Youths in Nigeria have been asked to form a formidable force towards ensuring that they determine who becomes the nation’s President in 2023.
Comrade Abdulazeez Yakasi former Secretary General of the Nigeria Labour Congress gave the charge while addressing students drawn from all tertiary Institutions in Kogi State who gathered at the Kogi State Polytechnic in a program organised by the Students’ Wing, Coalition of Northern Groups, Kogi State Chapter, Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture Series with the theme: Equitable Revenue Allocation: A Panacea For Agitation and Contestation in Nigeria.
The Chairman described 2023 as a defining moments for Nigerian Youths, stressed that 2023 is another time for rethink, urged the Youths to come together in love and in unity to move the country forward.
He said the bringing together of the Youths is to particularly sensitize them and urged them to put themselves together towards raising raising their consciousness as Nigerian’s youths towards salvaging the country from its collective problems.
The Chairman described the revenue allocation as a vexed issue misunderstood differently by many in the country, said bringing them together became necessary so as to educate them on reasons why the skewed nature of the revenue allocation in the country has caused imbalance.
He urged the Youths to rise up, stand up, take their place as the history will not be kind to them if they allow the old Politicians to decide who governs them in 2023.
Dr. Bitrus Dangiwa, in a key note address, described late Elderstatesman, Maitama Sule as a patriot who believed in the Unity of Northern Nigeria, says towards 2023, the North is looking forward to Presenting a young Nigerian with competence and capacity to govern the country.
He reiterated his dream that come 2023 only a man who believes in Justice and equity would be allowed to lead the nation, said the time to return Nigerian dreamt by late Maitama Sule, where Unity, peace and Justice prevails would be realised.
Also Speaking, Dorathy Aken-ova, lamented that young people have been corrupted and distracted not to understand the true meaning of leadership, by allowing leaders not to be accountable.
She urged young people above 18 years of age to ensure that the get their voters card, said the time for young people to determine who rules the country is now.
She warned that it would be catastrophic if Nigeria continues to recycle the old brigade Political actors if the Youths don’t have a strategic plan, get their voters card, register in Political parties, come out enmass to vote their preferred choice of a young Nigerian as President.
She said Nigeria must change her style of electing leaders, said the country cannot continue with poverty, unemployment and other issues of underdevelopment, as statistics have shown that young people are more in the poverty and unemployment bracket.
She challenged the Youths to build themselves towards reclaiming the space that is theirs, stating that the nation can no longer continue in the direction in which it is heading.
Dr. Murtala Aliyu Ibrahim PhD, a Lecturer with Baze University, Abuja, while delivering a lead paper on Equitable Revenue Allocation: A Panacea For Agitation and Contestation in Nigeria, described Nigeria as a country that is disfunctional, with things not working right because of the misgivings in revenue sharing called on the need to look at the current revenue allocation sharing formular.
Abdulazeez Suleiman, spokesman of CNG, said the for Youths to reclaim their lost glory time is now, urged the Youths in the country to tell Leaders who have continuously purparize them to take what belongs to them, insisting that the time to take the country from old Generational Leadership, always recycling themselves is now.