Don’t Blame Nigeria’s Woes On Leadership, Kolade Urges Youths January 18, 2014 Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Christopher Kolade has urged youths in the country to look for ways of contributing their quota to the development of the country rather than heaping the woes of the nation on leadership. Speaking during the Generational Voices Telethon held in Ikeja, the former SURE-P boss identified telecommunications, Information Technology, Oil and gas, banking as profitable sectors in the society adding that “it is the young people” who are doing exploits there. He however berated the fact that “young people don’t know how to appreciate your own capacity in this nation” insisting that “you allow yourselves to be led into thinking that if you are going to make it, someone has to let you in”. He further warned that “nobody who is sitting in a position of influence today is going to let you do it” adding that those at the helm of affairs will not vacate their positions for the younger generation. Also speaking at the event, former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili noted that this generation is a “threatened generation” urging youths to get involved in the activities that will change the economic, social and political landscape of the country. To do that she said “you must first understand the tenets of democracy” because “you (youths have been born in an era that languished under militarisation for many decades” insisting that “everything about the country you have been born into is militarised”. She was also quick to note that “this was the greatest failure of the government that I was part of; we failed to realise that and do a natural mobilisation that rid our society of the militarisation”. The former World Bank Vice President also called for a change in approach from the military to a democratic form of solving societal issues. Various youths who spoke at the event agreed that it is about time Nigerian youths effect some positive changes in their society. She added that the youths must understand that the most important office in democracy is not the legislature, the executive or judiciary, but the office of the citizen. “The citizen that is informed, the citizen that understands the issues and the citizen that defines expectations not just for others but for himself or herself, that is [the citizen that knows] how to engage effectively,” she said. Generational Voices is a programme aimed at grooming a generation of leaders that will bring about change in the socio-economic and political sectors.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 22:38:07 +0000
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