Hot SourceKemi Olaitan in Ibadan
A women and youth empowerment advocate, Omolara Svensson Busari, has enjoined youths in the country to participate actively in politics as their number is indispensable in influencing the nation’s leadership.
She made the call in Ibadan, Oyo State, during a programme for members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Egbeda Local Government Area tagged: ‘Youths in Politics Sensitization’ with the theme: ‘Understanding our role in active politics’, the first in the series for youths and fourth in the Youth and Women in Politics Sensitization programmes.
Busari in a presentation titled: ‘Seeds of Change: Young Nigerians and the Future of Democracy’, urged the youths to stop seeing politics as a distant theatre, rather they should start treating it as a practical tool to change everyday life.
Stating that they account for the majority of voters while their priorities influence the economy, education, technology and culture.
While identifying unemployment and lack of confidence as some of the major challenges to youth participation in politics, she admonished them to make themselves available for mentorship, be confident, not be intimidated by political thugs and also eschew any form of violence before and during elections.
She maintained that the time has come for the youths to set their priorities right and be intentional about discovering who they are and what they possess, noting that it is important for them to register to vote, train, run, vote and mentor.
She said: “The sensitisation is aimed at training and empowering the youths, strengthening democracy, breaking barriers, building leaders, and balancing power. As we all know that youth participation in active politics is declining every year despite the ‘Not Too Young To Run” initiative.
“We even have it in studies that the seats that are being occupied by the youths have declined by 6.60 per cent from 2018 to the last general elections in 2023, and this is really worrisome and not good for our nation.
“Because of the situation of the country over the decades as well as lack of confidence, our youth have a lot of priorities that are not right. So they need to learn and relearn a lot of things because if they understand who they are, the value they carry and know their right and worth, the rest would fall in place.
“For me, if our youths do not understand who they are and what they carry, they would not be able to maximize the God-given potential that they have and will just live a life of no value.”
The APC chairman in the local government, Hon. Olawale Olaleye, in his remarks, said the sensitisation programme would help improve the participation of the youths in political activities at the local, state and national levels, urging them not to shy away from politics but be actively involved in the political process in their various wards and constituents and also encourage others to participat
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