Dr Otive Igbuzor

OGHENETEJIRI NYERHOVWO

In a determined bid to ensure that youths take active participation in politics come 2019 and beyond to ensure even development, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) recently organised a three day capacity building training for 240 youths drawn from Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States to prepare them to contest for elective positions with a view to become productive and contribute to the development of the society.

In his welcome address at the opening ceremony for the training, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) said that youths being the futureof any nation as well as being the bridge that links the present to the future generations, there should be focus on them to take up political leadership to contribute to the advancement of the nation.

Dr. Igbuzor disclosed that leadership is key to addressing political adevelopment of nations,adding that, “the progress, development and fortunes of many nations are tied to the type and quality of political leadership that they have had and continue to have. It is clear to us that political leadership is a huge challenge in Nigeria. The challenge for the future is even greater as there is increasing marginalization of the youth in politics. In the past, young people occupied important positions in the political arena including Matthew Mbu and Anthony Enahoro in their twenties.”

He said that since the youth constitutes the backbone of any nation, nothing is too great to be done to ensure that they are made ready and prepared to take over the mantle of leadership in their respective societies and nations hence it is important to now focus on developingbthem by building their capacities to actively participate in political processes to enable them become productive with a view to contribute to the overall development of their societies as well as participatory governance of the nation.

Dr. Igbuzor added, “it is in the recognition of the need to build the capacity of the youth to engage and participate in elective and appointive positions that the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) is focusing on the project to build the capacity of youths interested in political offices in the three states of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa in the Niger Delta.”

He spoke further, “this project is unique in the Nigerian context in many ways. There are many youth Programmes in Nigeria but there are none known to us to focus specifically on building the capacity of young persons interested in elective office targeted at youths in the Niger Delta region. This project has been carefully crafted to meet the the needs of young persons interested in political office to prepare them to assert their voice in the region’s decision-making process by developing their skills and knowledge required to be effective and confident leaders. We hope to build the capacity of at least 240 youths in the three states of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa, 80 youths in each of the three states to prepare them to contest elections in the 2019 elections and beyond.”

Addressing the participants specifically, Dr. Igbuzor has this to say, “you are here because you are below 34 years of age and you are interested in contesting for office. This training has the capacity to transform you to become a more effective political actor that will be beneficial to the society. I want to challenge you all to take the training seriously.”

In an interview, Dr. Igbuzor called on Deltans to take active interest in politics as it is too important to be left in the hands of charlatans and shenanigans, adding, “all people of goodwill, clergymen, people with high moral values, people who are not targeting to loot the treasury, these group of people are many in Delta and Nigeria, they should come out of their hiding, they should come out of their cocoons and participate actively in politics with a view to change the face of politics and deliver infrastructures and services to the people.”