Youths have been short-changed in governance in Nigeria —APC Youth leader aspirant

Adamu Yusuf Kumbachi is an aspirant from Niger State for the position of the national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming national convention of the party. In this interview by ADELOWO OLADIPO, he speaks on the need to chart a new way for the teaming youths of Nigeria.

What has been your antecedents in the past either at the state or at the national level as a young politician?

Thank you very much. Well, my name is Adamu Aliyu Kumbachi. I am a Special Adviser to the governor of Niger State on solid mineral resources and currently I am contesting for the national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the grace of God. I was an aspirant for the House of Representatives on the platform of the party in the 2015 general elections, but unfortunately, we could not make it and I was a two-time commissioner nominee under the current Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello–led dispensation and I was a former president of All Nigerian Youths Movement and a former Director, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Campaign Mobilization, in 2011. Before all of these, I was a graduate of the Federal University of Technology Minna and I read Geography and Metrological Science. And in 2011, I was a member of the Nigeria Economic Summit as small as I am.

What informed your decision to go into partisan politics?

Well, my decision to go fully into partisan politics is premised on the need to do more for my people and to redirect our fellow compatriots, the youths of Nigeria  having seen that we are moving backwards and neglected by the political elites, because we are being over-powered, not only in politics, but also in governance and I think this is the time for us to bring this to the fore with the kind of the experience that we have gathered to mobilized our fellow youths and to create more awareness on the importance of youths involvement in any ways of looking at the development in the society.

We felt that the youths have to contribute a lot to national development. And having witnessed or have seen the numerical strength or the numbers in term of the population, Nigeria population is about 200 million. Statistically when you look at the Nigeria’s head-count, you will see that the younger generation dominates about 70 percent of that population. But it is very unfortunate that the youths somehow are not being carried along, both in the decision making of the government and active politics. The youths are just being used as instrument. And we feel that, that cannot continue, because we believe that we have the potentials; we have what is required and the potentials to lead; this is the time for us to unify ourselves by coming together to have a cohesive force in order to be recognised in term of leadership and in terms of development or anything you can think of. So that is why I am actively here to contest for the same position of the ruling party, a national youth leader.  If that happen by the grace of God, I believe it will be a road map, because I am going to be the mouthpiece  representing the youths because I felt that anytime that some of us have the opportunity they will just go and sit down folding their arms. But in my case, we are not going to think that way, because we don’t care about whatever force against us, because we feel that if we want to make you, we will make you at any time or we do otherwise and even if you are looking for anything, you will have to look for us, because I believe that we are in this world for a reason.

As youths if we cannot make any impact s in your lives or the whole life that you have, if you cannot make any impact if you go back, you will never be forgiven because there is a word that says that God can only give you when you tried but if you fail to try he will not forgive you because we tried to feel to reawaken and to educate or get more educated but failure is not a justification   of not to make it. But I believe that we believe that if this opportunity found us wanting it is not for us to lead but we are going to represent the youths perfectly but we are going to pry to Almighty Allah to grant us the   privilege, the kind of the opportunity and wisdom to lead.

Going by experience in the past, particularly since the inception of this nascent democratic experience in the country, some youths had been given the opportunity to lead, but when they got to that enviable position to lead the youths at the national level, they did not live up to expectation of those teaming youths that they claimed to be representing, how is your own case going to be the difference or a departure from the ugly experience in the past?

Well, in my own case, I am in the race to make a difference and to right the wrong, because we know that there are a lot of things going on in Nigeria like the space of politics, the place of government and somehow, somehow it is not right. But somehow again, I don’t blame them because one time I was listening to former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he said that the youths if you don’t fight for it , you will not be given and which means  he was indirectly  telling us that we the young people to  wake up to our responsibility and get what we deserve. So, this time around, I believe that we will keep on talking to our young people across the board to see what we can come up with.

Of course when you look at the Nigeria context and what is happening today about the issues of criminal activities, negativity and all sorts of those  of negative vices and all of that  come as a result that youths are as a result of abandonment  or  it might have been as a result of the fact of the youths abandonment because when you were not carried along or you were  not thinking of using your potentials or using your brains , you will always think that you are the dominant group in terms of numbers and you felt that you are jobless and you  have nothing to do and whatever available thing that comes to you, that you can get something , then you can venture into it .

But that is for the short thinker because the potentials is there and when you go out there the whole world may discover that  God has blessed us with abundant resources especially in Nigeria and God has blessed us with intelligent people and the best brains but we are not utilizing  it may be because we have a default somehow, somewhere  and may be somewhere or somehow there is something faulty because we fail to channel the potentials that we have to turn around what we are supposed to have or what we deserved to have.

In this case I believe that we will come up with a very beautiful Blueprints to echo the Nigeria youths, to think of developing our society and that is when the younger people are being carried along. We will try to preach to them again not to go into any negative activities. Their brains, their potentials should be put to use positively but not to think of anything negative. That is why we are here also to talk to our colleagues and to reach out to them on how to think of positive thing that will come to the flow and to think of how to conquer   because it is only when we conquer that there will be reasonable numbers that is why we are here with your support most especially because I so much respects the media.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

• ‘Officials initially offered to help but when the number of able-bodied citizens at the centre increased, they left us unattended to’
• Why Ogun Tops List Of ‘Yahoo Boys’ In Nigeria ― Governor Abiodun
• Police, Amotekun after criminals on Lagos-Ibadan expressway
• Suspected cannibal pays N500,000 for boy’s human organs, says ‘that’s my favourite meal, especially the throat’
• Court awards Nnamdi Kanu N1 billion over invasion of his home by military, asks FG to apologise

“It is gladdening that only six months after that memorable event, the Minister of Interior is back in Enugu to perform another significant and symbolic ceremony. This time, the Minister accompanied by the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, is in the Coal City to unveil the enhanced E-Passport and Commission the Passport Production Centre for the South East situated in Enugu within this Complex.”

Speaking also, the Acting Comptroller General enthused that the people of the South East can now rejoice, pointing out that it was not that his Service oblivious of the suffering of the people but that time and resources had not permitted earlier action.

He commended Gov Ugwuanyi for his support and assistance to the State Command that had culminated in the realization of the project.

Responding, Aregbesola showered encomium on Ugwuanyi who he described as his good friend and one who has been of immense assistance to the Immigration Service in Enugu state.

The minister said not only does South East have a passport production centre within reach but also that the people now have access to an array of choices of the enhanced E-Passport that will aid their globe-trotting disposition.