FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has advised Nigerian youths,
\nespecially aspiring young leaders, not to repeat the mistakes of the
\npast, charging them to revolutionize a new paradigm shift in
\nleadership and citizenship.
\nJonathan gave the charge yesterday in Yenagoa while receiving the New
\nNigeria 2019 Group, (#NN-2019) and the Young Professionals of Nigeria,
\nYPN, led by Chima Nwafor and Moses Siasia. He also commended the youth
\ngroups for trying to chart a new course for the socio-political
\ndevelopment of the country.
\nThe former president, who described youths as the pillar of any
\nsociety, stressed that anybody who meant well for the society will not
\ndownplay the role of the youths, noting that the political history of
\nthe country was replete with youths who have played leadership
\npositions and performed creditably well.
\nHe also went on to urge the youths not to make the fundamental
\nmistakes of past leaders which included mistakes of tribalism,
\nnepotism, and mistakes of religious intolerance.
\nHe said: I am happy that you cut across all parts of the country, you
\nare not here because you are Christians or Muslims, you are not here
\nbecause you are from the South-South, or from the North-East, or North
\nWest or South West, but because you are Nigerian youths that are
\ncommitted to a particular cause and you want to make an impact for a
\nbetter society for us and the future generations.
\nA statement issued by his media adviser also noted that Jonathan
\nidentified himself with other leaders who had advocated for young
\npeople to be fully involved in leadership. According to the statement,
\nformer President Jonathan said further that he believed in the
\nphilosophy of Late Maitama Sule who posited that the young breed
\nwithout old breed will breed greed. I believe that both old and young
\npeople must come together.
\nHe noted that there was a time young people played dominant roles in
\nthe nations politics. He said: All the big historical names you
\nhear; Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Sarduana of Sokoto, Michael
\nOkpara, all of them got involved in governance at very young age. Some
\nof them were ministers in their twenties.
\nHe stressed that the situation was similar up to the time of the
\nmilitary heads of state, starting from Yakubu Gowon who was 32 and
\nIbrahim Babangida and President Buhari who became heads of state as
\nyoung men.
\nHe said further: I am not envisioning a government that every actor
\nwill be below thirty-five years old, but I share the aspiration of
\nthose who want young people to be fully involved in governance.
\nI remember when Alfred Diette Spiff was the military governor of the
\nthen old Rivers State, though most of the members of his cabinet were
\nolder than him and even referred to him as my son, together they
\nachieved much in infrastructure and human development.
\nJonathan stated that during his political career as a governor and
\npresident, he encouraged young people and women to play key roles in
\ngovernance.
\nBefore I leave let me charge the young people in two key areas; the
\nyoung must reform the young for us to grow positively. Some of the
\nchallenges like cultism, kidnapping and terror that we are have in the
\nsociety are perpetrated by youths who have been used negatively.
\nA group like yours constituting of CEOs must create platforms to re-
\norientate the thinking of our young people. I am glad that you
\nmentioned setting up similar bodies, across the country. At least even
\nif you start from the universities and secondary schools, to change
\nthe mindset of the youths. Youth movements like Boys Scout, Boys
\nBrigade and Girls Guide, developed from this kind of thinking. He went
\non to note that the growth of society should not be marked by flashy
\ncars, sky scrapers and beautiful roads but by the people, the way they
\nthink and the way they do things.
\nEarlier, the Convener of NN-2019, Dr. Chima Anyaso and Chairman NYPF
\nMoses Siasia, said they are consulting with elder statesmen all over
\nthe country to seek their blessings and support, and mobilizing young
\nminds to advocate for democratic inclusion come 2019, stressing that
\nthey have taken up the challenge to participate actively in the
\ndemocratic process of the country.<\/p>\n
FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has advised Nigerian youths, especially aspiring young leaders, not to repeat the mistakes of the past, charging them to revolutionize a new paradigm shift in leadership…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n