By: Kate Obi/Kaduna
The former Chairman, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Barrister James Kanyip has said that majority of the present crop of Nigerian youth is not ready for political leadership and governance.
The Legal Practitioner who disclosed this to newsmen during his paper presentation titled “Youth Involvement in the Governance of Nigeria” :Issues and Challenges at a one-day round-table discussion in Kaduna, North-West, Nigeria noted that this is because they have allowed themselves to become fools and tools in the hands of unscrupulous old politicians who used them as thugs and gangsters to achieve their selfish political interest.
He lamented that apart from making the political terrain hostile as a result of thuggery and gangsterism, the Nigerian youth are also being used by the old political elites to perpetrate religious, ethnic and regional violent conflicts which further making it difficult for the youth to find their footing in the political governance in the country.
“The youth are not ready to politically emancipate themselves. They allowed themselves to be still enslaved by the chains of godfatherism so much so that they will rather vote for the old politicians than to vote for their own peer.
“The trend now is to see them fighting each other in the social and other media for unworthy causes that have no positive bearing to their collective well-being.
“The real issues are: What democratic tenets are the youth inheriting from the old politicians” Is it politics without ideology? Is it politics of cross-carpeting? Is it politics of corruption and corrupt politics? Is it politics of thuggery? Or is it politics of godfatherism?
“It is one thing for the youth to participate in politics and governance but is it another thing for them to play it according to the tenets and principles of democracy.
The youth have the number and power to change their tide and fortunes, to decide their fate and destiny but they chose to put all theses in the hands of the old politicians and their political godfathers to decide for them. At every election, the youth recycle the same old politicians. They will insult and kill themselves just to ensure that these group of old people win elections at all cost.
“The truth is that, power is never given freely or relinquished by the older ones to the younger ones just like that. Power is given only to those who dare to stoop and take it and one mush have the courage to take it. Power will never be handed over to the youth on a platter. They must take it” he stressed
Barrister Kanyip opined that instead of the youth whining and complaining on the social media, they should unite to take over power and chart a new political destiny for themselves as they have the population and numerical advantage.
According to him, since Nigeria politics is not founded and practiced on the basis of ideology, the youth must strive to form a political party or a coalition of political parties on genuine ideology not as thugs but as active members where they will bring in new visions and objectives to bear with a view to changing the politics for the greater good of Nigeria.
The former Local Council Chairman called on the Federal Government to sponsor and pass legislation for independent candidacy that would allow the youth to successfully contest for elections without shouldering the burden of outrageous financial cost involvement in the purchase of expression interest and nomination forms.
The Legal Practitioner however hoped that the Nigerian youth would be more responsible, responsive and courageous towards achieving their political and economic goal while praying for better Nigeria where the youth shall take over the mantle of leadership when President of Nigeria will be a youth of 35 years of age, the governor and senators will be youths of 30 years.
