Mr Izunna Agwuncha, the Organsing Secretary of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), South-East, says the non-inclusion of youths in President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list is at variance with the Not Too Young to Run Act.
Agwuncha said this on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri, while speaking on President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nomination.
He advised the nation’s youths to remain resilient in their quest for political relevance, even though they did not make the ministerial list.
He said that their exclusion from the list should rather challenge them to intensify the struggle.
Agwuncha, however, said that the development called for sober reflection by youths in Nigeria.
The youth leader said that the “sidelining of the nation’s youth” smacked of political rivalry between the old politicians and the youth.
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He contended that while “children are leaders of tomorrow”, youths should be today’s leaders. “Youths are no longer children so they should be wholly integrated in governance since they constitute about 85 per cent of the country’s population,’’ Agwuncha said.
He described the inclusion of young people in key positions as necessary for the preservation of the country’s economy, given that the youths remained key players in the nation’s workforce.
He said: “Youth inclusion in governance is a struggle that must be pushed, in spite the odds because no individual, interest group or country gets political power by begging.
“Our political elders have failed to recognise the youths as major stakeholders in nation building, thereby failing to tap the innovative ideas in young leaders.
“In spite of the role youths played in Buhari’s re-election, their absence in his nomination is a clear indication that old politicians have no space for emerging young leaders but we won’t be deterred.”
