The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has charged Nigerian youths to take ownership of the fight against corruption, urging members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to become a “new breed” committed to integrity, accountability and national development.
Olukoyede gave the charge on Thursday while addressing Batch “B” Stream II corps members at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The EFCC chairman, who spoke through an official of the Commission, DSE Emmanuel Onuminya, delivered a lecture titled, “New Breed Youths as Catalysts for National Development.”
He described young Nigerians as critical stakeholders in the fight against corruption and economic and financial crimes, stressing that the country’s progress depended largely on their willingness to reject corrupt practices and contribute positively to society.
“It is not enough to see yourselves as youths in today’s Nigeria; you need to see and carry yourselves as new breed youths,” Olukoyede said.
He urged the corps members to reject passivity and become solution-driven citizens who would contribute to national development through integrity, discipline, creativity and responsible citizenship.
“A new breed of youth should be angry with the failures of the past and develop strengths for new successes. As new breed youths, decide to be a solution rather than a problem, a builder, not a breaker, a thinker, not a plunderer, a pillar, not an evil caterpillar,” he said.
Olukoyede said Nigeria needed young people who would serve as catalysts of development and springboards of progress, urging them to develop the courage to question practices that undermine the country’s future.
He identified corruption as a major obstacle to national development and challenged the corps members to reject the culture of compromise and pursue transparency in their personal and professional lives.
“New breed youths should not be comfortable with these grim scenarios. You need to be a new breed of youth to pursue a fresh agenda of progress, integrity, development and anti-corruption in every realm,” he said.
The EFCC chairman added that young people should be willing to interrogate their environment, expose wrongdoing and refuse to follow what he described as the “lines of least resistance.”
“A new breed of youth is hungry for new results, angry with compromises and zealous for transparency. A new breed youth is willing and serious to interrogate his or her environment and expose shadiness and corruption,” Olukoyede said.
He further urged the corps members to see themselves as vanguards and foot soldiers in the collective effort to rid the country of corruption, economic and financial crimes.
“You need to be a new breed of youth to align with the mandate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also delivered similar messages to corps members at NYSC orientation camps in Girei, Adamawa State; Nonwa Gbam in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State; Kaduna; Keffi, Nasarawa State; and other locations across the country.
In Adamawa, he spoke through CSE Ogolekwu Mary and charged corps members to channel their energy towards national development.
At the NYSC Orientation Camp in Nonwa Gbam, Rivers State, Olukoyede, represented by Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC II, Otagada Sunday Ogar, urged the corps members to embrace a value-driven life strengthened by patriotism and a commitment to moving the nation forward.
In Kaduna, the EFCC chairman, represented by CSE Nana Fatima Abubakar, urged corps members to remain committed to integrity and national development, stressing that their choices would shape the direction of the country’s future.
Similarly, at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Olukoyede, represented by the Head of the Public Affairs Unit, EFCC Abuja Zonal Directorate, CSE Ngoundu Nguetar, urged corps members to regard corruption as a threat to their future and take an active role in confronting the menace.
He described the youths as potential “brigade commanders and generals” in the battle against graft, urging them to deploy their intellect, courage and sense of responsibility to protect the nation’s future.
The EFCC chairman’s message was also delivered to corps members in Lagos, Abuja, Yenagoa, Maiduguri, Uyo, Benin City, Ilorin, Makurdi and other locations, where he emphasised the need for young Nigerians to take ownership of the anti-corruption campaign.
