Follow Us on Google
By Lukman Olabiyi
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso and others have harped on the importance of involving the youths in nation building, in order to make Nigeria a great nation.
Oba Ogunwusi, Omotoso and others made the advocacy at the 13th convocation ceremony of Caleb University, Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos, on Saturday.
Specifically, Omotoso who delivered the convocation lecturer, in his speech, 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 up and shun peer pressure which could jeopardise their attainment of greatness as leaders.
The commissioner, who applauded the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administrations for appointing many youths in their cabinets, implored the graduands to always think out of the box for entrepreneurship engagement, 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-day 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 in Lagos State, 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 trail-blazing performances.
“To further harness the peculiar talent of youths in the state, Governor Sanwo-Olu has prioritised youths empowerment in all his budgets. All the budgets of the current administration since 2019 have been carefully designed to meet the aspirations of the teeming youths by focusing on sectors with job-creating potential like agriculture, construction, technology and security,” Omotoso said.
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 also used the opportunity to call on the Federal Government to take urgent step in addressing suffering commuters who ply Ikorodu-Itokin Road.
The monarch pleaded with the President Tinubu-led administration to rehabilitate the road in good time to complement other social services along that route.
Other dignitaries on the occasion included former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, representative of the Benue State Governor, traditional rulers in the Ikorodu Division and the Inspector General of Police who was represented by the Commissioner for Police in Lagos.
