Religious leaders urged to join fight against corruption

The Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society in partnership with its NGO, the Just Foundation, has called on Islamic clerics, scholars and leaders of Christian faith in the country to join forces with government in the fight against endemic corruption that pervade various facets of the nation through their preaching. The Executive Director of the foundation, Imam Fuad […]

The Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society in partnership with its NGO, the Just Foundation, has called on Islamic clerics, scholars and leaders of Christian faith in the country to join forces with government in the fight against endemic corruption that pervade various facets of the nation through their preaching.

The Executive Director of the foundation, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, made the call in Lokoja at the weekend during a “Training of Trainers (TOT) programme organised  for Imams and Islamic scholars in Kogi State to equip them with the requisite knowledge on how to tackle corruption amongst their followers through attitudinal change.

He said the organization which is being supported by the MacArthur Foundation, is carrying out a project tagged: “Encouraging Accountability and Transparency through Faith-based Intervention (EAT-FIn)”, which has the main objective of promoting transparency/accountability and reducing corruption in governance through preaching.

He said corruption has eaten deep into the various facets of the nation’s socio-economic life with attendant negative effects, hence the need to embrace a multisectoral approach by involving the religious leaders in addressing the malaise.

“The essence we here is that we know we have a challenge and the challenge is the canker worm of corruption. The government has started their own and we discovered that in this country, more than 99% of the people believe in God.

Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Usman Abubakar, who was a resource person at the training, said the religious leaders have pivotal roles to play in tackling corruption, pointing out that about 99 percent of the about 200 million Nigerians believe in one religion or the other.

The ICPC boss, Who was represented by Director of Education at the Commission, Mohammed Baba, said the organization believes that religious leaders can exert influence on the people to jettison the notion that corruption is a way of life.