Prof. Dickson Akor, Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria’s Board of Trustees, has warned the country’s two major political parties against abandoning youths and women in the electoral process ahead of the 2023 general elections.
This was expressed by Akor, the founder and Commandant of the Nigerian Peace Corps, at a virtual lecture hosted by the Cambridge University Nigerian Society (CUNS) on Sunday to commemorate the 2022 Democracy Day.
Prof. Akor warned that the absence of participation of youngsters and women, who he believes play crucial roles in the electoral process, may not “augur well for a successful and peaceful attainment of the aim.”
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He said, “It is important to note that electioneering activities are performed mostly by women and young people. Any arrangement within which the critical classes of the society are not included and involved, will not augur well for a successful and peaceful achievement of the target.
“I will, therefore, categorically and bluntly appeal that the Nigerian Women and Young People must not be taken for granted”.
The head of the Peace Corps also said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had neglected Nigerian youths and women by electing older people to the presidency.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 75, has emerged as the PDP’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, while former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, 70, is the current APC’s presidential candidate.
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Despite the age gaps, Atiku and Tinubu were able to get tickets in the recently ended primary elections.
“The Nigerian Youth Constituency are rightfully beginning to feel marginalized and neglected.
“There is the dire need for them to be incorporated in the scheme of things politically. This is my position, arising from my disposition of being in the trenches with the Nigerian Women and Young People”, Akor added.
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