The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said democracy has failed to deliver for youths, 23 years after its return to the country.
Gbajabiamila said this on Monday, during the opening ceremony of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative, a training Programme for young Nigerians.
He stated that Nigerians need to vote for a leader that can manage changes, adding that it will be unrealistic to expect youths to remain faithful to democracy.
“It is unrealistic to expect our nation’s youth to commit to sustaining a democracy that hasn’t lived up to their expectations,” he said.
Speaker Gbajabiamila stressed that many young people in the country, have not witnessed military government, hence, cannot be expected to be committed to democracy without benefiting from it.
He said, “Nigeria desperately needs leaders with the capacity and character to manage change. The consequences of the changes happening in our world today will depend on how we respond, the decisions we make, and the ideas we choose to invest in.”
To address the problem, Gbajabiamila said “we must act quickly and consistently to include young people in the political and governing process. We do this by creating avenues for leadership development.”