The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has pledged stronger collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Campaign Against Social Vices in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions to curb corruption, cybercrime, cultism, drug abuse, and related vices among Nigerian students.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, gave the assurance in Abuja during a courtesy visit by the Committee’s Chairman, Professor Jerry Ugokwe.
Represented by the Director of Fraud Risks Assessment and Control, CE Ibrahim Shazali, Olukoyede said the Commission remains committed to preventive measures in the fight against corruption.
He recalled that the EFCC had since inception established Integrity Clubs in primary and secondary schools, as well as Zero Tolerance Clubs in higher institutions, to promote positive values.
“All we are doing is to ensure that students at different levels of education embrace good value systems that will insulate them from corrupt practices,” he said.
Olukoyede stressed that preventive frameworks — including sensitization, reorientation, and partnerships with stakeholders — are central to the Commission’s anti-graft mandate.
He added that vices such as drug abuse, cybercrime, alcoholism, and cultism often serve as breeding grounds for corruption.
In his remarks, Professor Ugokwe said the fight against corruption must begin with nurturing the right values in young people.
He explained that the Committee was set up to design, coordinate, and implement a nationwide campaign against social vices in schools, anchored on four pillars: awareness and sensitization, capacity building, policy advocacy, and collaboration.
Ugokwe called for joint campus sensitization programmes, annual anti-corruption essay competitions, and training initiatives to strengthen value-based education.
Both parties agreed that the renewed partnership would mark a new phase in efforts to instill integrity, discipline, and patriotism in Nigerian students.
