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By Chinelo Obogo
Thousands of youths from across the six states of the South-West, on Saturday, converged on Lagos to drum support for Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state towards the 2023 presidential election.
The youths, who insisted that they would only support Bello in 2023, vowed to rewrite what they described as “Nigeria’s history of “recycling old politicians”.
The youths, who disclosed this under the umbrella of Rescue Nigeria Mission (RenMiss), said, like their counterparts in the Northern states, they are ready to mobilise support for the Kogi Governor no matter what happens within his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The coordinator of the youths in the South-West, Shola Saheed, said, “We are excited today that all our youths are keying in. As we speak today, over 20 million youths (PVC holders), at home and abroad, are already actively involved in the struggle to install our own, Governor Yahaya Bello, as President and others are already trooping in.
“We are set to rewrite political history of Nigeria. We will collect their billions if they bring it, but we assure you, we will put Yahaya Bello there with our numbers. Don’t ask me how we will do it. Just watch and see how we would rescue this nation resolutely and peacefully.”
RenMiss, a political support group also revealed that over six million youths from the northern region registered long ago in its data base to support Governor Bello.
The National Coordinator of RenMiss, Abdullahi Shaibu said the youths have more than half of the votes in Nigeria and cannot be underestimated and that no presidential hopeful in Nigeria today has the support of the youths like Governor Bello.
“We have launched RenMiss in three northern zones in the country and we are bringing it to the south. Already, over six million youths in the north have registered in our data base for this movement and we are getting more members as we launch in the South.
“Governor Bello has committed his life to the promotion of youths and that is why we are supporting him. If anyone says youths cannot do it, they should know that Obafemi Awolowo who laid the path for us in the South West did it in his 40s,” Shaibu said.
The Chief of Staff to the Kogi State government, Abdulkareem Asuku, who represented Governor Bello at the launch, said Kogi is the safest state in northern Nigeria, so much that because of how secure it is, they have been able to triple the Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) from N350m to over N1.5 billion monthly.
He said youths should not allow religion, political affiliation or ethnicity to divide them but should put up a united front and elect someone with competence who would represent their interest.
“Governor Yahaya Bello is the face of the youth in Nigeria and Kogi State is the centre of the country, being the only state bordering 10 states, including the FCT. Governor Yahaya Bello came on board as governor and governed the state without a porous border, yet was able to improve the economy and the IGR of Kogi State tripled within the short period. Such a man who has been able to transform the economy of Kogi State, unite the people and fix security issues in record time is the man Nigeria needs.
“The South-West youths of Nigeria are here in Lagos to call for a replication of what is happening in Kogi State in the larger Nigeria. Thank you for standing by the truth. Only the truth can address the challenges of Nigeria,” he noted.
