The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • #NotTooYoungToRun: Joyous daybreak for the Nigerian youths

    The assurance of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the “Not Too Young To Run” bill comes as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Nigerian youths who have been seared in the flames of political marginalization.

    It is a healthy weather and a joyous daybreak for our nascent democracy, and a momentous breakthrough for the vibrant youths of our nation as it seems like in few days our constant clamour for inclusion in the elective and political superstructure of our great nation is about to receive a constitutional approbation.

    The political stratosphere is about to become more interesting as we will see young, experienced and brilliant minds share campaign soapboxes and political portfolios with the older generations come 2019.

    The bill, which is part of the process to amend the 1999 Constitution, seeks to reduce the minimum age requirements and entry for elective offices in the country.

    It will ensure that any individual who is a citizen of Nigeria, and has attained at least the ages of twenty-five and thirty years respectively, will have the statutory right to contest elective positions.

    Some of the positions up for grabs are as follows: membership of the National Assembly, membership of the House of Assembly, Governor and President.

    Read also: Youth not fully ready for leadership -Yero

    Below is the full details of the “Not Too Young To Run” Bill:

    Qualifications for Membership of National Assembly

    1. Section 65 (1)(a) and (b) is amended by substituting the provisions with a new

    provision as follows:

    A person shall be qualified for election as a member of –

    (a) the Senate, if he is a citizen of Nigeria and has attained the age of thirty years;

    and

    (b) the House of Representatives, if he is a citizen of Nigeria and has attained the age

    of twenty-five years.

    1. Section 65 (2)(b) is amended by substituting the provision with a provision as

    follows:

    A person shall be qualified for election under subsection (1) of this section if –

    (c) He is member of a political party and is sponsored by that party or he is an independent candidate

    Qualifications for Membership of House of Assembly

    1. Section 106 (b) and (d) is amended by substituting the provisions with new provision as follows:

    A person shall be qualified for election as a member of a House of Assembly if –

    (b) he has attained the age of twenty-five years;

    (d) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that party or he is an independent candidate

    Qualifications for election as President

    1. Section 131 (b) and (c) is amended by substituting the provisions with new provisions as follows:

    A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if –

    (b) he has attained the age of thirty;

    (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party or he is an independent candidate

    Qualifications for election as Governor

    1. Section 177 (b) and (c) is amended by substituting the provisions with new provisions as follows:

    A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the Governor of a State if –

    (b) he has attained the age of thirty;

    (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party or he is an independent candidate

    1. This Bill may be cited as Constitution (Alteration) Bill, 2016

    EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

    This Bill seeks to alter the Section 65, 106, 131, 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President and Governor and membership of the Senate and House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly. The Bill also seeks to allow independent candidacy in Nigeria’s electoral process.

    President Buhari is perceived to be a man of integrity who keeps to his words and promises; the days to come will validate such conjectures. Let’s see if he would transform his promises from thin paper to thick action.

    Great Nigerian Youths….our time has come.

    We are the leaders of NOW.

     

    Moses Emorinken is a reporter with The Nation Newspaper from the business desk.

    Twitter & Instagram : @memorinken

  • Rec warns youths against violence, vote buying

    the Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. AbdulGaniy Raji, has warned the youths against violence, “vote buying and selling” at the July 14 governorship election.

    Raji also warned them against being used by politicians to attack opponents, voters and electoral officials adding they would be disowned, if arrested by law enforcement agents.

    He expressed dismay that the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was slashed while that of the National Assembly was increased by the federal lawmakers.

    Raji spoke yesterday at a Voter Education Retreat organised by Youngstars Development Initiative, 2Baba Foundation and New Generation for Girls and Women Development (NIGAWD) in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The parley tagged “Vote Not Fight: Election No Be War” was also supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom for International Development (UKAID) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

    Youths, who were drawn from the 16 local government areas, promised to take the campaign to their localities to ensure a peaceful poll.

    Raji disclosed that between 60 and 70 per cent of those involved in violence at elections are youths whom he said are induced with money by desperate politicians in a bid to win at all cost.

    He said: “Ekiti is a volatile state, the news being heard outside is that you cannot enter Ekiti. But the perception must change.

    “It has moved from rigging or snatching of electoral materials to vote buying and vote selling. Before, when an election is disrupted, it will be cancelled but that no longer obtains.

    “You do the election again and bring all security agents from elsewhere for such rerun election and you know what that means.

