The acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has identified corruption as the root cause of
separatist agitations and militancy in the country.
The spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a
statement that Mr. Magu made the remarks at the opening session of a two-day
Electronic and Social Media Review and Training Conference held at the EFCC
Academy in Abuja on Thursday.
Mr. Magu was quoted as saying “people would not be engaging
in needless agitations if the country was corruption-free.”
The EFCC boss also said that Nigeria’s unity was one that
could not be compromised, and urged participants at the conference to step up
public sensitisation on the ills of corruption.
He said, “we can change the negative perception of this
country. I urge you all to be committed in this fight using your various
platforms.
“The root cause of the hate speeches by the Arewa and Igbo
youths is corruption. Some people are actually funding them.
“The looters of our common wealth are the ones responsible
for the woes bedevilling Nigeria. We must do everything possible to secure the
unity of this country.
“People who don’t deserve anything are taking everything and
if there is no common consensus to halt the trend, the future of our children
yet unborn will be mortgaged.’’
Mr. Magu urged the participants to take a critical look at
the social media platforms of EFCC and come up with suggestions on how to make them
better.
In a presentation, Joe Abah, the Director-General of the
Bureau for Public Service Reforms, commended the EFCC, describing it as the
leading anti-graft agency in Nigeria.
Mr. Abah said “EFCC deserves a lot of credit. You are doing
a great job. Your work is what we all need you to do but many of us don’t want
you to do the work.
“EFCC is clearly charting a new path for social media
engagement for the anti-graft agencies looking at its statistics on Twitter,
Facebook, Youtube, Google+, and Instagram.”
He stressed the need for all anti-graft agencies to
constantly compare notes to improve information sharing and synergy across the
social media.
A blogger, Japheth Omojuwa, who spoke on “Digital Media in
Nigeria”, said “one could not deny the great works and achievements of the
EFCC.”
Mr. Omojuwa said the EFCC Twitter handle “was strong”,
rating it as the twitter handle of the year 2017. He further shed light on how the new media could be used to
make the job of corruption fight more effective.
He said, “social media pages should be domiciled in your
website, which is the headquarters of your activities in the commission.
“You need to start creating visual contents.”
He warned that the commission should be wary of hackers,
saying he had noticed that the EFCC had many fake Facebook accounts.
While noting that this could be damaging to the image of the
commission, the blogger advised that Facebook should be contacted to block the
fake accounts.
Lauretta Onochie, the Special Adviser to the President on
Social Media, urged Nigerians to join the President Muhammadu Buhari
Administration in tackling the “hydra-headed monster called corruption.
“Corruption has been a hindrance in the wheel of progress of
the country. We need to stand up against corruption.
“Let us live as patriots of our nation. I plead with every
Nigerian to support the nation and the EFCC in the anti-corruption war. Let us
all come together and kill corruption.”
The conference was an initiative of the Public Affairs
Directorate of the EFCC, the first social and electronic media programme review
by the agency.
The initiative was part of the commission’s efforts to
enhance its communication strategies and channels used in engaging the public
in the fight against corruption.
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