The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in Nigeria, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, has urged religious and traditional leaders to join the fight against corruption.
Fagbemi stated this at the opening of a Public Engagement on Youth, Religion and the Fight against Corruption organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The event featured the launch of the ‘Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manuals” and “Fraud Risk Assessment Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs),” by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
He urged youths and religious leaders to utilise their roles as agents of social control to inspire people to strive for positive changes in the country.
Fagbemi said, “There is no doubt that our nation is blessed with both human and natural resources which must be effectively annexed and deployed for us to witness the desired progress in our national life.”
“The statistic from www.worldometers.info as of 24th of January 2024 put our current population at 226,898,639 with the youth accounting for 70% of the said total population. This shows that the fight against economic and financial crimes will receive an unprecedented boost if we take advantage of the teeming useful youth population,” he said.
“Also important is the use of religious organizations as an indispensable partner in the fight against economic and financial crimes. It is not in doubt that religion serves as an agent of social control of behaviour and motivates people to work for positive change. It should therefore not be heard that a religious organization, leader, or follower is involved directly or indirectly in any activity that will negatively impact our society,” he said
The AGF said Tinubu was determined to collaborate with all stakeholders in tackling corruption using a multi-dimensional or cocktail of approaches to the prevention of crimes as well as effective and efficient investigation and prosecution of offenders.
He further urged religious leaders and youth to take ownership of the fight against corruption and to effectively collaborate with the EFCC in combatting financial crimes and sundry offenses.
“We cannot over-emphasize the importance of a collective effort in the fight against corruption. This fight is real, and we must pungently successfully fight it to a standstill,” he added.
Dominica Nwabufo
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