Abuja – Mr Solomon Dalung, Minister of Youths and Sports, has called on Nigerian youths to shun corruption and embrace selfless service in the interest of nation building.
Dalung made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of a National Conference on ‘Youth against Corruption’ organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences commission (ICPC).
He said that the conference, with the theme: “Mobilising Nigerian Youths against Corruption’’ was timely considering the fact that the youth constitutes major stakeholders in nation building.
He said that youths were actors, vectors and victims of corruption, adding that the conference was a wake-up call on the youths to wage war against corruption and join in the campaign against the menace.
“It is time for us to turn a new leave and embrace reality; every Nigerian youth need to dedicate himself to selfless service in the interest of nation building.
“Doing this is unarguably critical for our collective human development and the survival of the country,” he said.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
He said that the engagement of the youths in the fight against corruption was a reflection of the fact that no society could attaind its full potential without removing obstacles to full participation of its human enterprises.
“The Nigerian youths got frustrated by the failure of the state to provide good governance and had also offered itself as an instrument for manipulation in the promotion of corruption.
“Today, we have more than six presidents of the Nigerian Youth Council.
“The ways and manner these presidents patronise and promote their activities raise a lot of questions about the legitimacy of the resources they use in those things,” the minister added.
In his remark, Mr Ekpo Nta, Chairman of ICPC said the conference was the outcome of a demand by the youths to ensure their participation in the fight against corruption.
“It is not something we deliberately designed for them, we have been doing major interventions on their behalf but this time, we have to take a pause and listen to them.
“They are taking command position in this fight against corruption and I can tell you the whole arrangement concerning this conference was done in collaboration with them,” Nta said.
In a related development, Mr Usman Tijani, President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has pledged that Nigerian students would join the ICPC in the fight against corruption. (NAN)