Sen. Rukayat Saraki, the Minister of State for Transportation, has called on Nigerian youths to participate actively in politics.
According to the University of Ilorin Bulletin issued on Monday, Saraki made the call while speaking at the 47th Annual Personality Lecture organised by the University of Ilorin’s chapter of the Postgraduate Students Association (POGSASS).
In her lecture, titled: “The quest for youth engagement, involvement and inclusion in Nigerian politics”, Saraki said youth participation would promote good governance and its attendant all-round transformation at all levels of government.
Saraki, who is also the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of the Federal University, Otuoke, said that functional involvement of youths in politics was not a historical duty but a very important obligation.
She explained that youth involvement in politics must be encouraged by all stakeholders who meant well for Nigeria.
The minister said that the political participation of youths was imperative to the attainment of social justice and egalitarianism.
She recalled the fascinating roles of the nation’s founding fathers, whom she said embraced politics at tender ages, a situation that accounted for the nation’s independence.
The minister said that though disenchantment to political participation had become the order of day for ordinary people, politics was an unavoidable and “integral part of our lives”.
Saraki noted that the huge percentage of youths in the nation’s population necessitated the need for their involvement in political participation for patriotic and nationalistic purposes.
She called for the establishment of chapters of political parties in universities as it was in the past.
According to Saraki, institutions of higher learning must be a true training ground for future leaders in all ramifications including politics, which she said must not stop at the Students Union level.
Speaking earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, appealed to the minister to use her good offices to provide lasting solutions to the persistent transportation challenges facing students.
The vice-chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (RTI), Prof. Mikhail Buhari, also spoke on the recent efforts of the management of the institution in reducing the stress of commuting on staff and students.
