As campaigns for the 2019 general elections commenced in earnest, Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, has called on Nigerian youth to critically hold political office holders accountable.
The Assistant Programme Manager of CITAD, Maryam Haruna, made the call on Tuesday, during the commencement of the 2nd edition of Ibrahim Mu’azzam Institute of Philosophy For Young People programme.
According to her, youth nowadays have abandoned the culture of critical thinking that would make them hold government accountable for what it is supposed to do to people.
Mrs Haruna noted that critical thinking would make youth become more knowledgeable and versatile in all spheres of life.
“Our youth nowadays do not engage our leaders in accounting for what they do to us. For instance, a government would present a budget and we fold our arms without checking how the budget will be judiciously utilized on us.
“You see a university graduate with a degree or even masters but don’t read critically and deeply in order to know many things on the course he or she studied or even beyond.
“We don’t hold our politicians accountable, to force them do the needful for us through critical analysis of their governments. This is because we don’t read well. We don’t read newspapers, magazines. We don’t watch news and so on,” she lamented.
Mrs Haruna, therefore, called on youth to read deeply in order to know their rights, urging them to shun violence and avoid being used as political thugs in the upcoming elections.
