ABCs of fighting corruption: Nigeria educates ‘tomorrow’s leaders’

Along with maths and reading, pupils at a Lagos primary school learn about the ills of corruption in one of the world’s worst-hit countries.

Seated together in the playground, the Nigerian youngsters aged around 10 read aloud from “Ansa’s Speech” and are then asked questions about the book.

“Ansa’s Speech” is the story of a 13-year-old girl chosen to deliver a speech to her school to mark an important anniversary. However, the day before, things start to go wrong due to bribery and corruption.

The lesson at the Ketu neighbourhood school rounds off with a playful but instructive game.

“Ansa’s Speech” has recently been added to the list of recommended books for use in schools by state authorities in Lagos, the economic capital of Africa’s most populous nation.

A former Lagos state governor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came to power in May last year promising to crack down on graft in the country.

Nigeria is seen as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranking 145 out of 180 on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index last year.

“Children and adults are victims in the same way, they suffer from bad roads, shameless educational infrastructures or lack of clear water,” Feranmi Iyanda from the Step Up Nigeria NGO said.

Iyanda goes into schools to hand out copies of the book to spark a discussion that young children can relate to.

“It’s important to explain to them that this is something we need to fight, because they are the adults and leaders of tomorrow,” she said. “We use books for that.”

Since 2018, Step Up Nigeria says it has gone into more than 1,000 schools across the country to talk about the consequences of corruption.

Its awareness efforts have reached more than 50,000 children, it said.

“We mainly use books but also animation films and games to carry out our actions,” Iyanda said.

The NGO has created four anti-corruption books for children aged six to 12.

They have all been conceived to show how damaging favouritism and the embezzlement of public money can be and to make readers understand that corruption affects everyone.

“Thanks to the characters of the books and the lessons learned, we want children to talk about anti-corruption around them,” Onyinye Ough, who wrote “Ansa’s Speech” and is head of the NGO, said.

The headteacher at Winners School in Ketu, Ndukwu Mercy, said that in nearly two decades of teaching, she had rarely seen anti-corruption books recommended as teaching aids.

Encouraged by the NGO, some teachers have been getting creative in finding their own ways to pass the message on.

Ten-year-old Sulaiman said he was looking forward to these upcoming activities.

“We have an anti-corruption week at school. We will be doing soon theatre, poems and drawing,” the youngster, dressed in his pink and brown uniform, enthused.

Mercy, his headteacher, said that as “role models” for the children, the teachers “have to be able to answer to their questions”.

Step Up Nigeria wants to see a more concerted anti-corruption message, together with sanctions on those implicated.

Since taking the reins of power, Tinubu has suspended several senior officials linked to financial embezzlement scandals.

They have included former humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation minister Betta Edu in January following allegations she had diverted public funds into private bank accounts.

“We are doing our job in our level. Everyone has to take responsibility, citizens and the state,” Step Up Nigeria’s Ough said.

“We still have a long way to go.”