By Yusuf Akinpelu (from Ibadan)
THE Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has on Saturday downplayed the chances of a youth becoming the president of the nation.
He told the youths to start from grassroots. Then they should move on to the local government level, then to the state level, but as for the federal level, “don’t worry yourself about running for president; it will take a while.”
The Professor of Law said this while reacting to question on the rationale behind the exorbitant price of the nomination form of the All Progressive Congress, APC, for the office of the President during the 9th Sigma Club Public Lecture held Saturday at the International Conference Centre University of
Ibadan.
The VP was speaking in his lecture titled “Developing the nation through youth empowerment.”
“Anybody who wants a career in political positions should also make an attempt to get involved in public service since there are less than 2000 of such positions. Get involved in public service.”
Nonetheless, Mr Osinbajo called on the youths to always hold the government accountable. He stressed that though “the government’s role is to create an enabling environment for the youths to be empowered,” but for this to happen, the youths must “take time to scrutinise their [the government’s] arguments. You are the leaders of tomorrow. No one should doubt that. However, that future would only be guaranteed if you hold your leaders to account.”
While admitting that the poverty in the country is a major concern to the government, he blamed the problem on the grand corruption and high rate of borrowing of the past administration “despite earning more.”
“The most important drain to our public revenue is grand corruption: which is simply going to the treasury and withdrawing money — stealing it, in short,” he stressed.
“No nation can possibly prosper when its commonwealth is spent in that manner. So, we need to deal with grand corruption if we are to move forward as a nation.”
Osinbajo therefore called for a joint contribution from all and sundry to move the nation forward, stressing how the youths and technology can move the nation forward.
He said: “Everybody must pay attention to the nation’s growth. No nation is built by one person. The future of jobs is in technology and innovations. It is where the real opportunities are. Young people have an edge where technology is concerned.”
He nonetheless affirmed the pledge of this administration to restructure the country.