By: Goodluck E. Adubazi, Abuja.

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has declared that Nigeria’s greatest challenge is not foreign influence, but the actions of its own citizens.

Speaking on Friday at the public presentation of three books authored by Umar Yakubu — The Shadow State: Public Sector Corruption in Nigeria – Causes, Consequences and Reforms, Nigeria Reimagined: Anchoring a Future on Integrity, and Shielding the Heartland: Rethinking Nigeria’s Border Security — held at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Olukoyede stated bluntly:

“Foreigners are not the ones destroying our system. It is us.”

The EFCC boss criticized what he described as a culture of hypocrisy among Nigerians who condemn corruption publicly but defend it privately when friends or relatives are under investigation.

“I see people on social media calling out government corruption daily, but once we begin investigations involving someone close to them, they start calling, begging to stop the process,” he lamented.

Olukoyede emphasized that true reform must begin with personal responsibility. “We have to ask ourselves — who is the government? It is us. We condemn the system but become part of the same problem once we attain power,” he said.

He also condemned public sympathy for individuals facing corruption charges, describing the practice of carrying placards for indicted persons as “a mockery of justice.”

Calling for a “national consensus on integrity,” the EFCC chairman said Nigerians must agree to stop shielding corrupt relatives and associates. “Until we form responsible and responsive pressure groups that truly demand accountability, we won’t make progress,” he warned.