Gbajabiamila also noted that the political conversations about the elections have been dominated by the loud voices of division and derision
By Anthony Osigbeme, Abuja
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila said on Friday, August 12, that the kind of nation that will emerge after the 2023 general election will depend on the choices that will be made by young Nigerians in the lead up to the elections and at the polling booth.
Speaking at a youth summit organised by the Gbaja Professionals Volunteers Network to mark the 2022 world Youth day, Gbajabiamila said it is unfortunate that the political conversations about the elections have been dominated by the loud voices of division and derision
He regretted that these voices of division have elevated fake news over facts and the politics of grievance and victimhood over studied consideration of the policy questions and answers that will determine the fate of the young people who make up the majority of our population.
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The Speaker said the International Youth Day with the theme “Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a world for all ages” was coming at a time in the nation’s history “when we must make critical choices about the future we want and how to achieve it”.
Gbajabiamila said “In barely six months, the Nigerian people will go to the polls to elect a new slate of political leaders across the country. Governors, federal and state legislatures and a new President and Vice President will be elected to preside over the affairs of our nation at this moment of great opportunity and the potential for peril.
“What happens in that election and the kind of nation we will consequently have will depend greatly on the choices young people make in the lead-up to that election and at the polling booth.
“It is unfortunate that the political conversations about the forthcoming elections have become dominated by the loud voices of division and derision for whom politics is a contact sport designed to inflict the greatest harm on the individuals and the body politic.
“These voices have elevated fake news over facts and the politics of grievance and victimhood over studied consideration of the policy questions and answers that will determine the fate of the young people who make up the majority of our population. You must resist this.
“It is time for the voices of reason and compromise, whose manifest desire is to be part of the solution, to seize the debate, and make their voices heard”.
He disclosed that a practical policy proposal that will be drawn up at the end of the summit from the digital data bank set up by the volunteers will be presented to the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to guide his campaign.
Gbajabiamila who said he has interacted widely with Nigerian youths said “I have seen what young people can achieve and have often been amazed at the innovation, resilience, and brilliance of our nation’s youth in different spheres of life.
“From these experiences, I have long since concluded that our nation’s young people hold in their hands the promise of a future that is far better than everything that has come before. I am committed to doing all I can to help make that future possible”.
National Coordinator of the Gbaja Professional Volunteers Network, Lukman Lawal said the objective of the body which is made up mainly of aides to Gbajabiamila is to activate volunteerism as a model of development, thereby joining forces, as volunteers; with members of: the Government, the private sector and household to improve socio-economic well-being of the, especially Human Capital Development.
He said “we strongly recognize that all hands must be on deck to actualize the quantum of positive impact we all desire in our country and we are poised to identify with the cause of good governance as exemplified by the person of Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the 9 House of Representatives, whose mantra of ascension and daily conduct remains “Nation Building, A Joint Task’.
“Over the last three (3) years, in addition to delivering our professional services to the Speaker as aides and by extension the country to achieve the Legislative Agenda of the 9% Assembly, we have successfully carried out direct interventions on Education, Healthcare, Capacity Building and Welfare, impacting about 100,000 pupils, children, youth, women and households, across the country”.
Lawal said available figures from the World Bank suggested that Nigeria’s sustainable development is threatened if decisive steps are not taken to invest in the Nigerian people, particularly the youth population.
He said “according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria has a youth labour force of 29.9 million people. For context, this is a youth workforce that is over two times the entire population of Belgium. Of this number, 42.5% (12.7 million) are unemployed and actively seeking employment.
“The implications of an underdeveloped youth population are widespread, evident in the growing insecurity, internet fraud, and overall Social stagnation in the country.
“The need for a deliberate, coordinate and multifaceted approach to solving youth unemployment, underemployment, and negative orientation cannot be overemphasized and indeed cannot come at a better time than now”.
He said all efforts must be directed and seen to be directed at creating a very robust window of support around the preparation and positive Social Inclusion of the youth Population, who remains the greatest asset to an assured future for positive growth and development of the country.
He said further that “It is highly imperative to emphasize to every policy maker and executioner today, to properly create mechanisms that will help in understanding and amplifying the youth voice, as well as understanding and identifying the role of the Youth in the National Development Plan.
“As the race towards the 2023 election of the next crop of leadership of the Country thickens, we wish to bring to the fore the compelling need for a robust knowledge and intellectual resource pool that can holistically advance the cause of Youth Development via a deliberate, coordinated and multifaceted approach to solving youth unemployment, underemployment, misery and negative orientation, as well as the fact that this cannot come at a better time.
“It is also a fact that successive governments have not been able to properly dissect the inhibitors of youth activation to productivity as a cycle of systemic development, such that the system will help the youth through infancy and adolescent stages, through qualitative education, learning a vocation and mentorship in good norms and values, no matter the class or creed, ensuring that he or she is productive at adulthood”.
He spoke of the need for a deliberate policy that will reduce the scourge of out of school children which has inadvertently remained a fuel for the bane of banditry, terrorism and crime, especially in the North and carefully appraise the state of Tertiary Education in Nigeria.
He also called for a system of self -funding for tertiary education in the country which has been a long term sustainable model globally, pointing out that a lot of tertiary institutions in the country were created as a result of political exigencies and not economic viability.
He said government funding of education should be restricted to Tax Funding Initiative such as TETFUND, which has done a lot in infrastructure support and development of Institutions of higher learning since its inception till date, while personnel and overhead which is the crux of incessant ASUU Strike should be taken off the lean government purse.