2019: Olurode, Muslim students decry low youth participation in governance  …fault APC, PDP selection process, high nomination fee

A Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos, Lai Olurode, and hundreds of Muslim students have called for the involvement of youth in leadership and governance of the country.

They spoke at the 2018 Annual Conference of Muslim Students' Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit, held on Sunday at the University of Lagos.

This is as the Deputy Director of Programmes, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Alhaji AbdurRasak Abdssalam, urged youth in the country to gear up for leadership positions.

Prof. Olurode urged political parties to make the #NotTooYoungToRun drive effective in the upcoming 2019 election.

The University Don lamented that majority of the aspiring Nigerian youth would not be able to afford the “huge amount of money” placed on nomination forms by leading political parties in Nigeria.

He said: “Governance has nothing to do with age, everybody should aspire for it. Take for example the huge amount of money APC placed on nomination forms, I expect the president (Muhammadu Buhari) to condemn this act as it is not a good omen for the country.”

Amir (President) of MSSN Lagos, Alhaji (Dr) Saheed Ashafa, advocated that one of the ways to achieve youth leadership is the reviewing of Nigeria Constitution to define the age range of youth.

He said this would help checkmate the political actors, who have in recent times, exploited the gap in the constitution.

“Youth leadership can be encouraged by making the participation in political process easy and pocket-friendly. A situation where one needs to possess millions of naira to purchase interest and nomination form is a way to discourage youth and it is worrisome. Being a leader in Nigeria should not be subjected to being rich. Good leaders are not necessarily rich personalities.

"It is advisable that there should be a clause defining the youth demography in the constitution. Youth engagement in leadership has great potential for facilitating national growth and development,” he added.

Speaking on the theme: Youth Leadership and Governance, Abdssalam, expressed concerns over the readiness of Nigerian youths to take up the challenges.

"The issue is that some of the youths of today are also corrupt to take up from the elders. They are ill-prepared to face the challenges, but going forward, Nigerian youth have to possess the quality in academic excellence, professional competence, hardworking and spiritual guidance to excel,” he said.