As the 2019 general elections get closer, Mrs. Petra Onyegbule, Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, has advised youths against offering themselves to be used as thugs by desperate politicians.
Onyegbule told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lokoja that youths should resist the temptation to be used as tools for destruction by politicians that would dump them thereafter.
“The youths must see themselves as tools of unity and development; they should be interested in a better tomorrow and be ready to plan for it.
“They must be able to detect evil from afar and resist it, no matter how it is coloured,” she said.
She reminded the youths that election was not war, pointing out that life would continue long after the elections were gone.
Onyegbule said that Kogi had become a model in youth participation in governance, saying that youths constituted a majority in Bello’s cabinet.
The media aide challenged other governors to emulate the Kogi example by engaging more youths in leadership, noting that the youths had the zeal, zest and the know-how to get the right things done appropriately.
Onyegbule urged public support for efforts to stamp out corruption and insecurity so that Nigeria can become a save haven for investments.
“With massive investments into the country, there will be jobs and youths will be positively engaged,” she said. (NAN)