    “With your activities, you can enlighten other youths, technology has been introduced to enhance the electoral process.

    “We have enhanced the software of our machines during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    “What used to take five to seven minutes now takes one to two minutes and this has enabled us to register over 50,000 new voters during the last CVR.”

    NIGAWD Executive Director Abimbola Aladejare disclosed that a popular musician, Innocent Idibia, a.k.a. 2Face. has been commissioned as Campaign Peace Ambassador and he will perform live in Ado-Ekiti on June 22.

    Aladejare added that the Vote Not Fight campaign will take take the message of peace to political actors, media organizations, transport workers, traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders.

    Country Director of NDI, Aubrey Cutcheon, urged the youth to show readiness to take leadership roles and not allow themselves to be used as thugs.

    Other speakers at the forum include the Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ede Ayuba; the State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dayo Famosaya; state Nigeria Union Journalists (NUJ) Chairman, Rotimi Ojomoyela.

     

  • Former council boss advises youths

    A former Sole Administrator of Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area, Tunji Ilelaboye, has urged youths to shun activities capable of truncating their future.

    Ilelaboye spoke at Alapere, at a forum organised by the youth in the area. It was themed: “Youth, Democracy and Governance”.

    The former Sole Administrator noted that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow, but their tomorrow stars today hence, they should display good virtues.

    He said: “Robbery, kidnappings and thuggery, among other social vices commonly identified with youths, can’t impart anything good on the society, shun it.

    “Several young people have been presiding over the affairs of countries in the world; therefore, Nigerian youths must look beyond primordial thoughts and do something meaningful that will make them fit well into the society they live in.”

  • Letter to our hard-working youths

    Sir: Dear compatriots, you must be concerned about public display of ineptitude by our public figures; national degradation brought by them and international disrepute against our dear country – Nigeria. In fact, you may have lost hope amidst the gross inefficiency of leaders who debate personal interest above other priorities and kick out those who wish to talk about public concerns.

    I know your mind cannot be closed to the abominable ways in which innocent lives are terminated daily; the awful look of our public institutions, incessant strike actions by workers and worse, seeming general state of affairs. But what I don’t know is how you hardworking youths are tackling these issues confronting our peace, where are the valiant spirit in us?

    Leaders will continue to bear the name so long as they have our mandate; so long as we call them such; so long as we romance their homes; so long as we condemn them on social media and venerate them when they come to us; so long as we play party politics over credibility and competency. All these give me lesser concern lately, dear compatriots! My concern lies on how to provide alternate realities by fixing our individual problems before heaping the whole dirt on the leaders.

    Alternate realities will see to the end of ridiculing leaders for mistakes we may even make worse; disregarding them for the little they have done; letting them enjoy power and money when they make more noise than action; and seeking for our mandate with alms and arms. We must rebrand our thinking not by ridiculing  anyone but by kicking then out through legitimate avenues.

     

    • Uthman Qasim,

    Student, IBB University, Lapai.     

  • Youths protest against Okorocha

    A group of placard-carrying youths yesterday besieged the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja to protest against Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    The protesters demanded an end to the governor’s style of governance.

    The youths urged the party to stop Okorocha from actualising his alleged plan to make his in-law as his successor.

    They vowed to resist the alleged plan.

    The protest took place as APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) expected a party delegation, led by the governor, from Imo State.

    Some of the placards read: “No more Rochas After Rochas”; “No Rochas in-law” and “We are tired of Rochas Okorocha”.

     

  • Youths form movement towards 2019 elections

    A new youth’s social movement, #voteorshutup2019 has joined the numerous campaign for a desired 2019 elections.

    Spotted around Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Maryland on Monday, members of the movement took advantage of the early morning commuters traffic to share free voter’s guide booklets, while enlightening the people on the importance of obtaining their PVC and participating in the upcoming elections.

    According to a representative of the movement, Mr. Osazee Bazuaye, a hospitality and lifestyle specialist; “It is easy for young people to complain, so many young people don’t bother to vote but they love to complain about the elected officials, we want people to come out and vote, we don’t care who you vote for just vote.”

    The movement started silently early this year and has seen a gradual growth in interest from its peers.

    Another member, Miss Moe of eventsbymoe said; “we want the politicians to acknowledge the efforts of groups like us, this is something we are passionate about and we are not even politicians so we expect the passion from the politicians to be 100 times more than ours in getting young people interested in supporting them.”

