collaborate with them in this direction, noting that their request falls within the mandate of the EFCC and the new preventive policy direction of the Commission under his leadership.
“To me what is critical is the issue of prevention, which has been one of my policy objectives since I assumed office. When a corruption act takes place, it is more difficult to use the instrumentality of enforcement to stop it. You must investigate and prosecute, and in most cases you won’t even recover the money. Prosecution is expensive, so prevention is the best”, Olukoyede said.
He reiterated that the commission under his leadership has prioritized partnering with critical stakeholders, especially schools where the ills of corruption should be preached from the societal foundation.
Olukoyede attributed the menace of corruption in society to the breakdown of morals.
“Now, you even see secondary school children buying cars for their parents and the parents won’t ask questions. It is as bad as that. That is why this collaboration is important and to look into the area of reviewing the curriculum of schools”, he said.
