The Rotary Club of Karu, RC Karu, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, District 9127, has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on its impact in tackling economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption across the country.
This commendation was given by the Secretary, Rotary District 9127, Rotarian Ife James Utodio, while on a Courtesy Visit to the EFCC Academy. According to him, the EFCC has become a national agency of redemption to the extent that its “logo is a national symbol and we need to display this symbol and educate our youths and children on the need to identify and respect this and other national symbols”
He explained that “Rotary shares the same ideology with the EFCC in fighting crimes, “even in the 4-way Test, which was created so many years ago, in 1932, to guide us in our dealings to work against corruption in the workplace, personal life and business”
Utodio elaborated that Rotary has been in the advocacy of trying to mould its members and the community about being straightforward, honest and truthful, and the visit to the EFCC Academy, he said, was to intimate the Academy that Rotary was desirous of impacting its immediate community in collaboration with the EFCC.
Utodio outlined the club’s plans for the year, which include community health, education, ethics and civil responsibility and every area of community development. He expressed hope that the EFCC Academy will be able to educate the community at its gatherings on cybercrime and cyber protection, targeting the youths and adults. He added that Rotary had plans to organise essays within secondary schools in Karu on financial crimes.
He specifically stressed that Rotary will continue to create awareness on the need for the celebration of Nigerian symbols, usually done on September 30 every year. Many people don’t know this is done because the awareness is not there; we want to create that awareness, celebrate our symbols, the national flag, the national anthem and the military logo. The EFCC logo is a national symbol, we need to display this symbol and educate our youth and school children to identify and respect these symbols because they represent the country”, he said.
He assured that with the mileage Rotary has globally, it will put the EFCC message across over 1.4m people.
The Ag. Commandant, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE 1 Joseph Ogwiji, welcomed the delegation and commended the desire of the Club to domesticate its impact and collaborate with the EFCC. He explained that the EFCC’s major essence is looking at the whole, while the Rotary approaches via the community.
“The EFCC thrives on the approaches of integrity, truthfulness, accountability, and transparency, the same as ideas mentioned by the Rotary. He added that the cardinal element in the EFCC mandate is prevention, which is a key area the international community is looking at. He stated that countries are focused on the growth of their people, rather than self-mobilisation and aggrandisement of wealth, which is the bane of the country.
