Nigerian youths have been urged to use their youthful days and times to lead the advocacy for and bring about a better Nigeria of their dreams.
The former special adviser to the president on political matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who stated this counselled young people in the country to emulate the zeal and commitment of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka in fighting for good governance while he was younger.
Ojudu who once represented Ekiti Central at the national assembly, said young people should not be waiting for leaders to lead them in the demand for social justice, but rather they should stand up and demand good governance from their leaders as the literary icon did during his youthful days.
Ojudu spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital at the weekend at an event he hosted to celebrate the 90th birthday anniversary of Soyinka , alongside other literary scholars and enthusiasts in the state and beyond.
The event tagged: “Ekiti Celebrates Turning Pages @ 90. A Tribute to WS’ Arts/Legacies” was stage in collaboration with Ekiti book club ; Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA) Ekiti chapter ; Ekiti state tourism agency ; and the Ekiti state Association of tourism practitioners of Nigeria, featuring presentation various literary and artistic presentations in honour of the celebrated nonagenarian.
The renowned journalist who applauded President Bola Tinubu for honoring Saoyinka by renaming the national theater in Lagos after him, said, ” those are the people we should be honouring. The people who have given so much to this country; the people who are good examples and role models to our children, not people who are rich and their money will just be for a while.”
Ojodu described Soyinka as a hero who deserved to be celebrated daily for his contributions not only to the literary space but his efforts at entrenching democracy and its values in the country and beyond.
Asserting that, even though Soyinka might not have seen a country he wished for in terms of social, economic and political developments, he said he had done his best for Nigeria, “and let our young ones start advocating for a better Nigeria and not wait for a 90-year-old man to lead protest for them.”
He added, ” He(Soyinka) never gave up even in the face of persecution and arrest, he continued to fight for a better Nigeria. He fought for the democracy we are enjoying today and I don’t think there is any other Nigerian like him in terms of the tasks he has given himself to birth a better country.
“He is 90 but Nigeria is not yet a country he wished but he has done his own. When I saw some young men condemning him for not fighting the present government, I asked them “if you have a grandfather who is 90 , will you want him in the streets carrying placards?”.
