A former governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, has called on Nigerian youths to rise up and take up the responsibility for salvaging the country.
Mohammed, who spoke on Tuesday at the First Bauchi SDGs Youth Summit 2024, declared that his generation and its set of leaders, including himself, have failed to provide Nigerians with the kind of leadership they deserve.
“My generation has failed. My generation appears not to have the answers anymore.
“Allah loves Nigeria. That is why every chance he gives to my generation, we take Nigeria to the precipice, and Allah will bring it back. We will take over again and bring it to the precipice, which means doing one thing the same way and expecting a different result. Which some people say is the definition of madness,” he stated.
The Bauchi ex-governor, while disclosing that his investments on the youth populace during his administration were deliberate, noted further, “I deliberately populated my executive council with the youth, and in doing that, I did not pick and choose the sons or daughters of the big shots. I picked youth for their abilities to perform and I encouraged them, knowing fully well that one day, whether I like it or not, I have to quit the stage, and the youths will take over.”
Mohammed warned that leaders should be wary of the future of the country when the youths are not trained to be ready for the leadership roles ahead of them.
Continuing, he stressed that with poor investment on youths, their readiness for the leadership role of the future of the country is already at stake.
“If we do not train them today, we can imagine what is going to happen when the time comes for us to leave the stage and allow them to take over. We will have people who are not ready for the leadership roles ahead of them,” Mohammed maintained.
He called on the youths to brace up for the challenge and change the country’s present narrative.
Also, speaking at the occasion, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Youth and Sport, Salis Gamawa, advised the youths to look for opportunities to innovate and make the difference in the socio-economic narrative of the country instead of searching for non-existent white-collar jobs.
According to Gamawa, the system has changed, and the youths also have to change their ways of thinking.
The commissioner who observed that some youths are just naysayers of the government and anyone occupying position of leadership cautioned that “life is a project and the best thing you can do to yourself is to project a better image of yourself. Where we are lacking greatly as young people, we need to identify them to know what it really means to be a leader.”
Gamawa clarified, “To mean a leader is not about the executive governor. It is not about the commissioner. It is not about anything but yourself.”
Thus, he advised that youths must first learn how to correctly and positively lead themselves as individuals before thinking of leading others.
It was further that the summit was attended by several youths from across the region and women, including students from secondary and tertiary institutions.
Punch
