Onyinye Ough’s debut children’s book about corruption, ‘Emeka’s Money’ is available online now. Emeka was a good man, and tried to do good things for the people he liked. He worked for a State Governor in Nigeria and had good intentions of using his power to help his friends and family. Yet, Emeka soon learns that using public office to do so can actually harm the people of his State. As a result, he decides that things need to change and takes action against corruption. This is the first in a series of children’s books about corruption written by Onyinye Ough.
Designed for children aged six to ten, the book aims to help them understand the impact corruption has within society and the importance of integrity. Written by anti-corruption expert Onyinye Ough and illustrated by Adeniyi Odeleye. Through this book and others (Halima’s Vote and Tosin’s Story), Onyinye aims to encourage a new generation of leaders who are willing to take action against corruption across Nigeria and through-out Africa.
To Buy this Book …
Nigeria sales from Roving Heights
Electronic book available through Google Play
We are grateful for the MacArthur Foundation’s support. As a result of their partnership we now have an audio-book version of Emeka’s Money and are producing a short animated film version.
The Catch Them Young Initiative
With thanks to backing from donors such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and MacArthur Foundation, Step Up Nigeria has reached over 8,000 children with story books and class-room engagements. Over the next two years, we will have reached more than 20,000.
As a result of our engagements, we have identified young anti-corruption champions who are speaking out against corruption . One of our young anti-corruption champions is 13 year old Naomi Oloyede, who got the attention of the world in 2019, with her speech at the UNODC Education for Justice conference
Naomi’s speech was focused on creating a fair society and tackling corruption. Onyinye’s dream is that she will be able to roll out this type of engagement to every Nigerian child. “We want to create thousands of Naomi’s. Only if we catch them young can we hope to change public attitudes towards corrupt behaviour.” Onyinye’s children’s books on corruption and her range of creative content under development puts them in a strong position to take on this challenge. If they can change attitudes, Onyinye strongly believes there is hope of properly tackling corruption in Nigeria.
See some of the news coverage generated by the release of Onyinye’s first anti-corruption children’s book, for example, in the links below.
Read More:
Transparency International Blog Article ‘It starts with our children.’
Mail Online ‘Tackling Corruption with a children’s book’
Wall Street Journal: Nigerian woman fights corruption with a children’s book.
FranceInfo: Nigeria: Corruption explained to children by Onyinye Ough.