The House of Representatives’ Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila on Friday reminded Nigerian youths that the choices they are likely to make during the next general elections will determine the outcome and ultimately the fate of the country and her citizenry.
The Speaker stated this while delivering a virtual address to participants of a Youth and Social Development Summit, organized by the Gbaja Professionals Volunteers Network (GPVN) in Abuja to mark the 2022 edition of the United Nations International Youth Day.
Gbajabiamila in his address described as “unfortunate”, the tone and divisive nature of political conversations dominating the social/media space ahead of the 2023 presidential election, saying that facts-based analysis and objective evaluation and assessment of issues and individuals have taken the back seat.
According to the Speaker, “What happens in that election and the kind of nation we will consequently have will depend greatly on the choices young people make in the lead-up to that election and at the polling booth. It is unfortunate that the political conversations about the forthcoming elections have become dominated by the loud voices of division and derision for whom politics is a contact sport designed to inflict the greatest harm on the individuals and the body politic.”
He said “These voices have elevated fake news over facts and the politics of grievance and victimhood over studied consideration of the policy questions and answers that will determine the fate of the young people who make up the majority of our population. You must resist this. It is time for the voices of reason and compromise, whose manifest desire is to be part of the solution, to seize the debate, and make their voices heard.
“This Summit is part of that effort to refocus the public debate on matters of substance and consequence, and I am honoured to be associated with it”, he said.
The Speaker informed participants that the Summit was geared towards unveiling the Digital Ideas Bank and the establishment of a policy faculty which job is to collate the views generate by the summit for transformation in policy proposals for the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“Two important things are going to happen at this Summit. First, the unveiling of a Digital Ideas Bank for Nigerians and friends of the country here and abroad to send in their ideas about the changes they wish to see and their recommendations on making those changes possible. Secondly, a Policy Faculty will be established to collate, review and cohere these ideas and suggestions into practical policy proposals.
“These proposals will be presented to guide the campaign and, hopefully, the Presidency of His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. What an excellent example of active citizenship, of citizens coming together in a joint effort at nation building! I urge all of you who are here today to make sure to take part in this project. I encourage you to spread the message to your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. Tell them they too can be a part of building a nation that meets their best expectations,” the Speaker urged.
National Coordinator of GPVN and
Aide to the Speaker on Youth development, Lukman Lawal said the group has evolved a legacy project for “Nation Building.”
“The group has evolved a legacy project for “Nation Building”, which we recognize a “Joint Task” as espoused by our Principal and Mentor Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila. The concept of the Ideas Bank is to help create on the one hand, a window of knowledge, ideas and intellectual pool for all stakeholders of the Nigeria Project and international partners to contribute, while on the other provide a window of financial empowerment for Life-Support start-up capital for young individuals with workable, achievable and realistic business plans. Capitals to be accessed as grants via this platform shall range between N150,000 — N200,000,” he said.
Commissioning the DIB, the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Public Affairs, Lanre Lasisi said the activities of the GPVN are tailored towards discouraging the youths from crimes and criminality, in that it provides modest veritable tools of economic empowerment through grants.
He assured that his team which operates at the behest of the Speaker will work towards selling the ideas of GPVN to Nigerians of all ages with a specific target on the youths, just as he stated that the team has a rich network of contacts to put the workings of the group in public domain, outside of its website.
Chairman of the Faculty, and Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Musa Abdullahi Krishi told journalists that while the group is not part of the APC presidential campaign, its work is one of the Speaker’s contributions to the success of the campaign and hopefully presidency, being someone whom the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has mentored.
According to him, “solving the problem of youths restiveness and vices is something that both the Speaker and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu stand for, which is why the BPVN was established. Now the Speaker is known to be very close to Tinubu, and since he became the APC presidential candidate, new ideas that can enhance youth development and leadership policies are needed to form part of the roadmap for the future.”
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