It is no longer news that youth participation in politics and leadership in Nigeria had been relegated to the back seat since our return to democratic rule. Not even the ‘not too young to run’ bill passed by the 8th national assembly and assented by President Muhammadu Buhari has been able to offer the Nigerian youth the political advantage and consideration they crave.
It is believed that the reluctance of the older generation to relinquish power or deliberately get the youth involved in governance is a key reason for Nigeria’s economic, security and infrastructure woes.
To this end, the presidential declaration of the Kogi state governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello on the 2nd of April 2022 at the Eagle Square in Abuja is significant in all ramifications. Governor Bello doesn’t just represent the youth population of Nigeria, his laudable achievements as Governor of Kogi state makes him a worthy ambassador of the youth, who has got ample capacity, the needed political doggedness and the required mentality to pilot the affairs of this country to an enviable height.
Governor Bello’s scorecard in the areas of security, youth involvement in politics, eradication of ghost workers, infrastructure development, gender equality and ethnic balance in making appointments puts him miles ahead of his peers and makes him a worthy leader of the Nigerian youth.
GYB, as he is fondly called, took over the mantle of leadership of Kogi state at a time when terrorists, armed robbers, kidnappers and ritual killers turned the state into their ‘home’. Determined to free his people from the terror of criminals and evil men, governor Bello personally led a combined team of the army, police and other security agencies and took the fight directly to the criminals. Within the spate of three months the youthful and agile governor, leading from the front was able to decimate and bring to a halt the obnoxious activities of the men of the underworld. This feat earned GYB the ‘best governor of the year award in security’.
Being a youth himself, nearly ninety five percent of elected persons and political appointees in Kogi state falls within the ages of thirty five and fourthy five years old. The team of vibrant and energetic youth in government works tirelessly round the clock to ensure the delivery of dividends of democracy to the good people of Kogi state.
GYB’s scientific approach to governance was evident in the way and manner by which he used ICT in resolving the issue of ghost workers, which past governors of the state found extremely difficult and had hitherto given the state a bad image and virtually destroyed the civil service, little wonder why the governor is nicknamed “digital governor”. GYB’s achievement in education revenue generation and youth employment are commendable and worthy of note.
Kogi state is one of the very few states in Nigeria that has achieved more than thirty five percent affirmative action for women in elective and appointive positions. It is worthy of note that ahead of the last local government election in the state, the state government directed all political parties to ensure that women be made running mates to all chairmanship aspirants of the political parties in the state. As a result of that directive, today virtually all Vice chairmen of the twenty one local government areas are women; this is in addition to the fact that the Secretary to the state government and other notable state appointees are women.
Before GYB came into office, developmental projects and appointments were skewed and concentrated within the locality and ethnic group of a sitting governor. Today, all the tribes and ethnic groups in the state are represented in government and infrastructural and developmental projects are spread across the entire state without bias or prejudice to the others. Despite the lean financial resources accruing the state, GYB has been rated high by both local and foreign media in terms of infrastructural developmental projects.
Worthy of mention is the ongoing Ganaja flyover, the first of its kind in Lokoja, the state capital. Going by these achievements of Governor Yahaya Bello in Kogi state and his relentless desire to replicate the developmental strides at the national level, it is time for the Nigerian youth to rise up to save our nation, by rallying round their own to bring the prevailing general insecurity to a halt, drastically reduce the current skyrocketing inflation and unemployment rates, and to give education, healthcare delivery and infrastructural development the urgently needed attention.
It is time for the Nigerian youth to take their destinies into their own hands by mobilizing and doing all within their constitutional rights to ensure that Governor Yahaya Bello is elected President of this great nation. Get GYB into Aso Rock Villa to make Nigeria great again.
– Dr Hassan Obaro wrote from Katsina.
