Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that no society can survive through dishonesty, greed, or theft.
The VP made this known on Tuesday at the official launch of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Integrity and Zero Tolerance Manual for school clubs, which held at the Model Secondary School Maitama, Abuja.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo described corruption as a crime “against society and even children yet unborn.”
The VP praised the initiative as “a recognition that integrity, honesty, trustworthiness, are crucial individual and collective attributes for successful people and communities. Every corrupt act is not just a crime, it is a crime against society and even children yet unborn.”
Speaking at the event which attracted dignitaries and members of the club in the school, the Vice President noted that the establishment of EFCC Integrity clubs in schools across the country was important because it embodies the values of honesty and hard work toward national development.
Osinbajo said,” The greatest challenge which we face currently is how to safeguard the youth from the ethical crisis and confusion confronting our nation, and the error of thinking that there will be no consequence for defrauding others, your employers or the government.
“The reason why people may believe these false notions is that there seem to be many in our society whose wealth cannot be explained, many even among the young who live by defrauding others.”
He added, “Many societies in the world were where we are today, but soon, they realized that no society can survive by dishonesty, greed and theft. The society will eventually collapse. What those societies did was take an all-of-society approach to fight dishonesty.
“The other fact is that many who think they can get away with corruption, are often surprised that the long arm of the law, even if sometimes slow will eventually catch up with the criminal.
“There is no time bar or statute of limitation against a crime. A man who steals this year can be arrested in 10 years’ time for his crimes, so when you steal, you cannot sleep with both eyes closed.”
The VP then commended the chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, for the initiative.
The event also featured a welcome address by the EFCC Chairman; as well as goodwill messages from several government agencies and representatives of the National Assembly namely the Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Suleiman Kwari; the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Abdullahi Ibrahim Dutse; and the Chairman, House Committee on Anti-Corruption, Nicholas Sule.
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