Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has warned youths to avoid online fraud pressure and embrace a life of integrity.

Mr Olukoyede gave the warning on Wednesday while delivering the 17th convocation lecture of Redeemer’s University, Ede, in Osun.

The lecture has as its theme “Beyond Degrees: Cultivating Purpose, Resilience, and Service in a Complex World.”

“On no account must you yield to pressure to get rich quickly. Never allow peer pressure and desperation to belong to lead you to crime,” said Mr Olukoyede. “If you do, you might earn temporary riches, which ultimately will land you in infamy, as wealth earned through crooked means never lasts.”

Mr Olukoyede said that while many Nigerian youths were exploring the digital economy to earn legitimate income in foreign exchange, thousands of others were operating in the same space and earning hefty windfalls fraudulently.

He said many young Nigerians, such as Gbenga Agboola and Oyin Aboyeji, who established the Flutterwave payment platform, were among many other youths exploiting the resources of the digital space legitimately.

The chairman, however, said that other young Nigerians, such as Awerusuo Otorudo and Chukwuebuka Ehirim, who allegedly tricked the public into investing billions of naira in CBEX recently, were exploiting the internet space fraudulently.

He said the duo was charged before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court in July for tricking the public into investing in the exchange with a promise of an 88 per cent return on investment.

“The difference between those we have addressed as positive models and the others in the hall of infamy is that they approached the same resources with different mindsets.

“While one set was willing to play by the rules and earn their stripes, others embraced rogue tactics and chose to cut corners in desperation to get rich quickly,” the EFCC chair said.

Mr Olukoyede said that due to concerns about the negative deployment of youth energy and skills to criminality, the commission had created a cybercrime research centre under construction.

The EFCC chairman, however, urged the graduating students to make personal integrity an article of their faith.

Earlier, the university’s vice-chancellor, Shadrach Akindele, commended Mr Olukoyede for accepting to deliver the lecture.

Mr Akindele said that the presence of the EFCC boss was a signal that true education must empower people for the growth and development of the country.

(NAN)