BCOC URGE STUDENTS TO EMBRACE INTEGRITY AS FOUNDATION OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Students in Ekiti State have been urged to embrace integrity as the bedrock of good citizenship, with a call to let honesty, discipline, and responsibility guide their actions both at school and in the wider society.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Civic Orientation and Citizenship (BCOC), Ekiti State, Mrs Olawumi Famuyiwa made the call at the inauguration of the Integrity Club by the Code of Conduct Bureau, Ekiti State, held at Harding Model College, Ado-Ekiti. She described the event as more than the official launching of a school club, stating that it represents “the planting of a seed” of positive character, moral discipline, honesty, and accountability in young people.
Speaking further, the BCOC Director-General commended the Code of Conduct Bureau, the school management, staff, and other stakeholders for initiating what she described as a timely programme for value-building in society. She noted that Ekiti State is well known for its Omoluabi heritage, adding that integrity remains one of the strongest pillars of the Omoluabi value system.
Mrs Famuyiwa explained that integrity makes individuals trustworthy and enables them to stand for what is right even when no one is watching. According to her, choosing honesty over deceit and responsibility over excuses strengthens individuals and communities, while its absence often creates room for social breakdown.
She pointed out that several challenges confronting society today are closely tied to the lack of integrity, including corruption, weakened trust, leadership failure, examination malpractice, and the normalisation of crime. She stressed that building integrity in young people is essential to preventing such destructive patterns from becoming permanent features of the society.
The Director-General said the Integrity Club would serve as a platform for raising young leaders who will become disciplined citizens and positive ambassadors of society. She urged the students to internalize core values such as honesty, accountability, hard work, self-respect, patriotism, and moral courage.
Addressing the students directly, Mrs Famuyiwa encouraged them to reject examination malpractice, cultism, drug abuse, bullying, and dishonesty. She warned that students should not allow peer pressure to derail their futures, adding that a student’s name and character are more valuable than temporary gains, even if integrity does not immediately attract rewards.
She also appealed to the school authority to ensure the Integrity Club is not established only “in name,” but operates actively as a centre for mentorship, leadership development, moral instruction, and positive behavioural change. Emphazising the meaning of true success, she said it should not be measured by wealth or position alone, but also by integrity and good character.
In the key note address, a member of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Nigeria, Prof. Juwariyya Badamasiuy, said the Integrity Club’s establishment in secondary schools would benefit both the students and the nation. He noted that through the club, students would learn virtues such as truthfulness, self-discipline, patriotism, respect for public values, and rejection of corruption and other unethical practices principles that, in the long run, would strengthen efforts against corruption and promote a more responsible society.
Earlier in his remarks, the Ekiti State Director of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr Omobolade Solomon, stated that the Integrity Club is more than a programme, it is a deliberate investment in the moral foundation of young people. He said the state has long prided itself as a “fountain of knowledge,” and with the club, Ekiti would gain a second fountain of character, aiming to raise students who will grow into public-minded leaders who cannot be bought, intimidated, or compromised on truth.
