Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the possibility of a new Nigeria will be ultimately determined by the electoral choices of the Nigerian youths in the 2023 general elections.
While delivering a virtual address to participants of a Youth and Social Development Summit, organised by the Gbaja Professionals Volunteers Network (GPVN) in Abuja to mark the 2022 edition of the United Nations International Youth Day, he said, “What happens in that election and the kind of nation we will consequently have will depend greatly on the choices young people make in the lead-up to that election and at the polling booth.
“ It is unfortunate that the political conversations about the forthcoming elections have become dominated by the loud voices of division and derision for whom politics is a contact sport designed to inflict the greatest harm on the individuals and the body politic.
“These voices have elevated fake news over facts and the politics of grievance and victimhood over studied consideration of the policy questions and answers that will determine the fate of the young people who make up the majority of our population. ”
You must resist this. It is time for the voices of reason and compromise, whose manifest desire is to be part of the solution, to seize the debate, and make their voices heard.
“This summit is part of that effort to refocus the public debate on matters of substance and consequence, and I am honoured to be associated with it”.
Gbajabiamila also unveiled Digital Ideas Bank and the establishment of a policy faculty, a project principally set to generate views and collate policy proposals for the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“Two important things are going to happen at this Summit. First, the unveiling of a Digital Ideas Bank for Nigerians and friends of the country here and abroad to send in their ideas about the changes they wish to see and their recommendations on making those changes possible. Secondly, a Policy Faculty will be established to collate, review and cohere these ideas and suggestions into practical policy proposals.
“These proposals will be presented to guide the campaign and, hopefully, the Presidency of His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. What an excellent example of active citizenship, of citizens coming together in a joint effort at nation building! I urge all of you who are here today to make sure to take part in this project. I encourage you to spread the message to your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. Tell them they too can be a part of building a nation that meets their best expectations, “he said.
Earlier in his address, the national coordinator of GPVN and aide to the Speaker on Youth development, Lukman Lawal said the concept of the Digital Ideas Bank was to help create on the one hand, a window of knowledge, ideas and intellectual pool for all stakeholders of the Nigeria Project and international partners to contribute, while on the other provide a window of financial empowerment for Life-Support start-up capital for young individuals with workable, achievable and realistic business plans.
The special adviser to the speaker on media and public affairs, Lanre Lasisi while commissioning the Ideas Bank said the platform provided modest veritable tools of economic empowerment through grants.
Similarly, the chairman of the faculty and chief press secretary to the speaker, Musa Abdullahi Krishi said the idea will help curb youth restiveness.
