- Shippers’ Council ACTU hosts anti-corruption event with corpers, interns
Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has lamented that Africa loses over $50 billion annually, even as it encouraged Nigerian youths and students to work towards changing the region’s corrupt narrative.
The Executive Secretary of NSC, Barr. Pius Akutah MON, stated this at an event organized by the Council’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) through National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and Industrial Trainees in commemoration of African Union’s Anti-Corruption Day on Thursday.
NSC Corpers and Interns invited secondary schools students for a debate at the event themed: “Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the fight against Corruption,” while resource persons were also invited from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Akutah, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources, NSC, Mrs. Ada Okam, stressed the importance of engaging young minds in discussing anti-corruption and other pertinent issues of national, continental and global interests.
The NSC boss said: “Corruption is a phenomenon that affects the generality of humanity, rich or poor, young or old. It has no gender and its effect is negatively permeate every sector. It touches every facet of human society and retards national advancement, stability and prosperity.”
“From researches, it is noted that Africa loses more than $50billion annually through illicit financial outflows. This negatively impacts the quality of life in Africa as every effort at lifting Africans out of poverty, feeding, education and provision of basic services to Africans is retarded. This makes it difficult for Africa to grow as a continent and achieve the African Agenda and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
According to him, African Union’s commitment to set aside a day for anti-corruption discourse would help share ideas on how to reduce corruption, assess gains made in the fight against corruption, as well as examine areas to be strengthened.
He, however, posited that the Council has a policy to protect the whistleblower as provided in the NSC Code of Conduct while ACTU is responsible for the protection of a whistleblower in the Council.
Speaking for the ICPC, Mrs. Florence Barry, engaged the school students on various aspects of whistleblowing and advised them to prioritize integrity and honesty.
Mrs. Barry observed that whistleblowing can be seen in every home and school as children and students carryout such acts when they report misconducts to parents and teachers.
Also speaking, a Deputy Director, Policy Planning and Statistics department, Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. David Abosede, emphasized that regardless of the environment people may find themselves, they have a choice to make a difference by doing the right thing.
“The truth is that integrity starts from the home as each home has values that they hold strongly. The schools also play a pivotal role, but it all starts from the home. When you inform your parents about something your siblings did that was wrong, you are building a culture of discipline and accountability,” he said.
On his part, the NSC Director of Strategic Planning, Mr. Rotimi Anifowose, commended the secondary students for their bravery in articulating their points before a large audience.
Earlier, the President of NYSC members and IT students at the Council, Mr. David Onah, noted that the fight against corruption is not the responsibility of a few but a collective endeavor.
“By protecting those who blow the whistle on corruption, we protect the values of honesty and fairness that should define our society.”
“To our participating schools and their dedicated teams, I commend you for your preparation and enthusiasm. Regardless of the outcome, remember that by engaging in this debate, you are already champions of integrity. Your voices are powerful, and your ideas are the seeds of change,” Onah remarked.
After an intense and keenly contested debate, Seagate College won the first prize while 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions were clinched by Cedec International Schools, Sacred Heart College and Randle Secondary School, respectively.
The four finalists were presented unique gifts based on the needs discovered by the Council’s NYSC members and IT students during their visit to the respective schools.
