Students Must Hold Leaders Accountable with Facts, Not Rumours – Ex-NYSC DG

Former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maj. Gen. Johnson Olawumi (retd), has urged Nigerian youths, particularly students, to hold political leaders accountable using verifiable facts rather than unverified social media narratives.

Olawumi made the call on Sunday in Ekiti State during the 2025 International Students’ Day celebration, where he addressed students on their crucial role in 21st-century governance.

According to him, students, as a structured and organised segment of the youth population, have the responsibility to act as watchdogs, shaping public policy, decision-making, and the management of public resources.

“In the 21st century, three forces shape governance: data, networks, and trust. Data guides who gets what, where, and when. Networks mobilise people and ideas at speed. Trust holds the system together. These are crucial ingredients, and young people increasingly command them,” Olawumi said.

Highlighting Nigeria’s youth bulge — which he described as nearly half of the population — as a strategic advantage, he outlined key roles students must play to support nation-building.

He advised students to study national issues by reviewing budgets, audit reports, policy drafts, and understanding legislative processes. “If you can read a spreadsheet and a memo, you can hold leaders to account and use that power responsibly. Don’t drown in shallow social media stories; bring facts to the conversation,” Olawumi said.

He also encouraged the use of technology for civic problem-solving through tools such as community mapping, crowdsourced reporting, campus budget dashboards, and open-data visualisations.

Furthermore, the retired Major-General stressed the importance of purposeful unionism grounded in principles and policy as a way to strengthen democratic governance and ensure that youth participation is both meaningful and impactful.