From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Igbo youths under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders(COSEYL) have urged political parties to zone their presidential tickets to the south and also shun older aspirants in their primaries.
They spoke against the backdrop of the challenge by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar on Nigerian youths to compete with elders if they want to rule the country in 2023.
A statement by the President General of COSEYL, Goodluck Ibem, yesterday, said the task of administering the country was so tedious to be handled by older persons.
“The duty demands of the office of the president is more tasking, tedious than the job of a bricklayer and grave digger. It is a tedious job to manage the affairs of 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, ministries, paratatals and other International obligations of the country, and so only a young and vibrant president can perform the job efficiently and effectively without breaking down. Nigerians are not ready to make another mistake of electing a president that is unfit and unstable physically, mentally and otherwise to lead them. First fool nah fool, but second fool nah proper foolishness, as the saying goes. Our country is blessed with enough men and women that are young, well read, exposed and good mannered with good international contacts to bring the country out of the woods. We cannot have all these abundance resources of men and women in the country and elect a president that is old as our president in 2023. There is no wisdom whatsoever in electing an old man as our president come 2023.
“In our civil service, the retirement age is between 65 and 70 years, meaning that the productivity of any human being drops when he or she is above 70 years of age. Youths cannot be leaders of tomorrow or future leaders of tomorrow if the old men and women who are leading presently don’t give them the chance. Our youths are well prepared and ready to lead our country to the promise land and so need all the support and encouragement from our fathers, mothers and elders.
“We call on Nigerian youths to rise up and take the bull by the horn. The time to take our country out of the woods is now, and it is we the youths that are well positioned to do that perfectly well,” Ibem said.