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Nigerian youth have
been asked to actively participate in the voters registration and
voting exercises coming up next year so that they can elect leaders
with track records and integrity, President Goodluck Jonathan said
yesterday in Abuja.
The president, who
stated this during the National Youth Summit organised by the Federal
Ministry of Youth Development, said the future belongs to them and it
is their duty to ensure that they use their numerical strength to
effect a change by ensuring the country has good leaders at all level
of government.
Mr Jonathan said as
a former student and lecturer, he knows the needs and desires of youth
and promised that he will not disappoint them if voted into office next
year. The president, who was excited by the loud applause from the
crowd, said the ovation has rekindled his joy and enthusiasm and has
also convinced him that what the youth and the entire country need are
leaders that will turn their dreams into reality.
“You have made me proud of you and I want to promise you that I would not disappoint you,” he said.
He charged them to
always think of how the country can move forward instead of thinking of
things that will not benefit humanity.
“If you don’t contribute to societal progress, foreigners will not come and fix Nigeria for you,” he said.
Youth power
The Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole said the problems the country
is going through today were caused years ago when none of those
gathered at the summit were probably born. To get out of the mess, he
said, youth should use their large population to effect a positive
change by voting good candidates into office at all levels.
“Nigeria today is
settling heavy debts that were incurred years ago due to
maladministration,” he said and suggested that the only way out is to
ensure good governance for the country. Mr Bankole advised the youth
not to allow themselves to be deceived by politicians who have nothing
to offer and challenged them to look at the achievements of this
government since Mr Jonathan assumed full office as president.
The Minister of
Youth Development, Akinlabi Olasunkanmi said the 2006 census put the
population of the youth at over 60 million and explained that if they
all voted, they can determine who governs the country.
“This generation of
young voters holds the weapon of change from old stereotypes,
primordial conceptions and entrenched cynicism,” Mr Akinlabi said.
Citing instances,
Mr Olasunkanmi said in the United States of America (USA), youth
participation at the ballot box progressively increased from 2006 to
date, noting that it is on record that over 22 million youth voted in
2008 to deliver a major power shift in the U.S,A , producing president
Barrack Obama, the first black man to ever occupy the White House.