Paramount ruler of Calabar Municipality, His Royal Majesty, Ntufam (Dr) Patrick Inok Oquagbor V, says education planners in Nigeria should seriously begin to explore the possibility of teaching anti-corruption in Nigerian schools to help in the fight against corruption. He also believes that because the problem of anti-corruption in Nigeria is systemic, the approach to tackling it must be well thought out, implemented and sustained for the general good of a Nigerian nation whose image has been terribly battered because of corruption.
The monarch made this submission at a briefing meeting in Calabar for traditional rulers and their representatives, drawn from Biase, Akamkpa, Odukpani, Calabar Municipal, Calabar South, Akpabuyo and Bakassi local government areas of Cross River State. The meeting at the instance of the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria in collaboration with the Calabar Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative, under the supervision of the United Nations Development Agency, with full funding from the European Union, EU.
He came clear that traditional rulers too must step forth a play a leading role in ensuring that those in their domains are not celebrated when they flaunt wealth that is not legally acquired. “When we as traditional rulers celebrate and elevate people who acquired wealth through corrupt means, we send a strong but wrong signal to the people that they can go forth too and acquire wealth by any means necessary. If we however identify, celebrate and elevate sincerely hardworking people, we are sending the very right signal to our people that the virtue of hardwork is what to imbue”.
To organisers of the meeting, the paramount ruler thanked them for taking the discussion to the traditional institution, but wants them to create programmes that will engage not only the traditional rulers but also their subjects as this he believes will help the push against corruption.
