By Olawale Lamina
In a swift reaction to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s national broadcast in celebration of Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary, two Nigerian youths, Wisdom Chapp Jumbo, ( a policy analyst ) and his counterpart, Babasola Owoaje, a political scientist, have stated that the presidential addresss is a proof that the federal government is in touch with national realities, having captured the issues that resonate with ordinary Nigerians.
The duo who sopke to national issues on the sudelines of ex-raying the president independence speech on the Channel Television program ‘Morning Brief’
hailed the proposed youth conference by President Tinubu with some reservations.
On his part, Wisdom Jumbo scored President Tinubu high based on his national broadcast that highlighted issues plaguing the country at its 64th Independence, although he stated that the president didnt clearly make the agenda of the coming youth confabplain by not speaking on the timeline.
But he expressed the hope that the youth conference will be an opportunity for the youth to speak up, cautioning that it should come with a good motive and must never be seen as an attempt to distract the youth.
He advised the government to engage meaningfully to profer solutions to myraid of issues confronting Nigeria as a nation.
He called for the centralization of the proposed youth confab through a geo-Political zone and group arrangement that will guarantee fair representation.
Jumbo querried the possibilities of paying the youths to converge as an inducement, wondering if the funds to be spent in organizing a youth national conference will be captured in the yhe nation’s budget
The programme on Channel came under the topic: Governance and Leadership- a Youth Perspective
Also reacting to the same issue, Babasola Owoaje noted that security situation in the country has improved as stated in President Tinubu’s address but the political scientist faulted a proposed youth confab that would only lock the youth in a place, asking if the youth representatives won’t be going to work for a one month period.
He appreciated the President’s speech that over 300 members of the Boko. Haram members had been executed by the Nigerian troops as a good omen for the country, while also acknowledging that the President listens to people compared to the immediate past administration.
He pointed out that the youth as a critical segment of the Nigerian society took a stand first to safe themselves first before the country , going by a number of chalkenges they are faced with, leading to protests in the firm of EndBadGovernance movements springing up across the country.
He also decried what happened in the past national confab hosted by the government without implementation, calling on the authorities to set the right agenda towards an effective 30 days confab.
He opined that the youths do not necessarily needed to gather for 30 days to discuss issues based on the present reality that the wold is now a global village.
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