Omoyele Sowore, a two-time presidential candidate and founder of Sahara Reporters, has voiced concerns over the upcoming National Youth Conference announced by the Nigerian government.
Sowore made it known that the initiative is designed to reward individuals close to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, rather than addressing the needs and concerns of Nigeria’s youth.
Sowore who spoke on Wednesday at a Lunchtime Politics on Channels TV, said the initiative would fail to address the pressing challenges facing Nigerian youths.
He said, “The agenda is to compensate some young people who are in their corner. These young people they are calling to a conference are probably Seyi Tinubu’s friends, not Nigerian youths.
“They cannot afford to have the real youths on the table. If I am invited, I will not go because I know in advance that this is a joke, nothing will come out of this.
“They want young people to feel like, ‘Oh, they belong.’ If you come to a national youth conference, they get it livestreamed, they will get them compensated and at the end of the day, nothing will come out of it.”
Sowore argued that youths do not need a national conference if they truly want to take over power.
He added that the young people who are serious about governance would team up in unity to actualise their plans.
President Tinubu, during his nationwide broadcast on October 1, announced plans for a 30-day National Youth Conference aimed at creating a platform for youths to discuss and address the challenges they face.
“The current administration wants to compensate the youths ‘who are in the corner,’ particularly the son of the president and his friends,” Sowore said, describing the move as unproductive and politically motivated.
“Considering this, I am pleased to announce the gathering of a National Youth Conference. This conference will be a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who constitute more than 60 per cent of our population,” Tinubu stated.
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