Henshaw: It is high time youths take the lead

Youths  are blazing the trail of leadership and exercising power in many parts of the world so Nigerian youths must be prepared to work hard and get elected into political offices, Nollywood star, social activist and politician Kate Henshaw said in Abuja yesterday. Speaking at the 15th Daily Trust Dialogue, she listed French President Emmanuel Macron, 39; Charles Michel who took over in 2014 as Prime Minister of Belgium and became the country’s youngest leader since 1845; Alexis Tsipras, who became Greece’s Prime Minister in 2015 at age 40, and Youssef Chahed, Head of government of Tunisia who was 40 when he took over in 2016 as youths who got to lead their countries.

Henshaw also mentioned Justin Trudeau, current and 23rd Prime Minister of Canada at 43; Andrzej Duda of Poland who assumed office at the age of 43 in 2015; Kim Jon-Un, Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea who assumed office in 2012 at age 30; Emil Dimitriev, the Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia in 2016 at 38 years and Vanessa D’Ambrosio, Captain Regent of San Marino in 2017 at 29 years old as other youthful world leaders.

She said the argument for legally excluding youths from holding elective political offices has been proven  to be irrelevant as many youths have successfully have occupied such offices. She cited such instances including Senator Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State who was elected Senator at about age 30 years and Mr. Donald Duke who was appointed commissioner at the same age. The present Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr. Usani Usani was appointed Commissioner at age 34, she said, while Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i, Governor of Kaduna state was appointed Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) when he was 38 years old.

She said, “While there is great admiration for positively minded young politicians around the world, the case in Nigeria seems to be the opposite. It is pertinent to mention here that the generation of the 1960s, albeit the generation of youthful leaders then who fought so hard for Nigeria to be independent, are largely the same crop of leaders that still run the affairs of the country nearly 60 years down the line.” She also said, “A large cross section of the youths lack focus, direction, ideals and they exhibit a high level of indifference in their personal and professional life. This group is not prepared to take responsibility and go through the pain of public service. Youths who aspire for political offices must be prepared and work hard to earn being elected. It is not enough to be armed with certificates without any core skill sets and practical experience.”

Ms. Henshaw also questioned what the circumstances of the 2019 elections would be. She urged INEC to undergo vigorous reinvention, improve on its performance and use technology as a tool for a credible election.  She said there is a need for new faces, new thinking and new ideas. She said “The political class have to find a way of wooing people of sound minds and skills who have “done things” and held their own, into their fold and NOT continue to parade “yes” men who rank very high on the leader boards of corruption, inexperience, mediocrity, ineptitude and parochial sentiments.” She also said political leadership in Nigeria has become a pursuit of selfish interests and personal goals. “This is at the expense of broader national interests, adopting a sit tight approach in practically all areas of political and public service,” she said.

Henshaw urged the government to create through INEC a level playing field for all political parties and their candidates, “meaningful and positive participation of the youths (not as thugs or snatching ballot boxes) to help support and engender economic growth and development, the need for INEC to manage the election process and conduct the elections in a professional manner e.g. doing away with under age voters and the participation of all eligible voters in casting their votes, ensuring their votes are counted and valid and not offering their voters’ cards for sale and a need for electoral reforms for smooth operation of the process before, during and after elections. Strengthening of institutions cannot be overemphasized.”