TheCable

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says Nigerians need moral and value re-orientation to win the war against corruption in the country.

Olukoyede spoke when Biodun Ajiboye, executive secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.

In a statement on Tuesday, Caleb Nor, media aide to Ajiboye, quoted Olukoyede as saying that the commission is doing its best to curb the menace of corruption to a “reasonable level”.

“What does not belong to you, you don’t have business with it and if we have moral and value re-orientation of the citizenry, it will help us achieve a lot,” the EFCC chairman was quoted as saying.

“We need to channel our efforts towards crime prevention rather than recording thousands of convictions.

“There is also a need for us to look at the loopholes and re-orient the people and that is where NICO comes in. We need people like you to support us by getting involved in the fight against corruption.

“Basic orientation is needed for Nigerians to understand the need to avoid engagements in criminal vices and we will not mind to give your institute a desk in the commission to see how we can join forces in re-orienting Nigerians.

“Because if we go back to our values and with the potency it has to take away the issue of moral decadence, I can assure you that it will reduce the bulk of my work.”

On his part, Ajiboye said the NICO is empowered by law to serve as a focus for orientation in cultural matters for policymakers.

“The institute is of the firm belief that as a crime detection and prevention agency, the EFCC can leverage the advantage of the Nigerian cultural element to tackle corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria,” Ajiboye said.

“If officers of the commission can be grounded in Nigerian culture for effective investigations and interrogations, it will enable them to discharge their duty more effectively.

“There is also no denying the fact that cultural appreciation can also reduce the financial crime rate and corruption among Nigerians. You will agree with me that no culture in Nigeria encourages criminal behaviour or greed.

“However, these values have been replaced with a foreign culture of covetousness which is evidenced in the ever-increasing rate of internet fraudsters or “yahoo yahoo” as they are popularly called as well as other corrupt practices like embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds.

“All these are forms of stealing and no culture in Nigeria encourages thieves. We are therefore proposing a cultural orientation training for senior officers of the commission in a bid to utilise the cultural knowledge they will gain towards aiding crime investigation and interrogation purposes.

“You will agree with me that a suspect whose cultural affinity is respected and appreciated will tend to be more helpful during interrogation.”

He said the institute can train citizens to integrate Nigeria’s culture into everyday activities.