GRWM to punch above my weight

EFCC and FG are teaming up to fight corruption in Nigerian schools

Good morning, Big Brains. There’s one more night of sleep till Friday, and I literally cannot wait. Let the weekend begin.

- Margaret

Word count: ~ 1,200
Reading time ~ 7 mins

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Let’s get into today’s edition:

• EFCC and FG are teaming up to fight corruption among students

• President Tinubu wants you to spend less money on food

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The Big Deal

EFCC and FG are teaming up to fight corruption in Nigerian schools

All the LinkedIn motivational speakers you know have at least two posts about why you should always do work outside your job description, but we’re struggling to see how that applies to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Commission has decided to collaborate with the Presidential Committee on Campaign Against Social Vices. Their new mission is to “entrench integrity” in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions students and keep them from sliding into corruption. Pretty solid message, but we’ll soon get to the part where you may begin to question the messenger.

The EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, also wants Nigerians to know that the partnership is the Commission’s way of investing in preventive measures that shape the values of young Nigerians.

This isn’t EFCC’s first rodeo. From its early days, the agency set up Integrity Clubs in primary and secondary schools and Zero Tolerance Clubs in universities. The idea is to get kids to say no to Yahoo before the concept even forms in their heads.

Some of the other vices that would be addressed are drug abuse, cybercrime, alcoholism, and cultism in schools. The commission believes these vices lead to corruption, and the EFCC is “very ready” to bring its best hands to fight against them.

Why is this a big deal?

It may be hard to tell, but creating integrity clubs in Nigerian schools sounds like heaven to us. It’s timely and necessary. But the idea of the EFCC leading this campaign? That’s where the side-eye comes in.

The EFCC’s primary responsibility is to enforce all economic and financial crime laws in Nigeria. Some of the vices they intend to handle are the primary responsibilities of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and if the agency weren’t so underfunded, maybe it would be able to take that job off the EFCC’s hands. But that’s just by the way. There are many other reasons why EFCC’s side quest deserves a side eye.

The Commission, which is currently targeting students, doesn’t exactly have the best history with them. In 2019, for instance, students of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, protested against what they called harassment and unlawful arrests of their colleagues by EFCC operatives. Even as recently as 2024, the Commission’s operatives reportedly raided three student lodges at 2 a.m and arrested students at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.

So while the Commission is now positioning itself as the mentor-in-chief of Nigerian students, its history with that same group tells a different story.

There’s also the fact that we’ve never exactly seen the EFCC put the same energy into fighting corruption amongst government officials. Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi state, is the perfect example. After being accused by the EFCC chairman of transferring $720,000 from Kogi State funds to a Bureau De Change to cover the children’s school fees in advance before he left office, he’s still a free man despite dodging arrest multiple times.

If integrity is truly the mission, we hope the Commission won’t stop at schools. Otherwise, these school campaigns look less like a fight against corruption.

President Tinubu wants you to spend less money on food

Naomi Campbell once said, “No matter what you’re facing in this life, try to eat first” — and seeing as Nigerians seem to be going through a lot, President Tinubu has thought of a new way to make food affordable.

On Wednesday, September 10, he ordered a Federal Executive Council (FEC) committee to work harder than the devil to crash food prices across the country.

According to the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the plan is to make sure farm produce can pass safely across transport routes without bandits, bad roads, or logistics troubles driving up costs. Obviously, cheaper transport = cheaper food.

The government also plans to roll out a Farmer Soil Health Scheme (basically, healthier farms for healthier harvests) and revamp cooperative reforms to give rural farmers more power and resources. In Abdullahi’s words, Tinubu sees cooperatives as a “veritable tool” to improve livelihoods and push Nigeria closer to food sovereignty.

But this isn’t the first time Nigerians have been promised food affordability. In July 2024, Tinubu approved a temporary halt on duty and VAT on basic food items, a tax break that was supposed to start on July 15 and run till December 21, 2024. That didn’t kick off when the president said it would. The president also promised to decrease food prices as recently as October 2024.

For now, though, we can only wait to see if this committee will actually crash prices or just crash hopes.

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This Week’s Big Question

“Which ministry in Nigeria do you have the most beef with?”

David’s response - “Do we have ministries in Nigeria?”

You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as David’s, we’ll feature it in the next edition.

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