Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives, has said that the outcome of the 2023 general election would be ultimately determined by the choices of the Nigerian youths.
Gbajabiamila said while delivering a virtual address to participants of a Youth and Social Development Summit, organised by the Gbaja Professionals Volunteers Network (GPVN) in Abuja on Friday 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.
Read also: Expert says climate change requires collective efforts to tackle
“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 mulled Digital ideas bank and the establishment of a policy faculty to generate views and collate policy proposals for Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate.
“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 and review 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, Lukman Lawal, the national coordinator of GPVN and Aide to the speaker on youth development, 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.
He said the project will provide a window of financial empowerment for Life-Support start-up capital for young individuals with workable, achievable and realistic business plans.
