April 14, (THEWILL) – The National Association of Seadogs also known as Saratoga X Deck, has said that if Nigeria must grow to its full potential, the youths must be given the opportunity to actively participate in politics and governance of the country.
The group, therefore, called on the nation’s political leaders to do away with the political system that alienates the youths from participation in the political process.
The call was made during a zoom meeting organised by the Festac chapter of the association, as part of activities to mark its ‘Feast of Barracuda.’
Speaking on the topic, ‘Nigeria: A Fractured Youth Population, a Threatened Future and the Panacea for Rebuilding’, the guest lecturer, Viktor Ikiriko, decried the condition of the youth population in Nigeria, stressing that if the youths were truly the leaders of tomorrow, they must be given hope to build a better tomorrow; a situation he said could only be achieved through politics of inclusiveness.
He condemned a situation where old people, who should be in retirement are recycled into the system where they occupy all the available positions forcing the youths to engage in political thugs, ballot box snatching, financial fraud, armed robbery and other social ills.
“If Nigeria must grow to her full potential, the youths must be provided for because currently, they are frustrated and hopeless. And that is why the youths that are supposed to develop the country are moving in droves out of the country for greener pastures overseas”, said Ikiriko.
He tasked the National Assembly members to revisit the ‘Not too young to run bill,’ and make it meaningful so that youths would be allowed to participate in politics.
“Giving hope to the youths and building a better tomorrow depends on practising politics of inclusiveness. The INEC and political parties need to review the political process that seeks to alienate the youths from the political process and by extension, the governance process. They must be in politics as candidates and not as thugs”, he submitted.
The global president of the association, Abiola Owoaje, also decried the rate of migration of youths out of the country even as he stressed that the quality of today’s youths leaves much to be desired.
“It is often said that youths are the leaders of any country, but the type of youths we have today leaves much doubt as to their preparedness to live up to that statement. Some are very well educated, but they are in the minority when you look at the total number of youths that we have. The youths that are supposed to develop the country are moving out of the country in their numbers”, he said.
Also speaking on the topic, ‘The home and the challenges of modern-day Nigeria’, at the physical even in Festac, the guest speaker, Arinze Odiari, lamented that an average family in Nigeria today is faced with a lot of challenges
He urged parents to love, nurture and control their children from the negative influence of social media because whatever the home teaches them is what they put out to the larger society. “Parents should teach independence, resourcefulness, contentment and integrity to their children”, he added.
Odiari spoke extensively on how to manage the influence of the extended family members on the nuclear family, even as he listed some of the family stress to include financial problems, infidelity in marriage, pressure at work, childlessness, domestic violence, religion, and loss of job among others.
Speaking at the event, the representative of Owoaje, Bashorun Olarinwaju, said the feast was an opportunity to clear the misconceptions in the people’s minds about who the members of NAS are and what they stand for.
“It is a body of intellectuals that basically fights the obvious ills militating against society. We are here to tackle anything that is not moving well in our society. It is also an opportunity to meet ourselves one on one. We have seven branches in Lagos, so this is an opportunity for us to meet ourselves, our children and our wives”, he said.
The high point of the event was the cutting of the Barracuda Fish and sharing among members, their families and friends.