    The movement is said to consist of part-time volunteers, and interests has grown within celebrities and even peer leaders from other states such as Edo, Rivers and Cross River.

  • Osinbajo, Mustapha urge youths to support Buhari

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha have called on the youths to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to reposition the country.

    Osinbajo who was represented by Administrator, Aso Villa Chapel, Rev. Peter Ambi, at a Summit organised by the Youths For Peace and Good Leadership Initiative in Abuja yesterday, said the government was not happy with the spate of killings in some parts of the country.

    He assured the gathering of youths that the government was doing a lot to bring the killings to an end, adding that younger generation of Nigerians should also contribute to efforts at finding solution to the problem.

    Osinbajo said: “We at the Presidency are not happy with the killings. This is because peace is key to any development that will take place in this nation.

    “The government is doing a lot to bring this issue of killings to an end.  And we must also support the government to put an end to the killings.  We have issues in this nation that are actually dividing us.

    “The issue of religion, the issue of ethnicity and political differences are dividing us.

    “But as young people, we must come together, discuss and suggest ways through which the government can solve some of these problems.

    “We must also tell the perpetrators that we will not agree to be used for crime”.

    The SGF, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters, Gideon Sammani, urged the youths to believe in the capacity of the Buhari administration to better their lot.

    He urged the youths to key into the various empowerment programmes put in place by the government, adding that the administration would continue to make opportunities available to the youth population.

    According to him: “The government has directed the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and we believe and trust in God that the perpetrators will be arrested.

    “So the traditional rulers and the religious leaders must be committed towards making our country great again”.

    The President of the Youth for Peace and Good Leadership Initiative, Dr. Simon Dolly, urged the government and policy makers to evolve more policies and initiatives with the youth population as primary focus.

    The youth leader called on the government to provide the enabling environment to the youth to thrive and develop their potentials.

    According to him, any country that neglects its youths can never make progress.

  • Durotoye: Youths will protest in 2019 if…

    Youths may protest if they are disenfranchised through the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), a presidential hopeful Fela Durotoye has warned.

    He appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) to double up its efforts to ensure more Nigerians obtain their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ahead of the 2019 elections.

    Durotoye spoke during the meeting of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International organised by the Victoria Island Executive Chapter at Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos.

    The presidential aspirant, who seeks to run on the platform of the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANA) said: “INEC needs to be put under intense pressure with quiet protests and marches.

    “We are telling political parties to tender their dissatisfactions if INEC fails to issue the PVCs.

    “We are aware that if you are in a certain extension of the country you would find it difficult to get your PVC.

    “The process itself is not free and fair while in some parts of the country it is not difficult to register to vote.”

    He went on: “Election protests may happen if the young people who need to vote are disenfranchised.

    “We are pleading to INEC now. People are volunteering their laptops and their services in some places to assist INEC but the electoral body is not accepting.

    “There are churches willing to volunteer too. We are going to mount internal and external pressure to ensure INEC responds to calls on PVC.”

  • Youths, arise!

    The trouble with Nigeria according to late novelist, Chinua Achebe is squarely that of leadership. Also, our diversity in culture has become one of our biggest setbacks when it should have been our strongest selling point. This unique quality which should be an advantage has become an instrument we use against each other for selfish reasons to gain power, wealth and status.

    Nigerians have become so delusional that they now believe in this status quo rather than making conscious effort to confront the reality that as a people we are all flawed. We rather apportion blames while exempting ourselves and regions from the fact that we all contributed to why we are and what we are either by our actions and inactions.

    Nigerians must not allow the past to define us. The past is history and dwelling on the past can do us no good. Rather, we must use the past as a reference point towards building future we can all be proud of. As Nigerians we must be ready to reinvent ourselves taking advantage of our unique problems and converting them into opportunities for our people to thrive. Yes, we are at that point where we cannot afford the luxury of trusting our leaders in government to better the situation alone as history reminds us.

    Therefore, we must become partners in this project of nation building. We must try to use what is naturally available to us, aided by technology to create the experience that makes the difference and once we have achieved that we would have created a system that breeds responsibility and competency. We would have produced a pool of leaders good enough to keep steering the wheel of nation building.

    As Nigerians, we must collectively accept that activism is the way to begin. It is only by being active that we can stop those who are benefiting from the current rent seeking structure that promotes idleness and unpatriotic patronage in and around the corridors of power. These benefactors and their idols would fight tooth and nail to maintain their grip on our collective resources. They would continually want the masses to remain occupied in a muddy fight while they fleece our country.

