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Over 200 youth groups in Rivers State have endorsed the likely re-election bid of the state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, in the 2019 general elections, declaring a “100% victory” for the governor.
Rising from a summit in Port Harcourt on Thursday, February 15, 2018 the youths agreed to stand behind Wike’s second term bid and ensure he garners “100% of the votes” in 2019.
The event, with the theme ‘Uniting Rivers Youths For Peace, Development And Prosperous Future,’ was meant to explore “the possibilities of voluntarily fusing diverse youth groups and organizations into a strong, virile and vibrant grassroots oriented structure to advance the socio-economic and political drive of Rivers State.”
In a communique read after the summit, the youths said only total victory is good enough for the governor, given his massive developmental strides in the state in less than three since assumption of office.
Hon. Prince Amaibi Hornby, new chairman of the Forward Rivers Movement (FRM), which came into being last Thursday as an umbrella body for the youth groups, described Governor Wike’s achievements in less than 3 years in office as extraordinary, adding that “he has proven to us that the overwhelming vote we gave him to revive and give Rivers people a new life in 2015 is worth it.
“Mr. Project has kept to his promises and living up to the expectation of Rivers people and we are truly happy with him,” he said.
Hornby noted that the Rivers youths had “sacrificed our time, resources and strength, even our lives to advance the quest for resource control, resource ownership etc for Rivers People and by extension Niger Delta at large, which the international community’s agreed with us that we have been treated unjustly. Sadly, those who benefited from our sweat turned around and called us names, militants, criminals etc.”
He however said that the summit offers them the opportunity to “brainstorm and come out with strategies that will bond us together with a common goal of crowning peace across the 23 LGAs before, during and after the 2019 elections, enable us bargain a better deal for the Rivers youths, give us a clear direction on who to follow as we wine down 2019 and how to follow him, and enable us join our performing governor who has made us proud in so many ways, since he took over leadership to move Rivers State forward.”
National President of ANND, Amb. Kennedy Tonjo West, in a paper titled, ‘The Implications For Sustainable Youth Development,’ said the human civilization is at a point in time when the society is facing degradation in its environment, social and political structures, and the youths are confronted by challenges ranging from persistently high levels of poverty, widening rift between wealth and poverty, high and rising levels of unemployment, armed conflicts all over the country, growing signs of religious and ethnic intolerance and conflict, terrorism, unsustainable environmental practices, among others.
Tonjo West said that given “the magnitude of the challenges facing the youth development ethos in Nigeria and indeed the critical significance of a sustainable youth development strategy to a sustainable national development ethos, there is a compelling need for this paradigm shift in the youth development strategy framework and architecture. Government, development agencies and youth networks must therefore proceed with due diligence and urgency to adopt a transformation approach to youth development.
“Of course this proposed transformation strategy cannot evolve without the appropriate enabling environment. It must be supported and guided by the requisite political, social and economic reforms,” he said.
He urged government, political parties, civil society and policy makers to develop strategic partnerships to urgently revisit existing systems of governance, with particular focus on issues related to prevailing power relationships, the existing political culture, the role of the state and its relationship to civil society.
Tonjo West said equal significance must be accorded to formulation and implementation of economic strategies that empowers the marginalized sectors of society.
“The social development agenda must be informed by an ethos of tangible regard for our heritage, cultural identity and; indeed respect for diversity, human rights, human dignity, positive values and social inclusion. A critical success factor is to rescue existing education systems from the brink of irrelevance to become dynamic crucibles of enlightenment, social and political consciousness; and spiritual enrichment,” he said.
