Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu has urged youths in the nation not to ignore advice from their parents and elders.
She stated this while speaking on Thursday at the One Day workshop for women and youth on corruption prevention organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in Abuja.
The First Lady pointed out that the fight against corruption must begin in the homes where mothers must be at the forefront of the battle.
She said: “We must move beyond the desire to have our voices heard and step into roles where our actions are impactful. Let us take a moment to reflect on the words of our elders: ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. In the same vein, it takes the collective will of the entire nation to defeat corruption”.
Senator Tinubu urged mothers to take their role as nurturers more seriously especially as corruption is a societal challenge that strikes at the heart of development.
Mrs Tinubu said: “This menace is seen in every sector, from the trader in the market, to the private sector, government agencies, the judiciary and even in places of worship to mention a few and age is no barrier. It is for all of us and for the future of our beloved country, that we must remain resolute in our efforts to combat this scourge. We cannot leave this battle to government agencies alone.
“It is time for us to take our place as mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, leaders and reformers to do the needful. Women are nurturers but recently, we have left our children to raise themselves with the excuse of providing a better life for them.”
In his address the chairman of the ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, emphasized that the fight against corruption is one that the commission is determined to win and this is the reason for adopting the approach of involving mothers, youth and other critical stakeholders.
There were goodwill messages from representatives of the youth, Code of Conduct Bureau, JAMB and security agencies among others.
The registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede in his message noted that the mothers have a crucial role to play in ensuring that corruption is not integrated or perpetuated in the upcoming generation.
On the part of the Commissioner for Youth, Kogi State, students must move from protests to participation.