The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has carried out a sensitised students against organised crimes ranging from drug abuse, cultism, exam malpractice, and violent extremism in the Niger Delta.
Executive Director of YEAC Nigeria, Mr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, during the sensitization workshop for students of Community Secondary School, Bori, described organised crimes as a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activities, most commonly for profit.
Fyneface blamed the rising cases of exam malpractice in secondary schools on parenting failure, a corrupt educational system, poor students’ attitude, societal failure, undue emphasis on academic results and certificate acquisition over knowledge, and inadequate preparation by students.
According to him, organised crimes are continuously maintained through the corruption of public officials and the use of intimidation, threats, or forces to protect their operations. He added that YEAC-Nigeria would carry out the sensitization in more secondary schools in the state and beyond.
Fyneface described examination malpractice as deliberate wrongdoing contrary to official examination rules designed to place a candidate at an unfair advantage or disadvantage and warned the students that the penalties for exam malpractice under the 1999 Examination Malpractice Act include a five-year jail term or a fine of N100,000.
“Examination malpractices include dubbing, sorting, girraffing, copying, writing on the body, use of sign language, impersonation, leakage of exam questions, tampering with results, bribery, sex-for-marks, use of mercenaries, computer fraud during computer-based exams, and fraudulent practices by invigilators, among others.
“Effects of examination malpractice include dismissal, termination, loss of position, lack of self-confidence, loss of trust in the educational system, reduced enrolment of students in school, cancellation of results, discourages good students or candidates from studying hard, deprives innocent students’ opportunity for admission, decreases job efficiency, prostitution, stealing, and armed robbery.”
On drug and substance abuse, YEAC-Nigeria cautioned the students against involvement in drug abuse by not succumbing to peer pressure or using drugs illicitly, noting that the United Nations has set aside June 16 every year as a special day to raise more awareness on drug abuse.
Fyneface said violent extremism is the use of violence to achieve ideological, religious, political, or any kind of goal, including terrorism and other forms of politically motivated and communal violence, warning that violent extremism undermines peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development.
According to him, there are violent and non-violent extremism; the former involves illegal acts of violence, while the latter is oftentimes protected by the right to freedom of speech and civil rights concerns.
To prevent violent extremism, he said, “Education and sensitization are powerful tools that build learners’ resilience to violent extremism and mitigate the drivers of the phenomenon.” Education and sensitization help strengthen the commitment of youths to non-violence and peace, in particular, by addressing hateful and violent narratives. It is not enough to counter it. We must prevent it through advocacy like this workshop brought to you by YEAC-Nigeria.”
