Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has said the worrisome statement by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that six out of every 10 Nigerian university students are involved in fraud is deeply troubling and must not be taken lightly.

In a statement on Wednesday, Obi pointed out that Nigeria already has a very limited number of students in higher institutions, estimated at 2 to 2.5 million.

He said, “If indeed about 60 per cent of them, roughly 1.4 million young people, are involved in fraud, then we are not just facing a crime issue; we are confronting a serious moral and systemic failure.

“The question we must ask ourselves is: what has brought us to this level? Who are the role models these students are looking up to?. What values are they learning from society?”

He urged the public to understand that young people become what they consistently see, emphasising that when a system appears to reward wrongdoing, when integrity is not upheld, and when those in leadership are associated with allegations of forgery and dishonesty without consequence, it sends a dangerous message. He said it suggests that hard work does not matter, and that results, by any means, are acceptable. “These points clearly point to a collapse of moral values,” Obi said.

Urging the country to examine itself, he spoke against condemning young people, highlighting that leadership sets the tone.

“If we do not demonstrate integrity at the top, we cannot expect it at the bottom.

“We must urgently rebuild our value system, enforce accountability without bias, and create an environment where honesty, hard work, and discipline are rewarded. That is the only sustainable path to securing the future of our nation,” he said.