The Yoruba Youth Council (YYC) has declared revolution as the way for Nigeria to overcome its socio-economic challenges as the 2019 general election approaches.
Benson Akinwumi, Chairman of the Concil in Ondo State, said this during an interview with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Akinwumi explained that not even restructuring could address the nation’s challenges.
He said: “The only way out for Nigeria from this level of decadence which has eaten deep into all the sectors is revolution, and not restructuring yet. The state of the nation as of today is far beyond decadence; not even one of the sectors is without corruption.
“It is revolution first before restructuring; our problems will continue if we don’t stop adding bricks to this structure whose foundation was laid with deceit and corruption.”
He argued that the country was still backward in terms of development, despite its available resources.
He continued: “The voices that ought to speak for the masses have gone into oblivion. The people at the helm of our affairs are without vision and that is why destruction is inevitable. We have more than 50 different political parties in Nigeria, whose major objective is geared towards how to use the helpless youth as an instrument for the implementation of their selfish agendas. And this is not unconnected with the fact that the Nigerian democratic system is based on individual interest.”
According to Akinwumi, the current political leaders in the country have no clear ideologies of how best to run the economy.
“What they do is to share common interests at some point in time, which is a connivance against the masses, and that is why you see our politicians running from one political party to another once their self-centered agreement is breached in any way.
“Everyone of the self-imposed leaders we have today has no interest of the masses, and especially the youth — who are said to be the hope of tomorrow — at heart. And that is why they don’t care if our education system is bad or worse; they don’t care about how many more people are dying every day, and it is quite visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that the economy of the nation is at a standstill.
“I want to state emphatically that we cannot continue on this path of injustice, insecurity, religious and ethnic cleansing and general imbalances.”
The YYC chairman later challenged Nigerian youth, who still believe in the country, to rise up and take needed action that could help bring better change.
“Let me tell our youth that we need leaders among them who are not interested in self-aggrandizement and wealth accumulation, but sincere and passionate affection for the poor masses.
“We need people with integrity, who are truly committed to restoring this nation to the path of truth, justice and righteousness, which is the only key to tranquility and unity of our nation,” Akinwumi added.