    For once, pause and look around what is supposed to be affordable education and you will notice how inhabitable the environment of study is. While we struggle with the high cost of education for our kids, they got the best teachers and schools, home and abroad paid from the states stolen funds to school their wards and upon graduation, jobs in our nations must revered government institutions and companies are already waiting for them.

    While this is the true state of our nation today, let us not forget who present day crop of leaders are. These are a set of generation who enjoyed the best of all the country could afford in their youth: free education, health care and Jobs that were readily available. Life was safe enough for them to aspire towards greatness and they did. At a tender age of 23 to 29 and above, some became commissioners, ministers, governors and heads of state or presidents. This same generation did not know what it meant or felt like struggling to buy a used car or Tokunbo as it is popularly called, or a used electronic set, or even used clothes as the leaders before them were good to them.

    But they have blatantly refused to replicate the same thing for this generation. While in their 60s and 70s they are still fighting each other for the jobs, appointments and opportunities, they were once given. They even accuse us of being in a hurry. Just to keep us off their back and away from competing they have perfected the tool; ethnicity and religion to tear the younger generation apart turning the youths into enemies of themselves and each other. They have ensured that the young of this generation are kept in the dark, blinded by hate and anger created by frustration and unemployment, poverty and more.

    Those that make up this older generation are supposed to have a duty not just to their kids but to the entire nation that had been good to them. They owe this nation a debt they should be paying but have refused to pay. They are taken away by pure greed and lack of contentment.

    It’s time we stood up and say enough is enough. We the youths of this country must rise to the challenges of today. It’s time the youths reminded these leaders of their over-lapsed responsibilities in case they are overtaken by age to claim ignorance or amnesia. It is time these older leaders gave back or better still retire if they lack what to give as it is looking more and more obvious they lack the will to, neither is the nation or its youth willing to wait for them to ask what they can or should do for the country.

    It is even more disheartening at this time that the likes of General Ibrahim Babangida (retired), supposedly the architect of a failed modern Nigeria speaking up and telling us what to do. First, he needs to apologize to us and secondly, return all he looted. Most times people say don’t worry about the messenger listen to the message, I’m sorry to say but one very important lesson I have learnt as an entrepreneur is that you never seek mentorship or advice from a person who has never succeeded as an entrepreneur. I can never trust anything that comes out from that group of unpatriotic, self-serving generation whose only achievement is nothing other than failure.

    If we go through their records one after the other to question what they have done for their wards or villages not to mention their local government areas you would meet an empty set.

    As Nigerians, let us take opportunity where it resides; right now we have an open but slim window. We are in the digital age, an age of limitless enlightenment and an age where education and information is no longer limited to the four-walls of a class room, an age that opens the mind of any person seeking for greatness, an age of globalization. Let us take this opportunity to redefine ourselves and our togetherness by ending our collective bondage. Let us free ourselves from their strong-hold while we can and while the sun stills shine. We should also make it a point of duty to teach our kids to be better, to rise against people who would threaten not only their future but that of their kids and grandkids. But now, we need that first step, we have to show our kids that we are not weak, we’ve not been broken, this was not the Nigeria that our founding fathers fought for.

    We must stand up, we must to rise beyond our pettiness, we must raise our voices, we must embrace our differences. We must cut across our religious and ethnic divides. We must know that those same things they use to tear us apart are the strength in us. We are better, we will make our kids and our grandkids proud.

    Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Long live Nigeria.

     

    • Nahuche is an entrepreneur.

  • ‘Youths should be APC’s vanguard’

    Youths in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been urged to support the party’s principles, candidates and learn more about political process.

    The Lagos State coordinator of the APC volunteer group, Otunba Adewale Adeyemi, spoke at the party’s secretariat in Ikeja, while inaugurating the APC volunteers elders’ advisory council.

    He said youths must socialise with progressives to attain their political ambition.

    Adeyemi implored the elders to engage youths and position them towards electoral victory next year.

    He hailed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his doggedness in ensuring the survival of democracy in Nigeria.

    Leader of the advisory council Dr. Akinsanya Ajose urged youths to stop making noise on social media and participate in politics to make a change.

    He urged the volunteers to mobilise others to register and collect their cards and vote next year.

    Ajose urged them to develop themselves because the value they have would determine what they give the public.