By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Jos— As 2015 general elections approach, youths in Plateau State, under the aegis of Young Aspirants Leadership Fellowship, have called on their contemporaries to either seek elective positions or support honest candidates who would not exploit them but fight for their welfare.

The youths believe such would give them the opportunity to contribute their quota to nation building instead of waiting forever as “leaders of tomorrow” that would never come.
At a forum in Jos, yesterday, the youths discussed their participation in politics and proposed a registration of a youth-based political party where their voices would be heard and issues concerning them tackled.

Speaking on the occasion, Comrade Gad Peter challenged the youths to take their destiny in their hands as no old politician would hand over leadership on the platter of gold to them.

He said: “As youths, we need to speak to ourselves, unite and push our issues in unison. Youths’ presence in politics is not impressive and no much impact is felt in governance. No aspirant in the state is within the age bracket of  between 42 and 45 years.

”People like Yakubu Gowon, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Muhammed Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida among others had been leaders since their youthful days but today, youths at 35 years are still at home struggling to feed from their parents’ pots.”

Earlier, the leader of the youths, Jacob Pwakim explained that the forum was designed to identify, train and mentor youths for elective positions in the country.
Participants at the forum included former students union leaders and councillorship aspirants in the state and was supported by the United Nation Development Programme, UNDP.