Group Wants More Youths In Govt

A non-government organisation for uniting  youths for good governance and self-reliance,  has lent its voice to the on-going constitutional review in the country.

The group,  Akwa Indigenes Development Initiative, AKIDI, in a statement issued in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, and made available to P.M.NEWS  Political Platform, enumerated salient provisions that should be added to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially concerning  youth’s active participation in government.

The president of the group, Prince Ubong Etuk, called for compulsory accommodation of youths in at least 45% of positions states and federal executive councils.

“If truly the youths are regarded as the future leaders of a nation, it behoves the government to make dividends of democracy as well as good governance  accessible to all strata of our society,” Etuk opined.

He condemned in strong terms, a situation where only the children of the rich and corrupt politicians are continually positioned to take over government from their parents, thereby consistently denying the vibrant and most-articulated youths, whose background are not materially buoyant, the opportunity to attain top government positions, which shall transcend to good governance and credible and transparent leadership.

Etuk reviewed the political trend since Nigeria’s independence in 1960 and revealed that the same group of politicians at the state and federal levels keeps recycling itself in the political leadership of the country.

He asked: “When shall the philosophy of the concept of youths as the future leaders be actualised when our elders are consistently dominant in power?” He said corruption will be curtailed, if not eliminated, when more youths are allowed to occupy executive and sensitive positions in government.”

While expressing support for the women folks, Etuk asked for 35% women affirmative in government. The youths of both sex, he stressed, should also be obliged at worst with 45% recognition enshrined in the constitution, to occupy positions at all levels of government.

He stressed the need to make youth empowerment scheme compulsory, saying that this will make them self-reliant and enable them to take their destiny in their hands. The resultant effect shall be evidenced in building successful lives and bequeathing everlasting legacies for themselves and the nation.

Etuk added that Akwa Indigenes Development Initiative, AKIDI, is strongly in support of creation of more states in six  geo-political zones of the country.

—Jamiu Yisa