The Commissioner for Education in Abia State, Prof. Uche Eme-Uche, has admonished pupils in the state to shun corrupt practices capable of ruining their future.

Ms Uche gave the advice during the inauguration of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission Students Anti-Corruption Club in Abia State Schools at Ibeku High School, Umuahia on Wednesday.

She identified truancy, disobedience to teachers and parents, examination malpractices, refusal to follow guidelines provided by the schools as corrupt practices that could destroy a child’s future.

She urged them to take their studies seriously to pass their examinations without indulging in malpractices.

According to her, the time for examination malpractices is over in Abia State.

She charged them to imbibe the lectures of the ICPC to achieve the expected goal of creating a corruption-free society.

She thanked them for their decision to join the club, which would make them better in life than some of their peers, if they continued to lead corrupt-free lives.

The commissioner was represented by the Director, Secondary Technical and Higher Education, in the ministry, Hope Nwosu.

In a speech, the ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner for Imo and Abia, Peter Alumbugu, said the commission came up with the idea of anti-corruption clubs in schools to catch the pupils young.

Mr Alumbugu said that the commission chose to start with schools in Umuahia area because of funding challenges, adding that they would expand to other zones later.

In a pre-inauguration lecture, an ICPC Assistant Commissioner in Imo, Chinwe Egbeocha, said that corruption was destructive to society and its progress.

In the lecture entitled, “The benefits of anti-corruption clubs in schools,” Mrs Egbeocha urged the pupils to lead disciplined lives and report corrupt practices in their schools to their teachers.

She urged the club members to report corrupt people secretly in order not to become victims of the corrupt system.

A pupil of St. Theresa’s Girls’ School, Olokoro Umuahia, Juliet Kylie, said that she volunteered to join the club because she wanted a decline in the rate of corruption in the country.

She said that the increasing corruption rate was adversely affecting new and future leaders, adding that she desired a change for the country.

Master Chukwuemeka Kalu of the Winning Youth Christian Academy, Umuahia, thanked ICPC for the idea and teaching them the importance of imbibing discipline in their lives.

He thanked the hosts, Ibeku High School, the ministry of education and promised that they would ensure that they always teach their co-students to be disciplined.

(NAN)