Dr Saheed Adetunbi of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), and the youth wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have called on Nigerian youths to actively participate in politics, stressing that the future of the nation depends on the youth.
The call was made yesterday at the Southwest PDP Youth Colloquium, organised by the Southwest PDP Youth Alliance, held at the Mapo Hall, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The youths were also admonished to work towards becoming selfless politicians who would serve and contribute positively to the betterment of their immediate society and the nation at large.
The keynote speaker at the colloquium theme, “The Importance of Youth Participation in Emerging Political Progress”, Adetunbi, a university lecturer, charged youths to be united in their doings, as much could be achieved if they are united, urging them to identify and pursue their career at an early stage of life.
Adetunbi said, “We came to charge them that the success and the future of this country depend on them and much is expected from them than what they are offering presently. They should be politicians with dignity, pride and sanity, that is the hallmark. Just be a politician that is ready to contribute positively, not one that is after money or paraphernalia of office but one that is ready to deliver and serve the society.”
While speaking with journalists after the colloquium, the Southwest PDP Youth Alliance leader, Seyi Bamidele, revealed that the purpose of the event was to synergise the youth leaders of the PDP at different levels and encouraged them to get more involved in the activities of the party.
He said, “The agenda is to bring them together, synergise them, so they can relate with themselves. We also want to use the opportunity to emphasise reasons why they all need to get involved at different levels, do proper mobilisation to ensure that our party wins elections at different levels and also to do proper familiarisation within ourselves.”
On his part, the Oyo State PDP Youth Leader, Michael Ogunsina, affirmed that the state, being a PDP state, is working with other states in the Southwest to actualise the emergence of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in 2023.
Ogunsina noted: “We will not do anti-party in Oyo State. Everybody in Oyo State is queuing behind Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for us to ensure that we win the election and take Nigeria back to the summit where we truly belong. I don’t think we have an opposition in Oyo State. What we are doing next year is a referendum. It’s an affirmation of four years of excellent work. It’s more like re-election of good works.”
At the end of the colloquium, the meeting presented and adopted a communique thus: “All youth leaders and critical stakeholders in Southwest Nigeria hereby declare our loyalty, commitment and apparent dedication to the success of the PDP at the 2023 General Elections.”
“The PDP youth leadership in the Southwest adopts and declares that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is the leader of the party in the Southwest.
“The youth leadership of the PDP in the Southwest aligns with the decision of the senators of the PDP in the Federal Republic in the impeachment of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari, for the purpose of insecurity in the nation.
“We unequivocally reject the wicked, inhuman, unfair, nepotistic and insensitive government of the APC at all levels. We are fully against the party that has made and rendered our youths powerless, voiceless and useless. We reject the party that has dragged education, employment and empowerment in the mud and does not value education in any way.
“We categorically reject the tribalistic, divisive and bias sentiments of the APC.
“While commiserating with the people who are victims of unabated killings, banditry and kidnapping in Nigeria, we charge all youths to vote against the APC and their candidates for raising the level of poverty and insecurity in the land.
“We charge our teeming youths to go out and collect their PVCs as we prepare and arm ourselves with the greatest asset to defeat the clueless government of the APC.
“We remain committed to a united and prosperous Nigeria under the leadership of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, come 2023.”
