Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said that he has ended the godfatherism in the state’s political arena.
Makinde made this statement on Wednesday at the Students’ Legislative Summit, which was put on by the University of Ibadan Students’ Representative Council and the Honorable Adebo Ogundoyin, Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly.
Speaking during his speech, the governor said that “who is your father” used to be a common question in the state’s political arena.
But he claimed to have been able to break through that.
Speaking further, Makinde claimed that despite his father being a “nobody,” the people of Oyo State still gave him the chance to be a leader.
The governor further stated that young people in Nigeria needed to participate more in order for them to be more actively involved in governance.
According to Makinde, educating young people about leadership is essential to preparing them for the future and for governance.
“For us here, we have seen the common situation where ‘who is your father’ was the order of the day but we have been able to break that in Oyo State. My father was a ‘nobody’ and the Oyo State people still gave me the opportunity to lead.
“We may not be able to prepare the future for the youth, but we can prepare the youth for the future. Please, don’t see this event as just an opportunity to look at the issue of leadership in this country. And, in me, Seyi Makinde, the youth have an ally and we will prepare the leaders of the next generation amongst the youth.
“I am here this afternoon to encourage the youth. If you look at the history of Nigeria, we had our independence in 1960 and six years after, in 1966, the person that became the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, was 31 years and some months old. After him, during the Second Republic, former President Obasanjo retired as a General at the age of 39.
“You should dream big; people have ruled this country at very tender ages. So, for you, don’t think that at 29 or 30, you are too young to rule and I am glad, because this is almost like catching them early.
“You have the students here and in about three years, some of you will be out there to move on. If I were you, I wouldn’t start looking for work; I would start doing my own thing at a very early age of 24 or 25. With the kind of energy you still have, you can pull down the kingdom of Satan.”
Speakers of the Houses of Assembly in Osun and Ekiti State were among the dignitaries in attendance, along with Ayodele Olawande, the Minister of State for Youth, and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, who was represented.
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