Corruption: ICPC boss wants Nigerians to inculcate positive values.
Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has urged Nigerians to turn negative behaviours to positive ones through the inculcation of positive values.
Owasanoye said this on Wednesday in Enugu at a one-day workshop to sensitise stakeholders on behavioural change in society using the National Ethics and Integrity Policy.
“The ideal behaviour for citizens is that they should respect the laws of the land, keep their words, do their duties with diligence, respect and value for other human beings.
“They should also not get involved in stealing from the government, cheating others or any form of deception,” he said.
The ICPC chairman said that the commission had designed several programmes and initiatives to bring about behavioural change in Nigeria.
He said: “These include the National Values Curriculum for teaching of positive values to pupils and students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
“Others are the National Ethics and Integrity Policy for promoting integrity generally, Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to measure their level of compliance to integrity standards.”
Owasanoye, who was represented by the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner for Enugu and Ebonyi States, Mr Kennedy Ebhotemen, stressed the need for constant communication of those initiatives to the relevant stakeholders.
Also speaking, the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner, Enugu and Ebonyi States, Ebhotemen, said the workshop was designed to engage major stakeholders in the fight against corruption using positive behavioural change methods.
Ebhotemen said that the commission realised that the enforcement approach alone was not enough to get rid of the menace of corruption in the society.
“Therefore, it requires active involvement and engagement of stakeholders for it to be robust and successful,” he said.
The commissioner added that it was only through the concerted efforts of all concerned that “Nigeria can overcome the scourge called corruption.”
He said further that the workshop aimed at helping the stakeholders implement the National Ethics and Integrity Policy with the view to stimulating desirable behavioural change.
Ebhotemen described positive change as a catalyst to a corruption-free Nigeria, which would deliver the Nigeria of “our dreams where opportunities abound for citizens to achieve their potentials.”
“A corruption-free Nigeria will assure our teeming youths of gainful employment and fulfilment; a corruption-free Nigeria will guarantee qualitative healthcare, functional education, good infrastructure and economic prosperity, ” he said.
The Representative of the Civil Society Groups, Amb. Amaka Okeke said that corruption originated from the attitude and character of the people.
“Corruption is in our attitude; in our character as a people. Corruption comes up because we have decided to do wrong things.
“The change we desire in Nigeria begins with us. We are the agents of the change we desire,” she said.
Okeke said that corruption cuts across every facet of our national life, and urged participants to take advantage of the workshop to change their behaviours.
The workshop attracted many stakeholders from various sectors including Christian and Muslim clergymen, youth groups and the civil societies.
