2019: Which Way Nigerian Youths?

2019: Which Way Nigerian Youths?

* What An NGO Is Doing To Unite Them

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Abuja

As the 2019 general elections approach, Nigerian youth and issues that affect them are central, to what extent they are involved and have their voice heard is also a factor.

An international non partisan and non profit organization, ONE, is out to make sure that Nigerian youths with one voice speak their issues to the next administration.

The challenge before Nigerian youth ahead of 2019 general elections is the idea of carefully selecting who represents them at national, state assemblies; government houses and at the presidency.

It is the responsibility of Nigerian youths to select and vote for a candidate who can effectively represent the issues that affect them, who they believe can help them realize their dreams.

ONE is an international organization, using campaign and advocacy tools to seek an end to extreme poverty and preventable diseases by 2030, so that everyone, everywhere can lead a life of dignity and opportunity.

The organization has about 9.7 million members globally with about 2.6 million members in Nigeria.

One ideology the organization holds high in her engagement, is the believe that fighting poverty is not about charity, but about Justice and equality.

How Nigerian youths select and vote into office who lead the nation come 2019 is a very crucial issue, they need to seek out candidates who knows issues that affects them.

For Nigerian youth's roles to make impact as they prepare to engage in the forth coming 2019 general elections, they must seek out means to understand the problems they face, find out if the aspiring politicians seeking their votes can offer workable solutions.

To this end, elections are very vital process for Nigerian youths to cease as an opportunity to determine what future they think is best for them.

Making this decision in a matter of fact, must not be left completely to the Nigerian Youth.

In response, ONE over the weekend a new campaign, last Saturday, ONE unveiled the #VoteYourFuture Campaign.

According to Serah Zainab Makka Ugbabe, Nigeria Country Director of the organization, #VoteYourFuture is a non partisan governance campaign centered around the 2019 Nigerian elections.

The nonpartisan #VoteYourFuture Campaign is all about reinforcing the known fact that your action of voting (or not voting) affects your future.

It affects the future of your family, your children, and can have an impact on your advancement in life, Serah Zainab Makka Ugbabe pointed out.

Voting matters, not only that, how you votes matters too, how you select th candidates is of crucial importanc, Makka Ugbabe said.

The country director maintained that it is important that the candidates know the issues that affect Nigeria, and most importantly know how to solve them.

Candidates might not have all the anwsers, but they must know how to get the answers and they must demonstrate that knowledge when we, ordinary citizens ask them questions.

As citizens, we also have a responsibility to understand the issues that affect our community, state and nation.

Only when we exercise this responsibility will our votes move us towards the Nigeria of our dreams, Serah Makka Ugbabe emphasized.

This campaign seeks to ensure youth participation in elections as well as to have the elections become an issue based voting rather than one based on ethnicity, religion or other sentiments.

The #VoteYourFuture campaign was officially launched last Saturday at Abuja with a one day youth summit, that brought forth a nationwide attention to the campaign.

At the official launch of the campaign, ONE also ceased same opportunity to unveil various components of the campaign.

Also unveiled was a policy brief, ONE's publication with findings of responses from a research ONE conducted in a poll of over 170,000 Nigerians, as well as a multiplatform video advertisement featuring Tiwa Salvage, Falz the Band Guy and Adekunle Gold and others.

The youth summit was designed to enable Nigerian youths and other citizens to seek out meaningful avanues to engage in the 2019 electoral process, with interactive sessions between presidential candidates and citizens.

The youth summit recorded the presence of ONE members in Nigeria, ONE Champions, university students, youth coalition representatives, policy makers, electoral candidates, social media influencers and media partners.

SOURCE: ASABA POST NEWS WIRE (ONLINE)