2019: Unilorin VC urges youth to make well-informed choices

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, has urged Nigerian youths to strive to understand the challenges facing the nation, to be able to make well-informed choices in the 2019 general elections.

Abdulkareem gave the advice at the opening of a summit tagged “Vote Your Future”, organised by a group, ‘One-Nigeria’, on Thursday in Ilorin.

The vice-chancellor, represented by the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Lanre Ajibade, said that students, by being well-informed, would be able to vote candidates that would bring the deserved development.

He urged them to vote leaders that would reduce unemployment rate, provide good and functional health care, address corruption and provide accessible and affordable quality education.

Abdulkareem advised the youth to also get involved in the agricultural sector, describing them as important stakeholders in nation building.

The VC also urged the youth to support the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration, to enhance the socioeconomic growth of the country.

He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was doing everything within its powers to eradicate corruption in Nigeria.

According to him, participation of the youth in such campaign is imperative because fighting corruption is everybody’s business.

Earlier, the Country Director of One-Nigeria, Serah Makka-Ugbabe, represented by the Digital Campaign Officer, Nigeria, Mr Olawale Makanjuola, urged Nigerian youth to listen to how all the candidates in the upcoming elections plan to address the challenges in the country before they vote.

He said that Nigerians had a real opportunity to define the future trajectory and set the pace for a new era in Africa’s history, as whoever they elect in 2019 will significantly affect the course of the nation and their collective well-being.

“Nigeria is at a critical time in her history, as the spotlight is on us.

“The stakes have never been higher. It is not an overstatement to say that whoever Nigerians elect in the next election may well determine the course of our nation over the coming decades, and in ways that will deeply affect us all.

“This election matters greatly; and future generations will judge us for the choices we make or do not make in this coming election,” he said.

Mr Abideen Olasupo, one of the 100 most influential young Africans for 2018 by Africa Youth Awards, said that the Summit was brought to Unilorin to mobilise and prepare the students to make informed choices in the 2019 general elections.

Olasupo, an Executive Director of Brain Builders International, also joined other participants at an interactive session where issues bordering on civic responsibilities of the youth were discussed.

Our correspondent reports that the programme included discussions on the criteria for choosing a presidential candidate in 2019, vote-buying, and issues bordering on job creation, education, health, fighting corruption and tackling insecurity headlong.