My attention has been drawn to the above titled piece of opinion written by one Ukasha Rabiu Magama, published in the Daily Trust newspaper of 10 June 2021. The piece galvanised youths of Bauchi State to fully participate in politics so as to turn over a new leaf of their state’s economic growth and build a brighter future full of prosperity for even their generations to come.
Dear youths, being a young person like you, I feel obliged to have my say concerning the significance of enhancing your full political participation in our dear state. To be frank, how you have been excluding yourselves and overlooking them as political candidates in our state since the return of multi-party democratic governance in 1999, is tantamount to throwing yourselves into a quandary of life and burying yourselves in a grisliest grave of a miserable life.
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Dear youths, you should be reminded that youths unemployment is currently a major problem bedeviling our state which affects millions of us across the state. To curb this nail-biting menace, you should engage actively in politics, coerce one of you to contest for political seats and prioritise the fight against youths’ unemployment.
Dear youths, let’s be as strong as the rock of Gibraltar and spare no effort to pick up one of us capable of achieving the UN’s 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goal 8 which aims to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities.
Looking into the current alarming growing population, hyper-inflation, and food insecurity, you should select a patriotic and visionary young man among you who can keep his mind on investing in our unemployed youths and women and turning our state’s estimated 65% of the total land area which is abundant arable land for agriculture into a lucrative source of generating wealth. Young graduates should wake up from their deep slumber and know that agriculture is more lucrative than white collar jobs.
Dear youths, I wish to jog your memory to the fact that apart from the 65% of vast cultivable land, our state is richly watered by multitude of rivers, lakes, sources of water, streams and dams for irrigation and hydropower that are regarded as neglected long-lived natural resources that include Kafin Zaki dam, Jama’are river, Maladumba lake, Gubi dam, Dindima dam, Begel/Zungur dam, Gambaki dam, Katini dam, Gulka dam, Boto dam, Disina dam, to name but a few. Being among the poorest states, constructing these abandoned long-lasting natural resources and empowering youths around them will definitely change the narrative of Bauchi State.
Therefore, let’s pick one of us who can replicate the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel-led administration by investing massively in agriculture and inviting external agro-allied industries to diversify our state’s economy away from federal allocation or oil revenues. Our young graduates have to look upon agriculture as a means of self-sustainability, job creation and wealth generation.
Dear youths, it is agonizing how our leaders turn blind eyes to the threat of youth’s unemployment and fail to delve too deeply into the ultimate solutions of the menace. So, time is up for you to exert yourselves mightily to be potential game-chargers for liberating your unemployed fellow youths and women by participating fully in politics in order not to be coerced into involving in political thuggery, prostitution and the world of crimes. Let’s work hand-in-hand to build a brighter future for our young ones.
Mustapha Baba Azare writes from Bauchi State
