Senator Kola Balogun has said he is in support of the call for independent candidates as a means to produce strong public office holders who can frontally tackle the myriad of problems confronting the country.
The senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District said this on Thursday at the 3rd Akeem Kareem Foundation Lecture Series and Maiden Award of Excellence, held at Jogor Centre, Ibadan.
Senator Balogun also said an amendment of the Nigerian Constitution, encapsulating independent candidature would also help in curbing the agitations by youth for adequate representation in politics.
He said the topic of the lecture, “Engineering Change Through The Sorosoke Generation: 2023 And The Path To Follow”, is germane to the 2023 elections.
Senator Balogun, however, urged the Nigerian youths to be ready to make sacrifices in their quest to make a change and become relevant in the polity.
“It is not just about Sorosoke. It is beyond EndSARS. How many of you have your Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)? The youths should get their PVCs. Go and get registered and make your voice known.
“It is good to Sorosoke but you need to make it more concrete. Jumpstart the process and create awareness. Sorosoke but jerk it up with critical awareness,” he said.
Earlier in his address, the Convener of the program, Akeem Kareem said the motivation behind the lectures is born of a passion to give back to society, and at the same time need to see working
systems in society.
He said “Its been an enlightening, and productive experience since the first edition of the Akeem Kareem Foundation Lecture series which happened in 2020.
“This year’s lecture series and symposium are Youth-centric with the theme: “Soro-Soke Generation: 2023 and the way to go.”
“This year, the main focus of this series is centred on the youth. Recent happenings, especially the 2020 EndSars movement have shown the enormous potential inherent in the Nigerian Youth. This potential when rightly directed, harnessed and mobilized will inevitably put the wheel of change in our country and most especially our systems into accelerated motion.
“It is pertinent at this juncture that I give an overview of what the youth is perceived as. While the United Nations defines youth as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, there is no universally agreed international definition of the youth age group. Africa, The Global South, by many countries of the world, have long insisted that youth is not a range of ages, but is defined to a diversity of culturally defined social processes that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood, this makes Youth a more fluid category than a fixed age-group.”
In the year 2020, there was a paradigm shift in our country Nigeria as regards our perception of the average Nigerian youth. All of a sudden, our eyes were opened to the enormous potential and the remarkable unity of purpose exhibited by the Nigerian youth in the EndSars Movement.
“There a translation from the Youth being known as “Lazy Nigerian Youth” to a Vibrant Nigerian Youth” who came together despite location and the odd to seek Institutional reforms, and demand the dividends of true democratic rule, as well as accountability from government.
“This movement for as a wake-up call to the older generation, some of whom also came out to support the initiatives of the youth to ‘long-overdue the long-overdue change.”
Also, at the programme are other panellists that include the Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Mr Mutiu Agboke, Hon Abdulwasi Musah, Mrs Yemi Taiwo Alabi, Mr Teju Ajibowo, Mrs Ramotya Agberemi Dabo, among others.
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