Politics
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that the country might be consumed by anger of the Nigerian youths as a result of their neglect, adding that the country would not be transformed if it continued to neglect its youths in the scheme of things. He said: “We have the Boko Haram in the North, the MASSOB and IPOB in the South-East, the militants in the Niger Delta and the Oodua Peoples’ Congress in the South-West. All of these are the expression of anger and frustrations.”
Obasanjo also advised the youths not to wish him and other statesmen dead as the country would still need their service, tasked the youths to believe in themselves and be consistent. On his part, the former president pledged continuous support for the youths and the nation at large.
The former president gave his speech at the Youth Governance Dialogue, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, shortly after Osita Chidoka, the lead speaker and former minister of Aviation and the FRSC corps marshall, spoke on the theme, ‘’Towards a Guiding Political Philosophy for a Democratic Nigeria.”
Obasanjo said: “We will not transform if we ignore the youths. If we have youths explosion or anger because of lack of opportunity, it will consume all of us. We are all witnesses to the activities of Boko Haram, MASSOB and IPOB.
“If we can give children a minimum of nine years basic education, we will improve. There is no reason any child born within this country cannot have free and compulsory nine years basic education.
“The youths need to believe in themselves. Part of our problem is that we fail to believe in ourselves. Don’t lose hope, don’t be frustrated. We have a wonderful country and resources. “There is something good in you; try and discover what it is. Don’t listen to anyone telling you that you are good for nothing. No one is good for nothing.
“During my own days, there was one university to attend when I finished from secondary school and I got five appointment letters when I finished. Now you have about 152 universities to attend but do you get any letter of appointment when you are done?
“Japan does not have any resources yet it is one of the largest economies in the world. Nigeria is blessed with resources but we are still where we are.
“We need to identify where we got it wrong. We need to identify where we are doing it right and continue to do it right. There are a number of things we have done right but do we continue to do it right?
“I will continue to do this and even more. I am an incurable optimist about Nigeria and I believe we have a lot of problems that we can deal with. I believe in you and I believe you will do it better than my generation.”
Speaking further, the former president, who described the current agitations across the country as an expression of frustration, advised the youths not to lose hope or get frustrated. “Don’t wish us dead; don’t wish us to disappear because you will need us. You need us to mentor and prepare you for the future. You need our experience and the assistance of some of us to guide you through life.
“You should not lose hope, you should not feel frustrated. Whenever I go abroad, they always ask me what my fear about Nigeria and Africa is, and I tell them my greatest fear is youth anger, frustrations and youth explosion which have no bound. Chidoka had earlier noted that many people argued that the trouble with Nigeria was leadership, submitting that for the country to grow, Nigerians must build a society that harnessed human resources, provide equal opportunities and develop capacity for innovation.
“Our national aspirations should inspire the next generation and provide them with the existential meaning of Nigeria. A meaning that transcends geography, natural resources and ethnicity.”
He proposed a new charter for the country, saying it should contain reasons for the country’s union, the purpose of union and the guarantee of the basic rights, privileges and obligations of citizens.
“Our political parties can then build their ideologies around the strategies for achieving our national goals.
“To grow Nigeria, we must build a society that harnesses human resources, provides equal opportunities and develops capacity for innovation.
“It is on this foundation that I want to interrogate the presence or absence of a guiding philosophy for Nigeria and the consequential impact on our political culture.
“Many have argued that the trouble with Nigeria is leadership. Some insist that the absence of ideology is at the root of our political crisis.
‘’In all the views, the constant is the agreement that there is trouble with Nigeria. The leadership question is key. “The defining quality of our country in the past 45 years has been the distribution politics fuelled by oil revenue. This revenue stream that may be impaired by developments in alternative energy should be the seed capital to develop the manpower and infrastructure for a post oil economy,” Chidoka said.
However, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State while presenting his opening speech, with the topic, ‘’Preparing Successor Generation for Effective Participation in Governance’, said anyone who didn’t see the intrinsic value of the youth had simply never enjoyed the opportunity of working with the youth.
He said: “We cannot keep calling them the leaders of tomorrow without ensuring that we put in place deliberate measures that will aid their quest for public service.” He, therefore, said one could not under-estimate the place of experience in the leadership of a country. “Sometimes, candour and youthful excitement can cause as much harm as the most venal form of corruption. “We have to find the means to reduce unemployment. There is no doubt that the current diversification policy of President Buhari’s government will eventually provide broader opportunities for self-employment.”
— May 29, 2017 @ 11:15 GMT
Tags: anger Boko Haram IPOB Leadership MASSOB militants O’odua Peoples Congress Olusegun Obasanjo OPC Osita Chidoka self-employment unemployment youths
