***Tells Arewa Students: Use Your 2.1m Votes to Rescue Nigeria

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Professor Abubakar Sadiq Gombe has identified lack of character among Nigeria’s political leaders as one of the major reasons the country continues to struggle despite producing highly educated citizens.

The SDP chairman spoke in Abuja while receiving the leadership of the Arewa Students Forum, which visited the party’s national headquarters to honour him for his contributions to society.

He said Nigeria was not short of educated people, noting that the country was populated by politicians and public officials with impressive academic qualifications and titles, but that education without character had done little to transform governance.

“Character comes before learning. Learning without character is virtually nothing,” he declared.
The SDP chairman argued that the distinction between character and learning was central to understanding Nigeria’s leadership crisis, stressing that academic qualifications should not be mistaken for the capacity to govern responsibly.

He lamented that Nigerians have people with degrees, professors and retired professionals occupying important positions, yet the country continues to experience serious problems at the legislative, executive and other levels of governance.

“We have people with all the degrees, with all the titles, professors, retired this and retired that, and we are still behaving as if we didn’t go to school,” he said.

According to him, the problem is not necessarily a lack of knowledge but the failure to translate knowledge into integrity, selflessness, patriotism and responsible leadership.

He recalled his experience as a student union leader, describing that period as one of the most significant and cherished stages of his life because of the opportunity it gave him to impact positively on the lives of fellow students.

He said student leaders of his generation were deeply involved in debates and initiatives aimed at addressing challenges confronting students, including the cost of food and other essential commodities.

The SDP chairman further claimed that some of the debates and solutions generated by student leaders at the time were more substantive than what currently obtains in the National Assembly.

“Leadership of tomorrow is supposed to start as leaders of today,” he said, challenging young Nigerians to embrace commitment, patriotism and selfless service before seeking political power.

He told the students that the words traditionally attached to university degrees — that a graduate has been found worthy in character and learning — should not be treated as mere ceremonial language.

Rather, he said character must remain the foundation upon which education, leadership and public service are built.
“Character matters in the life of an individual, community or nation,” he said, stressing that academic accomplishments become meaningless when they are not matched by integrity and responsible conduct.

The SDP chairman also urged Arewa students and young Nigerians to take active responsibility for Nigeria’s political future by participating meaningfully in the 2027 elections.

He said the Arewa Students Forum, which he described as a non-partisan organisation, reportedly had a membership strength of about 2.1 million, making its voting bloc potentially significant in determining electoral outcomes.
He urged the students to recognise the strategic importance of their numbers and use their votes to elect leaders with character, competence, capacity, patriotism and fear of God.

According to him, the numerical strength of the students could make a significant difference in future elections, particularly because the margins separating leading candidates in recent presidential elections had been relatively narrow.

“Leadership is our major problem in this country. When you don’t get it right at the level of leadership, you are not going to get it right at any level or in any sphere of human endeavour,” he said.

He urged the students to educate their peers, participate in voter registration and campaigns, and support candidates based on their antecedents rather than ethnic, religious, regional or partisan considerations.

“You must be committed to educating your peers. You are of voting age. When you are 18, you are eligible to vote. You have to educate your peers so that they make the right choice in our elections,” he said.

The SDP chairman stressed that the students did not necessarily have to support his party, insisting that their responsibility was to help elect credible leaders irrespective of political affiliation.

“We are not saying you must belong to the SDP. You must, however, be committed to participating in the process of electing credible, patriotic and competent leaders,” he said.

He urged the students to look beyond ethnicity, religion, region and political affiliation when choosing candidates, saying Nigerians should instead assess those seeking public office based on their records, competence, character and capacity to serve.

He also warned that the socio-economic situation in the northern states and the Federal Capital Territory had deteriorated significantly, urging young Nigerians to take deliberate steps through democratic participation to reverse the trend.

The chairman said young Nigerians should not wait until they become old before taking responsibility for the country’s future.

He urged them to remain hopeful and committed to Nigeria, stressing that the country had no alternative and must be salvaged collectively.

Arewa Students Honour SDP Chairman.

Earlier, the Arewa Students Forum honoured the SDP chairman, describing him as a servant leader whose humility, intellectual accomplishment and commitment to humanity distinguished him from many political figures.

The students said their decision to recognise him was based on his record of service, accessibility and contribution to society.

Responding to the honour, the SDP chairman expressed appreciation to the students, saying the recognition was not merely an award but a challenge to the party and its leadership to do more for Nigerians.

“This is just to challenge us to do more. We never thought you were watching and rating us,” he said.
He said the honour demonstrated that young Nigerians were paying attention to the activities of political parties and assessing those entrusted with leadership responsibilities.

The SDP chairman assured the students that the party would continue to contribute to the well-being of Nigerians and humanity, while urging them to remain active participants in the democratic process.

He said Nigeria could still be rescued if its citizens, particularly young people, demanded leadership that combines character with learning, competence with integrity and political power with accountability.