The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), FCT Chapter, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intervene in tackling the menace of out of school children in Nigeria.
UBEC’s FCT Director of Quality Assurance, Dr. Emmanuel Shuaibu, made the call at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, while drawing the Commission’s attention to its debate programme, code-named, “Head to Head,” which aims at inculcating good morals in secondary schools students.
Shuaibu disclosed that the purpose of the debate was to address the out-of-school syndrome by children of school age in the country and redirect their minds towards the path of good morals towards a better society.
He said: “We have discovered that corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of our society, and the campaign 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.
“By the time the minds of these children are fine-tuned from the beginning, owing to the topics that are designed for this debate which include anti-corruption, which has been the focus of EFCC.”
Meanwhile, responding to the request, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, noted that the issue of prevention has been one of his policy objectives since he assumed office.
He said: “I believe we need to collaborate in this particular area. You will agree with me that one of the problems and challenges we are facing which has made corruption a big menace in our society is 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.
“When a corrupt act takes place, it is more difficult to use the instrumentality of enforcement to stop it because if a commission of crime has taken place, you must investigate and prosecute and in most cases you won’t even recover the money. Prosecution is also costly, so prevention is the best.