The indigenous youths of Abuja under the auspices of FCT Youth Stakeholders Forum have said that the delay in the nomination of a candidate for the position of mandate secretary of the newly established youth secretariat was the need to give the best of the best.
“Someone who has track records of being an advocate of youth development in the last 25 years, experienced in youth empowerment and most especially someone who must be satisfied with by all the six area council chairmen.”
The founder of the group, Commandant Isaac David said this in a statement made available to newsmen, that the delay was just a move strategically aimed at nominating a personality who has worked for the development and empowerment of youth across the 858 communities in FCT for the past three decades, who has the ability to build and strengthening the already established structures on youth affairs and governance of youth stakeholders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Isaac added that, “the perceived delay is a deliberate one on stakeholders’ part to choose the most suitable candidate for the youth mandate secretariat, not only that to ensure that all the six area council chairmen have input on whoever we are presenting as mandate secretary.
The group noted that the delay was very necessary because the recent incident of protest in the country has shown that the secretariat have a crucial and pivotal role to play in shaping policies and programmes that would address the needs and aspirations of the youth in the FCT.
Isaac who doubled as ex-FCT Minister’s special assistant on youth matters reiterated that the ongoing process of nomination was the one all FCT stakeholders do not want to make in a hurry to avert mistakes of choosing a leader who does not represent the will of the people because FCT have its own peculiarities most especially on the youth affairs, “therefore there must be a very careful, conscious and calculated steps to be taken in arriving at a particular conclusion that they (Ministers) would never regret, so, we want our Honourable Ministers to understand this given what Mr. President also went through before giving us these workaholics and talk and do Ministers in FCT.”
He continued that the experience of the past was also a factor thereby all different stakeholders from various sectors, including government officials, community leaders, and youth representatives are giving a platform to meticulously review candidates’ trajectory, qualifications, experience, and vision in the last 25 years.
Isaac therefore implored the Ministers to exercise little patience for the people of the FCT to bring up candidate who was well-equipped to drive the secretariat’s objectives and contribute to the broader goals of youth empowerment in FCT.
“The stakeholders are still consulting and they have not made any recommendations. Therefore, this was necessary for the Ministers not to cheaply fall for the antics of gatecrashers who always want to take chances in any opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Isaac was quick to add that among the characteristics the ministers should employ in choosing after recommendations was to check for those who have been in the struggle using their hard-earned resources for the emancipation of the youth in FCT not those opportunity grappers who are masquerading as youth advocates within government circle.
“This should also serve as warning that we are not going to accept any body whose records fall below the requirements even if the person was supported by the area council chairmen”, Isaac advised
