Osinbajo, who was represented by Sen. Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser to the
President on Political Affairs, made the call at the Emerging Political Leaders
Summit in Abuja. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN He also said that it was not
enough for youths to always complain about bad leaders, but that they should
break the status quo by taking the chance to be elected and create the
transformation they needed for a change. “Youths have a challenge in their
hands for the future of our country; so, I advice you not to sit down and fold
your hands and be lamenting over bad leadership or politicians. “Get down to
business, organise and do something to become elected political youths; after
all, Enahoro became a leader in this country at the age of 23 and later moved a
motion for the nation’s independence at the age of 27. “The leaders there today
will vacate the place tomorrow so if you the youths don’t start preparing today
by getting mentored and learning the ropes, there is no way you will perform
very well if the mantle of leadership falls on you tomorrow. So, there is need
for you to go in there and participate,’’ he said. Also speaking, the former
Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Kingsley Moghalu, said
that youths had the power to change their destiny to a better future by
participating in politics from the grassroots. Moghalu said that what the
country needed was a democratic revolution at the polling units, adding that
for it to happen, the citizens should recognize that they had the power to
change and improve governance. “If they don’t exercise that power, if they keep
selling their votes for N2, 000 so that they will eat today, their children
will have no jobs in the future. “It is high time Nigerians stopped seeking
immediate gratification; they always love what they can get now and that is
killing us as a nation. “If this continues, then the citizens are just as
irresponsible as the leadership they condemn,’’ he said. Moghalu said that the
next line of action lay with the citizens, adding that “we have talked enough,
the politicians don’t listen, they keep carrying on in their old ways. “We have
had enough but if that is true, then we must act like we have had enough and
take up the challenge to change the status quo.’’ The convener of the summit,
Mr. Wale Ajani, said the event was organsied to brainstorm ahead of the 2019
elections towards problem-solving both economically and politically for
country’s development. Ajani said that the summit became imperative at this
auspicious moment in the nation’s history because Nigeria had remained a
country of enormous potentials for several decades but unable to perform better
in human development and economic indices. “Leadership failure is largely at
the heart of the current woes bedevilling Nigeria, with little being done to
build a new crop of leaders. “The nation seems fixated; the citizens have come
to have very low expectations of their leaders. The summit provides a platform
for qualitative conversations and discourse about Nigeria.’’ He said that it
was time for Nigeria to have a paradigm shift as an alternative to the current
system where there already existed a disconnection between citizens’
expectations and service delivery by politicians.
Source: Vanguard
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