Author urges youths to set agenda, actively participate in politics

Amidst growing calls for youth participation in politics, one of Nigeria’s PR strategists has released a book, which focuses on the need for a paradigm shift in the political space.

Written by political analyst and Strategist, Dipo Mohammed, Stranded seeks to revolutionise and spike conversation on the importance of youth representation in the various aspects of socio-political and economic life of young Nigerians.

The book paints different scenarios that align with the possibility of youth leadership in a rather complex socio-political environment.

It further gives practical suggestions in which young Nigerians can be geared towards nation building focusing on themes such as youth identity, psychological competence, gender equality and good moral conduct.

According to Dipo Mohammed, Stranded was written with consideration of the changes that have occurred with young Nigerians based on government decisions.

‘‘There has not been much deliberate effort in capacity building for young Nigerians through government actions.

It is thus commendable that despite that, some exceptional young Nigerians are at the fore of making a difference in our polity.

We need to build long-term political structures that young Nigerians can ride on from the grassroots up to the top so that youths can have more stakes even in the mainstream political parties.

The concern thus is to ensure that we have a different approach that can resolve this rather multifaceted situation ensuring that youths are perceived as viable assets.”

Some young Nigerians who have shown interest in contesting for president include acclaimed Motivational Speaker, Fela Durotoye, Activist and Publisher of online news platform, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore and the CEO of Skylar Inc., Ahmed Buhari.

The signing into law of the ‘not too young to run’ bill recently by President Muhammadu Buhari has further strengthened the youth quest in aspiring for political leadership positions.

Speaking further, Mohammed stated, “I believe that more young Nigerians should join the campaign while others show more support.

Not just for the presidential race but in every aspect of governance. Our participation in politics is very paramount.

It is the only way that we can make our stance known and applicable on the various issues that are of concern to us now and in future.

We need to set an agenda of how we ought to live and not live by how older politicians believe we should live.

It is also important to state that this new movement should involve a lot of young women as the female gender has not been well represented in Nigerian politics compared to their male counterpart” the author added

The drive is to change the perception of politics among young people around African political leadership, which is peculiar to having Septuagenarians and Octogenarians in contrast to many of its European counterpart, who boast of young leaders even at the highest level.

Stranded hopes to change the narrative of how Nigerian Youths are represented in the social, political and economic discourse of the country.

The book is another effort by a young PR professional to gear young Nigerians towards political participation and effective nation building.

The e-book version of Stranded is available for free download at brandeffect.com.ng/stranded.