Youths are victims of graft, misrule, says Obasanjo

The Nigerian youths have been described as the usual victims of the misconduct of corrupt leaders in the country.The vulnerable members of the society also pay for the sins they do not commit due to bad governance and corruption in our society.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who made these assertions at the weekend in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, during the 2017 yearly public lecture of Dorcas Oke Hope Alive (DOHAI) Initiative, also added that the effect of corruption in Nigeria was being shouldered by the over-burdened youths, people he described as vulnerable and defenceless.

Dorcas is the late teenage daughter of the founder of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Wale Oke, who died in 2011 when she was administered with an adulterated drug.

The foundation, which was founded in her memory by her parents, honoured Obasanjo, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, chairman of the occasion, Afe Babalola; Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alinge, with DOHAI Ambassador of Hope.

Obasanjo noted that Dorcas’ death was a direct result of corruption in Nigeria’s health sector. According to him, the youths in Nigeria now believe that the easiest way to get rich is to get government job.

He said: “The evil of men in authority has made living in the world very challenging for all but particularly for young people.“Young people are the worst victims of social ills such as corruption and bad leadership, which seem to characterise our world today.

“A former American president once said that when older men declare war, it is the youths that must fight and die. The youths substantially bear the brunt of the misconduct and misbehaviour of the elders.

‘’They pay for the sins they do not commit. While I am not saying that older men commit all the evil deeds of the world, it is important to stress that young people, because of their vulnerability and dependence on the decisions of older people, are always the majority to bear the brunt of bad leadership, bad decisions, bad families, bad society, bad politics, policies and governance.”

“The young Dorcas Oke bore the brunt of the bad leadership of our society. She was full of life and aspiration but they were cut short by deliberate actions or inactions of the people in health system that is riddled with corruption. She died because some corrupt persons in the sector succeeded in selling adulterated drugs, which killed her.”