NLC, YIAGA to mobilise youths for political participation

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa have concluded arrangements to support youths that are seeking political offices. 
 
Speaking at a roundtable discussion on connecting the youths to the economy and polity in Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, National Youth Leader of NLC, Victor Ekpo said as the 2019 elections approach, youths must resist being used as thuggery by the political class.He said: “Over the years the youths of this country have been marginalised and excluded from participating in the political processes. We have always been divided along religious and ethnic lines. We realised that we need to come together to be spoken to and enlightened, as the political temperature gets hotter. We want to operate within the confines of the law as young persons so that we are caught in the web of acting wrongly during the electioneering campaigns.”
 
He argued that Nigeria must development template to vote into offices people that can contribute to the development of the country. YIAGA Coordinator of Legislation and advocacy, Dr Ernest Ereke hinted that the group is working towards creating a platform to promote the ideals of young people that emerged to contest election into various offices in the 2019 general elections. 

The message to youths is for them to continue to organise themselves. As we approach elections in 2019, young men and women running for political offices that have the capacity to deliver must be supported by youths irrespective of political parties they belong. That will allow young men and women gradually take over the reign of political leadership of our country.” 
 
He called on youths to reject being political undertakers where they are only good enough to be used as political thuggery and violence.He hinted that out of 1,006 youths that registered on the YIAGA platform to contest primaries of political parties, only 145 youths were able to purchase form to contest primaries while 145 that managed to buy the nomination forms and 104 people that included nine ladies emerged as candidates of parties.YIAGA Africa campaigns against the exclusion of youths, women and people living with disability from the political space.