Following approval by President Bola Tinubu to establish a youth secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), indigenous youths under the auspices of the FCT Youth Stakeholders Forum have appealed to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to be patient for them to nominate a candidate to be mandate secretary for the secretariat.
The youth said that the delay in nominating a candidate for the position of mandate secretary of the newly established youth secretariat was due to the need to submit the best of the best.
They said that someone with track records of being an advocate of youth development in the last 25 years, who is experienced in youth empowerment and, most especially, someone who must be approved by all the six area council chairmen, is needed for the position.
The founder of the group, Commandant Isaac David, who made this known in a statement made available to newsmen, said that the delay was a move strategically aimed at nominating a personality who has worked for the development and empowerment of youth across the 858 communities in FCT for the past three decades.
“Someone who can build and strengthen the already established structures on youth affairs and governance of youth stakeholders in the FCT.
“The perceived delay is a deliberate one on stakeholders’ part to choose the most suitable candidate for the youth mandate secretariat, not only that to ensure that all the six area council chairmen have input on whomever we are presenting as mandate secretary,” he said.
The group noted that the delay was necessary because the recent incident of protest in the country has shown that the secretariat has a crucial and pivotal role in shaping policies and programmes that would address the needs and aspirations of the youth in the FCT.
Isaac, who was a special assistant on youth matters during the last administration, reiterated that the ongoing process of nomination was one all FCT stakeholders do not want to make in a hurry to avert the mistakes of choosing a leader who does not represent the will of the people because FCT has its peculiarities most especially on the youth affairs.
“Therefore, there must be a very careful, conscious and calculated step to be taken in arriving at a particular conclusion that they (ministers) would never regret, so we want our honourable ministers to understand this given what the president also went through before giving us these workaholics and talk and do ministers in FCT,” he said.
Meanwhile, Isaac was quick to add that among the characteristics the ministers should employ in choosing after recommendations was to check for those who have been in the struggle using their hard-earned resources for the emancipation of the youth in FCT, not those opportunity grabbers who are masquerading as youth advocates within government circle.
“This should also serve as a warning that we are not going to accept anybody whose records fall below the requirements even if the area council chairmen supported the person,” Isaac said.
