The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso and others have stressed the need to involve the country’s youths in nation building to make Nigeria great.
Oba Ogunwusi, Omotoso who stated this at the 13 convocation of Caleb University, Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos, at the weekend, argued that the country cannot achieve the desired results if the potential in the youth population is not well utilised .
Dissecting the issue, Omotoso who delivered the convocation lecture, titled: “Closing the generational gap between the old and young in Nigerian politics”, said there is an urgent need to bridge the generational gap between the old and young in the nation’s politics for improved development and progress of the country.
Omotoso identified youths as the leaders of today rather than tomorrow and urged them to brace and shun peer pressure which could jeopardise their attainment of greatness as leaders.
The commissioner applauded the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administrations for appointing many youths in their cabinets. He implored the graduating students to always think out of the box for entrepreneurship engagements, rather than looking for unavailable white collar jobs.
“Let me state that the common cliché that youths are the leaders of tomorrow is no longer in tune with the present reality. The truth is that what becomes of tomorrow is determined by what happens today. So, the more everyone grasps the fact that the youth are actually the leaders of today and not tomorrow, the better for all.
“Looking at the example of the younger members of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet, one is bound to reaffirm that the future is now.
“Fortunately, they are yet to disappoint the people as they cover themselves in glory through trailblazing performances.’’
The monarch, Oba Ogunwusi in his address applauded the university for raising the bar of education and discipline in the 21th Century youths.
He urged the youths to participate actively in nation building and contribute their quota to the growth of Nigeria.
Oba Ogunwusi called on the federal government to take urgent steps in addressing the suffering commuters are going through on Ikorodu/Itokin Road .