I am not a blind follower of any cause and certainly not a supporter of broad generalisations. This explains why I have never jumped on the bandwagon where youth leadership is equated with ideal leadership, especially with optimal performance, which I have clearly shown why it is not so in so many of my writings in the past. I still believe that good leadership can be gotten in both the young and old. Throughout history this has been proven to be spot on.
But when it comes to the issue of any leadership position that is reserved for youth, I am wholly in support of only youth leading in that instance. With all due respect, I do not subscribe to old men holding offices kept for the youth, which was absurdly becoming a given. Hence, on October 31, when I received the news of the emergence of the new National Youth Leader of PDP, 25-year-old Muhammed Kadade Sulaiman, I was very delighted.
His election is a refreshing deviation from the past that had largely made a mockery of the contribution of the youth in all the major parties in Nigeria.
I celebrated the victory of Muhammed Kadade Sulaiman with a sense of triumph. Some have argued about his influential or rather affluent family background being the two reasons for his success. Whatever it is, there are numerous families with considerable influence in the polity who have had scions, who are political aficionados, and have vied for positions less significant than this and lost.
Therefore, the Peoples Democratic Party no matter your grouse against the party, has done something strategic and commendable.
I hope Muhammed does well in this big assignment and I pray that his emergence will pave way for the massive influx of good and responsible youth in leadership positions. It is my belief that the young and the old shouldn’t be denied a constitutional right to vote and be voted for simply because of their age. Merit must always be the watchword whenever we commence leadership discussion anywhere.
Abdulrazak Iliyasu Sansani wrote from Turaki B, Jalingo, Taraba State
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