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A major challenge debilitating the growth and development of our dear country is the canker of corruption which has not only affected the progress of the nation but also eaten deep into the moral fibre of our society.

Government in, government out, corruption still appears to be an albatross around our necks, resulting in our retarded development. In fact, it has been with us since the government of our first President, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah.

Without a doubt, it is a common denominator as to why regimes are booted out of office, be it military government or civilian government.

Indeed, the cancerous nature of the practice has affected the root of our nation to the extent that some corrupt practices are even perceived to be a positive social norm. The canker is now with us in almost every aspect of our lives, whether social, economic, political or even religious. It is in our homes, offices, schools, recreational centres and churches or mosques. It is virtually everywhere with us.

The canker of corruption has made our society hypocritical, thus we condemn it in public but turn around and practice it in the dark.

As a matter of principle, we at the Daily Statesman abhor corruption of any form, and this is because we are of the firm belief that the development of our nation into a first world country will be hampered if corruption is not eliminated or at least alleviated to the minimum.

We believe that the growth of corruption in our society is a major threat to the development agenda of country. In consequence, we associate ourselves with the call made by the Ghana Integrity Initiative Consortium to inculcate the habit of anti-corruption right from infancy as a measure to nib the infectious canker in the bud.

The Consortium is calling for the inclusion of anti-corruption strategies into the country’s educational curriculum to reduce the incidence of corruption in coming years.

It has noted that such a move is expedient to enable the students appreciate the dangers of the menace and its impact on national growth, to compel them shy away from the negative practice before they enter into the world of work.

The consortium believes that “Given the correlation between higher levels of education and the recognition of different wrongdoings in the society, it is high time the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service systematically incorporate anti-corruption education as well as ethical norms and standards that influence perceptions of wrongdoing in the curriculum at all levels of education.”

Thus, we call on the Education Ministry in particular and all relevant authorities to pay heed to the call and implement the necessary measures to ensure that it becomes a reality. We believe that inculcating the culture of anti-corruption into our citizenry from their childhood is unquestionably one of the surest way to gradually iron out the canker from our society.