2023 should spur young people to seek change, Daniel Ogoloma

Nigerian British political consultant and youth advocate, Daniel Ogoloma has said that Nigerian youths all over the world play a huge role in ensuring that the 2023 elections should reflect an era of change.

According to the founder of the New Generation Africa, youngsters have a mandate to contribute in changing the narrative of Nigeria as a place of total deprivation and misery to a place of promise. “2023 should make young people hungry enough for change, for positive impact in their societies. I’m patriot to a generation not a nation. I believe in prosperity for young people. Nigeria has untapped potentials.”

Ogoloma who has been a community leader in North and South London noted that Diaspora can’t make an impact from UK they must be on the continent – they must be the water that makes the soil produce fruit.

With our 20 years of democracy, we must examine our history to perfect future solutions. We need leaders who have a history of creating positive change. Nigerians need to be futuristic. It is evident that our country’s greatest resource is not its material resources but its human resources, the abundant talent, ambitions and energy of our people; qualities that we carry about with us everywhere we go in the world.

He stressed that practically through the ages, nations and peoples have realised the immense potential and benefits in harnessing and utilising their Diaspora to drive national development. Nigeria has a population of over 200 million and average age of 18 years old; hence 70 per cent of the population are youths.

“So we must be intentional in our pursuit to remove and install leaders that don’t meet the standard needed to make Nigeria great again. We should be intentional in our fight to see leadership based on meritocracy and not their ability to fill a ‘Ghana must go bag’.”

On young people and the use of the media, Ogoloma noted that as a powerful tool for driving positive change in Nigeria, the media must be used to control the narrative, drive agendas, and provokes us to take action.

“Elections and the power of the electorate is used to demand accountability from those they have elected. The conspiracy of silence in Africa must not be allowed to continue. It has done the continent no good.

“Youngsters can get change Nigeria via the media. Leaders are not in power to be feared, they are in power to serve. As the world gets more sophisticated and generations are changing the leaders must also change. The young must lead the young.”

On Political Inclusion, the businessman and pastor said the older politicians keep power because the younger generations refuse to rise up and take responsibility. However, it has now become glaringly clear that there is a need for evolution of the new generation to replace the old because their policy proposals are not working

“Nnamdi Azikiwe, still in his 30s, founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroun (NCNC). Meanwhile, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello and Samuel Akintola, amongst many others in their 20s and 30s, rose to prominence through their activism.

“It’s one thing to be ambitious but another to bring your ambitions to life. Politics is extremely costly in Nigeria. At every stage in our politics, a whole lot of money is involved both at the local and national levels, even though most youths are recent graduates, unemployed or under-employed.”