A former Director-Common of the Nationwide Youth Service Corps, Maj. Gen. Johnson Olawumi (retd), has known as on Nigerian youths to carry political leaders accountable utilizing verifiable details moderately than social media narratives.
Olawumi made this name on Sunday in Ekiti State through the 2025 Worldwide College students’ Day celebration, the place he addressed college students on their function in twenty first-century governance.
He said that college students, as an organised subset of the youth inhabitants, have a accountability to behave as watchdogs in governance, shaping how choices are made and the way public sources are managed.
“Within the twenty first century, three forces form governance: information, networks, and belief. Knowledge guides who will get what, the place, and when. Networks mobilise folks and concepts at pace. Belief holds the system collectively. These are essential components, and younger folks more and more command them,” he mentioned.
The previous NYSC boss, whereas describing Nigeria’s youth bulge — almost half of the inhabitants — as a strategic benefit, outlined eight key roles college students should play to assist nation-constructing.
In accordance with him, the roles embrace finding out nationwide points by studying budgets, audit reviews, coverage drafts, and understanding how legal guidelines are made.
“When you can learn a spreadsheet and a memo, you’ll be able to maintain leaders to account and use that energy responsibly. Don’t drown in shallow social media tales; deliver details to the dialog,” he added.
The retired Main-Common charged college students to deploy know-how for civic downside-fixing by means of neighborhood mapping, crowdsourced reporting, campus price range dashboards, and open-information visualisations.
He additionally emphasised the necessity for purposeful unionism grounded in ideas and coverage.
