With the Refusal of our Octogenarians to relinquish some space for the younger generation in the political sphere, it has become imperative to seek for ways of making them see reasons why the younger generation should be given the opportunity to govern .
The Recent pronouncement by president Goodluck Jonathan that youths should be allowed to vie for the presidency could not have come at a better time.
To fully understand the demand for a 30% representation of youths in elective and appointive positions we must have a clear view of how our present elders emerged
Shehu Shagari became a federal legislator at 30 and a Minister at 35, M.T Mbu became a Minister at age 25, and high commissioner to the UK at age 26. Richard Akinjide was Education Minister at age 32, Maitama Sule was oil Minister at 29, Audu Ogbe was Minister at 35,at 32 Yakubu Gowon became head of state and successfully led Nigeria through one of the most difficult times in her history and prevailed.
However, since the advent of democracy in 1999 our Elders have consistently monopolized virtually all leadership positions, transforming young people into glorified thugs and tools for electioneering. This self serving policy and greed have combined to extricate intellectually sound young minds with great ideas from governance .
Over the years our Elders have insisted on the fact that we lacked the requisite experience to lead, but how do we secure the experience when we are denied the opportunity to serve? they say we are leaders of tomorrow, while stubbornly refusing to allow tomorrow come.
The youth might not have the financial muscle to struggle for power with the elders on equal terms , but in the words of Lupita Nyong’o Our dreams are Valid !
Oche Joseph Otorkpa
Publisher of the Tsuntsu Hausa Newspaper
Tweets from @ochejoseph
30% Youth Affirmation: A Valid dream
