Former governor of Cross River State and presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2019 general election, Donald Etim Duke, has stated that the first thing to do is to heal the wounds of the bruised youths before any meaning progress can be made in Nigeria.
Duke stated this while speaking to journalists at his residence in Calabar after assessing the level of damage in Calabar metropolis on Sunday.
According to the former governor “the older generation who had been leading the country since 1999 need the forgiveness of the youths, adding that the trust deficit must be bridged in a bid to regain their confidence once again to be able to forge ahead as a nation”.
Duke asserted that Nigerian youths were badly bruised and their scares must be healed first before talking of forging ahead.
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“The youths have been neglected for too long, and they watch us their leaders display opulence in the face of deprivation and wants. Our youths must be well taken care of. The youths are telling us something not in words but in actions, they are speaking in their own manner because people speak differently, some speak in parables too.
The youths have to forgive us first, because we are the ones who are managing their resources and they are telling us that our management is poor, they cannot be silenced any longer, they must be heard.
“If there is right to life, then there must be right to livelihood, giving them a job or engaging them is not a privilege but a right”. There is a trust deficit between the people especially the youths and the government. Our democracy is 21 years already, we can’t wait to be fools at 40,” he explained.
The former governor further stated that “Nigeria is in a situation where the rich cannot sleep because the poor cannot eat.”
“We have always warned that Nigeria was seating on a keg of gun powder. From this moment we must be very sincere with the people. We must mean what we say and say what we mean.”
“The youths feel cheated because the older generation had better opportunities at their age The youths need to know that we are listening to them, the youths should be able to hold us accountable. The engagement of the youths is pivotal to any meaningful progress. A huge percentage of our youths are idle. In fact, over 80 percent of them, because when you see someone carting away used toilet seat then there is a big problem.
“Television sets can be replaced, cars can be replaced, but a bruised mind is very dangerous to handle, young people are beginning to ask questions and if the youths feel your statements are empty, they will not take you seriously anymore,” Duke said.
