The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has urged members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to become whistleblowers by reporting corrupt practices in their communities, workplaces and other environments through its digital reporting platform, the Eagle App.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said exposing corruption was not only an obligation but also a patriotic responsibility, urging the corps members to take advantage of the application to support the fight against corruption.
Olukoyede, who spoke through EFCC officials at NYSC orientation camps across the country, explained that the Eagle App allows users to submit reports of suspected corrupt practices anonymously, including uploading images to support their complaints.
“Exposing corrupt practices around you is not only obligatory; it is also patriotic. The EFCC is relying on you to always expose shady deals in your environments,” he said.
The anti-graft chief also warned the corps members against cybercrime and internet fraud, urging them to deploy their digital skills towards innovation, entrepreneurship and national development rather than criminal activities.
He said there were several legitimate alternatives to internet fraud and other corrupt practices that could prepare the youths for leadership and enable them to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s development.
At the orientation camp in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos, Olukoyede cautioned the corps members against the get-rich-quick syndrome, describing it as a culture of compromise that could undermine their future.
Speaking through Superintendent of the EFCC, Amaka Fingesi, of the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, he urged the youths to pursue success through integrity, hard work and value creation.
“It is a syndrome of compromise. Avoid it. Move away from it and seek to be a value-adding youth in every realm,” he said.
Olukoyede described the ideal Nigerian youth as a reform-minded individual committed to transparency, accountability and progress, rather than one who follows the easiest path to success.
He said the country needed a new generation of young people who would challenge corruption, question questionable practices in their environments and pursue development with determination.
In Kwara State, where he addressed corps members at the NYSC orientation camp within the premises of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, the EFCC chairman said corruption, moral decline and the mismanagement of public resources had hindered Nigeria’s development over the years.
He urged the corps members to learn from past failures and commit themselves to building a better country through integrity, innovation, hard work and responsible citizenship.
Similarly, at the orientation camp in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Olukoyede urged corps members to see corruption as a direct threat to their aspirations and the nation’s future.
Speaking through the Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the EFCC Abuja Zonal Directorate, Chief Superintendent Ngoundu Nguetar, he charged them to embrace their roles as nation-builders and make choices that promote the country’s progress.
The EFCC chairman reiterated the message at orientation camps in Abuja, Maiduguri, Uyo, Ibadan, Gombe, Kano, Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Awka, Benin City, Ekiti and Enugu, among other locations.
He urged the corps members to resist cybercrime, use the internet productively and embrace innovation as a pathway to legitimate success.
Olukoyede said the fight against corruption required collective commitment, urging the youths to reject dishonest practices and help expose wrongdoing wherever they encountered it.
