THE Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Muhammadu Sanusi II on Thursday said for Nigeria to move forward, the leadership of the country should be returned to the youths who have the vision, energy, and capability to drive national development efforts.
He spoke at the 2019 Murtala Muhammed Memorial Lecture with the theme: “Towards credible, peaceful and participatory election- moving Nigeria’s democracy forward” held at ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja.
Speakers at the colloquium, eulogised the exceptional and visionary leadership of the late General Murtala Muhammed while also calling for free, fair and credible conduct of the 2019 general elections.
Sanusi, who said in the interest of his safety in this period would not make comments that are controversial, said Murtala Muhammed became the Head of State at the age of 37, saying this was two times the age of the frontline candidates in the Saturday President election.
The leading candidates are President Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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He said: “Murtala Muhammed became Head of State at the age of 37 and when you look at the landscape today we have two leading Presidential candidates who are twice his age.
“This tells us something about the need for political parties and the system to begin to put interest in young people, not just because they are the majority but if you go through the history of our country, you will find that all the great things were done by people who come into power at a young age.
“When you think about Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammed, Olusegun Obasanjo before his second coming. He said going by the history of our people, the young people have shown that they are capable, that they have vision, that they have energy, that they have the belief in the country and we need to consciously promote them and hopefully in the next election 2023, we will begin to see much younger people in governance.
“I hope that those who are old will be there to guide and counsel them. It is extremely important for the older generation while there are alive hand this country over to the next generation and watch them, and guide them appropriately in the right direction,” he said.
Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar, in his remarks at the occasion called for peaceful and violence-free conduct of the general elections.
He spoke on the importance of foreign observers, saying Nigeria with a population of over 200 million must be a concern to the world to ensure that elections were done in a peaceful manner to reflect the will of the people.
He urged Nigerians to go out to vote in all the elections for the candidates of their choice while ensuring that the votes are protected.
Head of United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, warned against incitement and violence, saying those who win should magnanimous in victory.
He commended the organizers of the colloquium in honour of the late General Murtala Muhammed, an initiative that has not only honoured the visionary and charismatic leader but one that provides an opportunity to enhance democratic consolidation in Nigeria through the organization of free, fair, inclusive and credible election.
Former President of Republic of Botswana, Mr Festus Mogae, who is the Head of the joint International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) mission to Nigeria for the 2019 general election, said Nigeria is a key country in Africa not just because of the population but one of the largest economy.
He said the smooth and credible conduct of the elections in Nigeria would serve as an example in the continent, especially for other African countries billed to conduct their elections this year and next.
Former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is the Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS, also spoke on the need for credible conduct of the election.
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