The former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has urged Nigerian youth to ensure that they take active part in the new political process unfolding in the country.

Speaking at the 7th annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards organized by LEAP Africa at the Muson Centre, Lagos, on Thursday, Ribadu said it was appropriate that in a year that new politics is in the air, the theme of youth and change was the concern of LEAP Africa, adding that Nigerian youth should take up the challenge by  registering and voting en masse in the 2011 elections.

Ribadu, who until recently was a senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development in Washington, DC. U.S.A. said, “For a nation like Nigeria to succeed, we need to strategically put our youth in place for development.

The Nigerian youth is highly energetic  and ambitious. He  will take any good opportunity available to attain great heights.”

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential aspirant noted that Nigerian youths are perhaps the most  resourceful amongst their counterparts, but with no opportunities to realize their potentials.

According to Mallam Ribadu, the time for change is now. He also noted that the country could not afford to relegate the youth to the background. “Together as we position our great nation on the path of positive change, we must accommodate the Nigerian youth.

We must provide them with tools to develop themselves; we must together reopen locked doors for them to walk through to a better future. This is the position and this is a job for you and I,” he added.