Nigeria faces various issues today. Problems as the poor management of natural resources, high rate of unemployment, corruption, economic instability, government crises, insecurity and others, which have continuously dwarfed the system. There is no other way of solving these myriads of problems if the citizens do not demand a 21st-century leadership.
It is an ominous sign that the country is where it is today because most of the youths have left governance in the hands of senile, corrupt, and analogue leaders who know nothing about the digital age and its correlation with good governance. It is of a necessity for the youth to wake up and put on their thinking cap to demand a better country.
The country is presently running on a module that was designed in the sixties and the seventies and we can’t use that module to deal with a world that has gone completely digital and where knowledge is really the most important value, rather than hoping to sell oil.
The hope is by 2022, the youth will delve more into politics and decide on a leader who is experienced, youthful, educated, resilient from a good party, ready to give back, and importantly, communicate with every citizen regardless of their tribe, gender, language or religion. It has become a necessity to look beyond a leader who just spews colourful grammar but won’t create lasting impact through selfless service.
A service-oriented leader is what the youths should prioritize. A great leader who has served its citizens, its community, hands-on in one way or the other. A leader who understands the plight and yearnings of the masses, enabling him/her to be equipped to handle problems and strategically solve them with clarity of mind.
The youth will have to think beyond dining with money feasting politicians which all they do is to buy their way to power. This will not help the nation to prosper parading politicians who have nothing to offer this great country. They are just interested fetching for their bellies and the majority of the citizens do suffer from looting and squandering the national treasury.
Ninety-one political parties registered for the last election, but it is obvious that many of those political parties were not obviously paraded making APC and PDP as the only viable option. A lot of people have complained of not having a better option, but it is an ominous sign that majority of the fringe political parties were not in the public eyes and might have been alternatives but they were all accorded with a lowly vote.
The 2019 presidential election has new faces which a lot of youths thought they could turn Nigeria around but not aggressively visible due to lowly votes accorded them by INEC and these are the likes of Nicholas(PCP) People Coalition Party, 110,196 , Donald Duke (SDP) Social Democratic Party, 34,746, Omoyele Sowore, (ACC) African Action Congress, 33,953, Moghalu (YPP) Young Progressive Party, 21,886, Fela Durotoye (AAN) Alliance for New Nigeria, 16,779, Tope Fasua (ANRP) Abundant Renewal Party, 4,340 and Atuejide Eunice (NIP) National Interest Party, 2,248.
The logic is written on the wall that the youth are not yet fully awake to exercising their power to choose the leaders they want. They keep lip service and distracted from the reality of making a change and demanding the leaders they want with their votes. Political parties have a big role to play in the election process of a great leader. This is the right time for fringe political parties to re-align themselves to have a good political structure that is paramount to the development and ethos of good governance.
The race of 2023 is now, and it is up to the youth if they will wake up and aggressively set a new direction reflecting the need for change, participation, inclusion, and service delivery. The demand for a great leader that will salvage and prosper the nation is not a second thought and it is up to the youths to cut on the ballot and make a change.
THINK TANK
OLAKUNLE AGBOOLA
