Give us 30 per cent Representation In Government; PDP Youths Demand
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The leadership of the nation has been advised to lay a trusted base for the future of the nation by trusting in her youth and giving them more opportunities to lead and partake in governance.
Speaking at a press conference organised by the Peoples’ Democratic Party National Youth Frontier (PDPNYF), yesterday in Abuja, the frontier’s national coordinator, Comrade Austin Usman Okhai, pointed out that it is high time the nation’s leaders realised the potential of her youths for leading and give them a chance.
“We have been asking for youth inclusiveness in governance and, having carried out some assessments and worked with the office of the special adviser to the president on youth affairs, it is clear that most of the local government chairmen, councillors and grassroots politicians are youths. Statistically, we have reached that; what Nigerian youths want now is 30 per cent inclusiveness in elective positions and appointments.
“The only way we can get this is by parleying with the presidential candidates. Remember, the president has done the same for the women. It is only fair that the same be applied to the nation’s young people.
“The nation has about 43 or 46 ministers, thereabouts. What is wrong in making about 10 or 15 of them young people? This is the only way to help them prepare for ‘accidental leadership’ and prepare for the challenges of the future. If the minister of finance is a seasoned global economist, what prevents the president from appointing the minister of state for finance from being a far younger person who’s got potentials?” Okhai said.
Okhai also explained that the government can do so by encouraging the political parties to make provisions for it in their statutes, as a part of their policies.
“A specific waiver can be given to a person or persons of a particular age, as regards the cost of buying forms for elective positions or by making a law that can stand. What is wrong if two of the three House of Representatives’ members at the federal level are young people?
That can be decided by party politics but it is feasible. That is the only way to groom our young people who are in the political circle for future leadership challenges and the only people who can promise to do that is the president or the presidential aspirants who will soon take centre stage,” Okai said.
The youth leader emphasised that, as Nigeria’s largest constituency, the young people of Nigeria demand to be part of the day-to-day ruling of the country. He stated that, prior to the coming of President Jonathan, the nation’s young people have “always been at the receiving end of government policies, yet we have the power to elect or protest against any interest or government.”
Okhai pointed out, though, that it is a legislative issues, as the push will have to get a two-third majority to see the light of day.
“As much as the president loves the nation’s young people, he cannot veto it, because a bill has to be sponsored. That said, the office of the national adviser to the president on youth affairs is on it,” Okhai said.
He pointed out that the party chairman Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the president’s political adviser Professor Rufai Alkali and the adviser to the president on youth affairs have been instrumental in supporting the demand.
Source: LeadershipNGA
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