The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has said corruption can be tackled more effectively through preventive education than by relying solely on prosecution after offences have been committed.
The Chairman of the ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu-Aliyu, SAN, stated this on Friday at the close of a two-day workshop on integrating anti-corruption studies into Nigerian universities and the Nigerian Law School in Kano.
The workshop, themed “Institutionalising Anti-Corruption in Nigerian Legal Training,” was organised by the ICPC in collaboration with the Nigerian Law School.
Adamu-Aliyu said the fight against corruption should begin with instilling ethical values in future legal practitioners.
“Corruption is rarely defeated in the courtroom after the damage has been done. It is prevented much earlier through the formation of character and values in young professionals,” he said.
According to him, many corruption suspects are educated professionals, underscoring the need to strengthen integrity and ethical consciousness among law students before they enter legal practice.
He added that legal education should produce graduates who are not only intellectually competent but also morally upright, urging institutions to integrate anti-corruption values into teaching and learning.
The ICPC chairman also assured participants of the commission’s commitment to supporting the initiative, expressing confidence that it would produce lawyers committed to integrity, accountability and the rule of law.
Earlier, Prof. Garba Sa’ad of Bayero University, Kano, called for anti-corruption education to be introduced as a standalone course or incorporated into existing law courses.
Also speaking, Dr. Nte Bisong of the National Universities Commission, NUC, said embedding anti-corruption content in the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards, CCMAS, for law programmes would help produce legal professionals with a strong ethical foundation.
