RismadarVoice Reporters
August 13, 2026
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has urged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to take ownership of the fight against corruption and financial crimes and uphold integrity in their personal and professional lives.
Mr 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 a Deputy Superintendent of the commission, 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, saying the country’s progress depended largely on their willingness to reject corrupt practices and contribute to national development.
Mr Olukoyede urged the corps members to see themselves as a “new breed” of Nigerians capable of providing solutions to the country’s challenges.
“It is not enough to see yourselves as youths in today’s Nigeria; you need to see and carry yourselves as new breed youths,” he said.
He said corruption remained a major obstacle to Nigeria’s development and urged the youths to adopt values that would help break the cycle of corrupt practices.
The EFCC chairman linked corruption to several social and economic challenges confronting the country, including unemployment, insecurity, inflation and other forms of social hardship.
He challenged the corps members to reject complacency and become advocates of transparency and accountability in their communities.
According to him, young Nigerians should be willing to question practices around them and report activities they consider corrupt or suspicious.
“A new breed of youth is willing and serious to interrogate his or her environment and expose shadiness and corruption,” he said.
Mr Olukoyede also urged the corps members to regard themselves as agents of positive change and contribute actively to the EFCC’s efforts to combat economic and financial crimes.
He said the responsibility for building a better Nigeria rested significantly on the choices and actions of the younger generation.
The EFCC chairman delivered similar messages to corps members at orientation camps in other parts of the country, including Adamawa, Rivers, Kaduna and Nasarawa states.
In Adamawa, he spoke through a Chief Superintendent of the EFCC, Mary Ogolekwu, and urged corps members at the Girei orientation camp to channel their energy towards national development.
At the NYSC Orientation Camp in Nonwa Gbam, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Olukoyede, represented by an Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, Otagada Sunday Ogar, urged corps members to embrace values-driven lives and patriotic service.
In Kaduna, he spoke through a Chief Superintendent of the EFCC, Nana Fatima Abubakar, and urged corps members at the temporary orientation camp to remain committed to integrity and national development.
At the NYSC Orientation Camp in Keffi, Nasarawa State, the EFCC chairman, represented by the Head of Public Affairs at the commission’s Abuja Zonal Directorate, Ngoundu Nguetar, described corruption as a threat to the future of young Nigerians.
He urged the corps members to take an active role in confronting the menace.
The EFCC said similar messages were delivered across several other NYSC orientation camps, including those in Lagos, Abuja, Bayelsa, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kwara and Benue states.
The commission said the engagements were aimed at encouraging young Nigerians to take greater responsibility for the fight against corruption and use their knowledge and courage to promote accountability and good governance.
