As the 2027 general election draws closer, Governor Francis Nwifuru on Wednesday told Ebonyi State youths not to allow themselves to be used by politicians as agents of political violence, describing them as the greatest asset of the state.

Nwifuru made the statement in Abakaliki during the grand finale of the 2026 International Youth Week Celebration insisted that Ebonyi Youths should not allow themselves to be use to ferment crisis by any politicians no matter how influencer such politician is stressing that no political ambition is worth the blood or life of any young person.

The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Youth Development and Sports, Hon. Chidi Onyia, described the youth as the greatest asset of the state and urged them to prepare themselves for leadership and other opportunities through education, skills acquisition, discipline, innovation, entrepreneurship and hard work.

He said the increasing tendency to exploit young people for political purposes could only be reversed when youths developed the confidence, competence and capacity required to take advantage of opportunities whenever they emerged.

Nwifuru urged the youths to reject the notion that they were incapable or unprepared to participate meaningfully in leadership, stressing that adequate preparation remained critical to determining whether they would successfully utilise opportunities that might come their way.

“My point is simple. How much are we prepared? Because I want you to be prepared so that when your opportunity comes, you are prepared,” Onyia quoted the governor as saying.

The governor challenged young people to move beyond dependence on political patronage by acquiring sustainable skills that would enhance their relevance in the economy, public service and governance.

“We have to move from the usual norm, from the normal political patronage,” he said.
Nwifuru maintained that political empowerment without corresponding skills, knowledge and capacity could not provide a sustainable future for the younger generation.

“Politically empowered means? Without any skills and tactics, is this sustainable? No. It is not, and it can never be sustainable,” he said.

The governor further cautioned youths against individuals and groups seeking to manipulate them against one another, particularly through social media, political propaganda and inflammatory activities.

“The fight now is no longer to assault us. The fight now is to use us to fight ourselves,” he warned.

He urged the youths to critically scrutinise information before consuming or disseminating it, stressing that social media should be deployed as a tool for constructive engagement, innovation, education and community development rather than abuse, character assassination, misinformation and unwarranted attacks on leaders and institutions.

Nwifuru also emphasised the importance of continuous learning and preparation in the pursuit of leadership, observing that many individuals currently occupying political offices did not begin their careers with the certainty that they would eventually attain such positions.

“Let us stay fast and let us continue to believe in this administration,” he urged, while encouraging the youths to learn from both the successes and mistakes of those ahead of them.

Earlier, the Chairman of the NYCN, Ebonyi State Chapter, Comrade Douglas Ochishi, said the 2026 International Youth Week provided an important platform for young people to reflect on their responsibilities in the development of Ebonyi State and the nation.

Ochishi, whose address centred on the theme, “Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Future,” said the council deliberately moved the celebration beyond ceremonial activities by undertaking an independent projects tour of selected development projects executed by the state government.

He said the exercise enabled representatives of the youth community to physically inspect and assess government interventions in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture, human capital development and industrialisation.

According to him, “leadership is best appreciated not merely through promises, but through evidence; not only through speeches, but through visible impact.”

The NYCN chairman said the youth community had consequently resolved to speak from the standpoint of what it had personally observed and assessed during the projects tour.

He announced the council’s endorsement of Governor Nwifuru for a second term, describing the decision as an expression of confidence in continuity, consolidation and the sustenance of the administration’s development agenda.

“Accordingly, arising from our collective assessment and the outcome of the International Youth Week Projects Tour, the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Ebonyi State Chapter, on behalf of the youth community, hereby endorses His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Bldr Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, for a second term in office,” Ochishi said.

Ochishi also highlighted some achievements recorded by his administration since his election on May 24, 2024, including the construction of an NYCN annex office, organisation of youth summits and International Youth Week programmes, youth sensitisation campaigns, anti-terrorism awareness campaigns, free medical outreaches and advocacy against social vices.