2022: Osun Youths Canvass Stronger Citizens’ Participation In Electoral Process

Youths in Osun State have called on citizens to ensure greater participation in politics and governance of the state, beginning with the forthcoming July 16 gubernatorial election.

According to them, citizens are the powerhouse of electioneering activities, but mischievous elements in the political class have continued to take advantage of low participation and ignorance in the citizenry to unpleasant outcomes.

They however harped on a change of approach by calling on citizens to exercise their constitutional rights to participate in elections in Osun’s forthcoming gubernatorial election.

This is as the Osun chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria embarked on a solidarity walk on Saturday, to sensitize citizens on electoral processes and rights, and also to campaign against election-related violence.

The youths, who began the walk from Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, moved to Oke-fia, Alekuwodo and Olaiya areas of the state capital, conducting voter’s education, before moving on the long stretch to Abere.

Speaking during the walk, the Chairman of the Osun Chapter of National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Ismail Abdulazeez, called on young people in the state to embrace their civic duties with all sense of responsibility and commitment, adding that elections are won and lost at the polls, not on social media.

He also called on gubernatorial aspirants across party lines to embrace fairplay and responsible politicking, saying that election is not do-or-die.

“As the umbrella body for all youths and youth groups in Osun state, it is in our place to let our constituents understand critical issues that make for the peace and progress of the state. These are issues that bother on politics and governance. This explains why we are embarking on the voter’s education and campaign against election violence exercise today.

“This walk is by every inch different from what we have seen in Osun in the past, because it is not about person but process.

“We have recognised that the citizens are the powerhouse of electioneering activities, and so we have taken this step to sensitize our people against apathy on one hand and manipulation on the other hand.

“It has become critical to emphasise our rights as citizens, and make our people know the importance of intentional and robust participation, because if we leave the business in the hands of a few, their decisions at the polls will be binding on several other millions of people, in terms of who rules us for the number of years specified by the constitution.

“Having established the purpose of our walk, let us also use this opportunity to plead with the aspirants to play according to the rules of the game. Politics is not do-or-die, and we hope our politicians will pay close attention to that fact.

“All we want in our dear state is peace and good governance, but that also begins with us getting it right with our choice of candidate for leadership. That is why we are urging citizens to go out and vote come July 16. There are no polling units on social media”, Comrade Abdulazeez said.