Youths in Kwara state, under the aegis of Youth Assembly of Nigeria (YAN), have opposed the call for revolution in the country by some people in some quarters.
Rather the youths urged their members to revolt against old order through use of their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) in subsequent elections in the country.
Speaking in Ilorin at the weekend on the sideline of national youth summit themed reforming education, the National Speaker and Kwara state Ambassador of YAN, Samuel Godstime and Musbau Esinrogunjo, respectively, said, “Nigerian youth are opposed to any form of revolution. Therefore, we are appealing to all the youths in the country to revolt against the old order by using their voter’s cards, not by force of arm.
“Let us use our PVCs and ensure that the youth take over the leadership of this country not by trying to cause mayhem in any part of the country.
“The youth should use their PVCs in the next elections for the so-called revolution. We have discovered that the youths in the country constitute about 65 percent of the electorate. We are saying no to revolution. Let us use what we have, which is our PVCs, to get what we want in the next general elections. The unity of Nigeria is paramount and non-negotiable.”
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Esinrogunjo, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial aspirant in the state said that “It is even strange that somebody that contested for the presidency of the country and lost would be the one instigating the youths to revolt against the government. We say no to that. We don’t want bloodshed in Nigeria.”
In a remark at the summit, the State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said that godfather had been destroyed totally in the state politics.
“The godfathers still want to remain as godfathers anywhere in the world. Thank God we have destroyed godfather in Kwara state politics. And never will godfathers come to the state again”, he said.
Represented by his Deputy, Kayode Alabi, Mallam AbdulRazaq urged the youths in Nigeria to take over the reins of power through their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs).
“The old men and women will never hand over power voluntarily to the youths. There are so many things around power that will never allow them to hand over power to you. You have to take it not violently but through your voter’s cards. The guys that came up with the slogan ‘otoge’ were between the ages of 30 and 35. When I listened to the proposal and heard ‘otoge’ a sweetness welled up in my belly as I was sure that the ‘Otoge’ slogan would win the election.
“We used the slogan to educate the people. Our opponents spent money but we did not spend money. The ‘otoge slogan went into the mindset of the people and did the wonders. We won the election because the youths woke up in Kwara and decided to take their destinies into their own hands. There is nothing like godfather. There is only one God, the Almighty. Let nobody intimidate you. But you and I allow godfathers to survive.
“The people listened to the slogan of otoge and came out massively and with God on our side voted for us to win the last election. It is time for the youths in this country to say no to old order.”
He disclosed that “our pact with the people of Kwara state is to deliver qualitative and quantitative education under a conducive environment. There is no going back on that.as you shall see in the next few years. There is a nexus between education, employment opportunities, youth empowerment and crime rate.
“The society has two options to either empower and guide young people to the right path or spend resources fighting crimes. We choose the former. We will key into all the development agenda to help our youths become responsible. We will also show a good example for young people to emulate. We will continue to identify and partner with you”
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