Youths across all strata in Nigeria have been tasked to participate actively in the 2023 polls. This statement was made by leading thought leaders, public officials and activists in Nigeria at the 2022 Nigerian Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders, held at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos on Wednesday, 12th October 2022.

‘The remarkable thing this season is that young people are now ready to occupy the citizens’ office, said Aisha Yesufu. She noted that true democracy is not just about holding periodic elections but a participatory process that hinges on people, especially the youth.

Natacha Akide, Social advocate and convener of the Natacha Akide Foundation, on the other hand, called for the INEC to deliver its mandate to the people at the 2023 polls – a free and fair election, and for the people to hold the electoral body accountable: “We must compel the INEC to do the right thing. We must do everything to make sure INEC delivers its mandate.”

On the issue of delivering its mandate, as well as the need for young people to collect their Permanent Voters Card (PVC), Adenike Oriowo, the INEC Lagos PRO and Representative of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos, stated young people are not coming to collect their PVC: “We have 900,000 PVCs from 2019, between June and September last year, we had 60, 000, only 24, 000 has been collected.”

About 350 people from different strata of Nigeria attended the 7th edition of the Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders. Themed “People, Politics and Power”, the symposium sought to spotlight the collective power of ‘people’, its impact on politics and governance as a whole, and how it can be optimised to the fullest.

The symposium featured; Social advocate Tacha Akide; Arts and Special Projects Lead, Anto Lecky; SDP Presidential Aspirant, Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi; Managing Director LASWA, Damilola Emmanuel; INEC Lagos PRO, Adenike Oriowo and many others.

The 7th Nigerian Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy. The symposium is available to be streamed on YouTube via –https://youtu.be/p0cYrLCcjHA

The conversation can be followed and participated in online at #TFPSymposium2022 or by visiting YMonitor on Twitter and Instagram.

YNaija