NOA chief charges stakeholders on corruption

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NIGERIA: THE Ogun State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called on stakeholders to join hands in tackling corruption in the country.

Mr. Sola Babalola made the call in Abeokuta at the seminar organised by NOA to highlight the effects of corruption and how to tackle it as, according to him, it had become a household name in Nigeria.
All stakeholders must join hands together towards fighting this menace, Babalola said, adding: “The issue of corruption is about our habit, nature and our personal behavioural attitude.”

The NOA director stated that waging war against corruption must be a collective responsibility, just as he expressed optimism that if corruption is well tackled and fought accordingly, the myriad of problems facing the country would be a thing of the past.

Babalola pointed out that if Nigeria must change the attitude of the people must also change.
The one-day workshop, which took place at Iwe-Iroyin Press Centre, was attended by various stakeholders, who included students, artisans, security agents, journalists and traders, among others.
The NOA boss urged the participants to always remember the slogan of President Muhammadu Buhari that “if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”
The guest speaker, Mrs. Efuoma Lode of the Code of Conduct Bureau, in her lecture, said that corruption remained one of the fastest growing viruses in the Nigerian system.
Lode, who said that corruption had put the country in a bad light globally, noted that the effects of corruption include poverty, unemployment, dishonesty, lawbreaking, manipulation, mis-representation and abused of entrusted power.
The lecturer also highlighted ways to fight corruption to standstill, which she said included looking at the value system, proper funding of anti-graft agencies and the need to make asset declaration open to the public.

*Story by Olabamiji Oluwatobi