•Youths should be bold to be truthful, earn trust of colleagues, says Peterside
Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi on Saturday expressed concern over Nigerian politics and political conversations, saying citizens should have outgrown bigotry, tribalism and ethno -religious biases.
According to him, it was time to rekindle the candle of a new Nigeria, adding that the 2023 transition had provided “another opportunity to take a new day at making a new Nigeria of our dream.’
Fayemi stated these during a birthday symposium in honour of the Chief Executive Officer Connected Development, Hamzat Lawal at 35 in Abuja.
He said Nigerians should build a consensus around major challenges and develop a national template in leadership position.
The governor described nation building as an unfinished and evolving business, adding that it was always the pressing business of the day that must be done urgently.
He said, “The challenges that ail our country today, provide us with the opportunity to take a position, take a stand and walk for the resolution of such challenges.
“We can all do our bit in our little way to cause a beautiful change that will lead us to make our country and indeed the world a better place. I am personally uncomfortable with our politics practice and our political conversation; we should have outgrown bigotry, tribalism and ethno -religious biases.
“It is time to rekindle the candle of a new Nigeria and the coming transition provides another opportunity for us to take a new day at making a new Nigeria of our dream.’’
Fayemi urged youths to value competence, courage, generosity of spirit, and a sense of giving than receiving.. He urged them to provide solutions instead of complainants, and exhibit the values of perseverance and delayed gratification in order to succeed in their endeavours.
The founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank and President of the Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, said he shared similarities with Hamzat, when he founded the bank 33 years ago as a youth.
According to Peterside, the older experts were not willing to join his bank, “However, after five years of success stories of the bank, the older people started applying and we employed them and last February the bank is 33 years.”
“The youths should know their weaknesses and strengths, work on their weaknesses by engaging those that can cover that area of weakness and also to build on the strength. They should also be bold, and truthful in order to earn the trust of the people, especially those they work with”, he said.
The celebrant, Lawal, who has been working in the civic space for some years said that he impacted lives and built capacity through the Ewa Ileri Leadership School, which he founded.
Lawal, who selects 20 young people to go school every year, said he would use the new phase of his life to contribute his quota to change Nigeria through politics, adding that Nigeria is bedeviled with crisis because the youth were disinterested in governance.
He said that a political movement called the Green Nigerian Movement has been launched to mobilize youths, persons with disabilities in the 774 Local Governments in the country, in order to build alliances and change the political narrative.
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