The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 elections, Peter Obi, has explained that good political process, rather than protests, is more effective in combating the leadership failure currently bedeviling the country, while calling on the youth to get more involved in political and decision making processes affecting their future.
Obi made this call during recent South East Edition of the PDP National Youth Summit held in Awka, Anambra State.
He told the youths not to stand aside and wish away the woes befalling the country or engage in violent protests, but to be actively involved in nation building.
Obi lamented that the country is getting worse by the day and the youth, whose dreams are constantly truncated and their future made bleak, remain the major victims of Nigeria’s bad governance.
He said poverty, unemployment, drug abuse and insecurity continues to threaten the nation’s democracy, and the youth were at the receiving end of them all.
He said: “Recent World Bank report shows that due to the double impact of COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession in the country, about 11 million Nigerians will slip into poverty, out of which eight million are youths.
“When these are added to the 98 million people already living in poverty, then we have an unimaginable problem on our table.
“It is the duty of everyone, especially the youths, to unite and install a government that will reverse the collapse of the nation’s economy.”
Obi further stated that PDP had remained committed to the development of the nation.
He said: “For example, PDP paid off all the accumulated national debts between 2008 and 2010.
“As at that period till up to 2014, Nigeria’s economy was growing at 6 per cent per annum.
“Between 2015 till now, Nigeria has borrowed over $80 billion, while currently growing at -6 per cent.
“This is not the time for protests, but for going back to the grassroots and educating everybody on the need to vote in a government that is capable of saving the economy from further collapse and turning it around for the better.”
Earlier in his speech, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, described the PDP as a youth friendly platform that ensures youth’s inclusiveness in political processes.
Secondus said the youths have the drive, passion, energy, vibrance and zeal to move the nation forward if they become more politically involved and active.
The PDP National Youth Leader, Rt. Hon. S. K. E. Udeh-Okoye, lamented the relegation of Nigerian youths to the political background, which, he said, has sparked off many civil unrest.
Udeh-Okoye listed the different achievements of the PDP administrations at the national level, saying Nigeria’s economy blossomed under the party because it was youth driven.
He maintained that the PDP is the political platform that can bring positive change to the country.
He praised the commitment of the Igbos to the vision of PDP as a party, saying they have remained loyal to the party over the years.
On his part, the PDP National Vice Chairman, South East, Chief Ali Odefa, called on the Nigerian youths to remain calm and exemplary in their political activities.
Odefa invited the youths to be part of PDP’s political agenda, promising that their youthful dreams will never be truncated under the PDP.
Other political leaders at the summit were the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Senate Minority Leader and representative of Abia South Senatorial District, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; Deputy Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Toby Okechukwu; and Chief Ben Obi among many others.