Musician and activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as “Charly Boy”, has said that Nigerian youths must do away with their docility and demand accountability from their leaders in the forthcoming general elections.
Oputa made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a Town Hall Meeting on the Nigeria Social Contract in Lagos during the week.
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NAN reported that the event was organised by the Our Mumu Don Do Movement (OMDD) and Catalyst for Global Peace and Justice Initiative (CPJ), with the support of the Ford Foundation.
Oputa, who is the founder of OMDD, decried the current socio-economic situation in Nigeria, which according to him, was due to lack of engagement between the masses and their leaders.
“A lot has gone wrong with the system as everybody can see, and most young people and the masses have found themselves in a very hopeless situation,” he said.
According to him, the rate of suicide among young people is worrisome and an indication that some of them see their situation as hopeless.
”It is unfortunate, but this is the reality on ground and this reality is caused by the fact that we have been very docile.
“I always say that some Nigerians are arrogantly ignorant of their situation and that is what is happening,” he said.
The musician, who is fondly referred to as “Area Father”, said that the purpose of the gathering was to engage and interface with young Nigerians in order to galvanise them on their civic responsibilities.
“We need to educate people for them to know that they are the ones who own the government and that can make the desired change in the system,” he said.
On the 2019 elections, Oputa said Nigerians had difficult choices to make because the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had performed below expectations, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not an option due to its antecedents.
According to him, the alternatives have failed to get their acts together toward forming a broad coalition capable of challenging the old order of recycled politicians.
In his welcome remarks, the convener of CPJ, Mr Abraham Aiyedogbon, said the meeting was aimed at proffering solutions to some of the challenges plaguing the country.
Aiyedogbon noted that the absence of a social contract between the government and the masses had been largely responsible for the failure to deliver good governance by past and present administrations.
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