Women must wage war against corruption, says Lamorde

The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, has called on women to embrace the fight against corruption in the country.
Lamorde made the call yesterday at a one-day sensitisation workshop organised for women civil society and community based groups by EFCC in collaboration with African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), at Newton Park Hotel and Resorts, Abuja.
The chairman, who spoke through the Director of Planning, Policy and Statistics, Dr David Tukura, said that the workshop was organised to encourage women to take ownership of the war against corruption.
He said: “The commission is convinced that the power to change the destiny of our nation as one blighted by deep-rooted corruption, lies in the hands of every individual, especially women.”
The EFCC boss described corruption as monster that undermines human development.
“Corruption reduces public revenue, often resulting in lower levels of spending on education, healthcare and other social services that directly impact women more than other groups in the society,” he added.
An independent consultant and former Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa, said women played an important role in reshaping the so ciety.
Oluyemi-Kusa stressed the need for women to be mainstreamed into the anti-economic and financial crimes sector to make them more effective.
She said: “The role of women in anti-corruption war needs to be proactive and is not all about arrest.
Women have a big role in truncating crime, catching them young, teaching the young ones that a good name is better than gold and silver.”
Oluyemi-Kusa also called for collaboration between the EFCC and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in disseminating information on corruption and reorienting the society.
The Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership and Development, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, who spoke on “Advocacy as a tool for preventing economic and financial crimes,” called for paradigm shift in the manner corruption is tackled.
While underlining the importance of advocacy as a preventive tool for anti-corruption war, he encouraged women to remain dogged in their determination to fight corruption.
Head, Enlightenment and Reorientation Unit, EFCC, Aisha Larai Musa, in her presentation, said that the EFCC Act empowered it to investigate, prosecute and prevent economic and financial crimes.
She encouraged women who have dormant bank accounts to endeavour to close them, to prevent them from being used for illicit transactions.