Lagos – A cleric, Vincent Ezima, on Monday in Lagos, urged professional bodies to join President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against corruption.
Ezima, a cleric with Assemblies of God Church, Lagos, made the plea at a lecture marking the 2015 edition of award presentation of Lead Times Africa Magazine in Lagos.
He spoke on “Abating Corruption in Governance Toward National Sustainable Development: The Roles of Nigerian Professionals.’’
Ezima said that the Nigerian Bar Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and other professional bodies should be strengthened with strong and effective monitoring mechanism to fight corruption.
He said that there was need to educate the public on the ethics of their professions and as well encourage whistle blowers.
“It is in the interest of professionals to insist on transparency and demand for it from their colleagues while reporting anyone found wanting,’’ he said.
Ezima said that technology had made it easier to check the activities of ghost workers at all levels of government.
He said that the introduction of biometrics authentication of workers and pensioners had curbed corruption in the public service.
“No matter what laws and practices put in place, you cannot stop people from being corrupt since corruption is a thing of the mind.
“But, with technology that blocks the possibility of committing the crime, corruption may be drastically abated if not eliminated.
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“Doing business electronically has helped in that regard,’’ Ezima said.
Also speaking, Dr Samuel Oga, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, said that the awardees were chosen based on their contributions to national development.
One of the awardees and Chairman, Delta Shippers’ Association, Dr Augustine Egbegbadia, told NAN that the award was a fulfilment of purpose.
“For me, it is indeed a recognition of hard work. I am elated because in this country, people do not recognise hard work,’’ he said. (NAN)
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