Speaker Yakubu Dogara says the youth of so many young people in Africa have been stolen by their leaders.
Dogara stated this at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Africa regional conference of young parliamentarians in Abuja on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.
He noted that lack of preparation for positions remains the problem of leadership in Africa.
Dogara urged African youths to rise up to the occasion and end the menace.
“I believe that it is a curse to have leaders that were not prepared for their positions,” Dogara said.
“While
preparation does not guarantee that the person so prepared would
succeed in leadership but lack a preparation is surely a guarantee for
failure. This is partly the curse of leadership in Africa.
“It
will take the youth who must build solutions for tomorrow’s problems
today to rise to the occasion and end this palpable leadership curse on
Africa. So many generations of Africans have had their youth stolen from
them by the very people they called leaders.
“The
time has come and now is the time for us to empower and free the
creative energy of our youth if the outcome in Africa must be radically
different from what obtains at the moment. This can only be achieved
through networking among African youths,” he added.
Dogara
highlighted the impact of the young parliamentarians forum saying it
has served as a driving force for the Nigerian parliament in pursuing
youth-friendly legislation and motions in the past three years.
“The
climax is the passage of the ‘Not too Young to Run’ constitutional
amendment bill by the national assembly with more than the required
two-third majority of members,” he said.“Lastly,
it is no news that Africa is in need of selfless leadership, therefore,
you must begin to tune your mind to how best you can serve your country
and it should start at this conference. To lead tomorrow you must be
prepared for it today. What is the essence of fighting for leadership
positions not prepared for?“Let
me warn that the democracy we practice just like education guarantees
nothing. It only provides you with the opportunity to succeed and the
risk of failure. In as much as most governments are being encouraged to
be involved in youth engagement, young people on their own part must be
sensitive to the fragile nature of democracy, especially in the African
environment.“We must not allow
ourselves to be used as instruments of political or economic
instability; rather every young person must wear a robe of vigilance as
eternal vigilance is the price we must all pay in order to safeguard our
democracy and the liberty that it offers,” he added.
