Speak up and Stand Up (SUSU), an NGO on Saturday held a sensitisation programme for youths in Lugbe Dalcachi Community in Abuja to build their capacity to participate in elections.
The NGO said the move had become imperative, in view of the 2023 general elections.p scheduled to hold in 2023.
Ms Gloria Emmanuel, an official of SUSU, said that the programme was to also encourage youths to take actionable steps.
According to Emmanuel, her organisation will provide a platform for them to be registered with any political party of their choice as well as do their voter registration.
She said that although youths constituted a large number of the population of Nigeria, their participation in politics was not felt .
“The essence of this event is to promote the participation of young persons in governance, SUSU is a project sponsored by The Voice, African Youth Movements and other organisations.
“This is to bring about societal change using young persons because we believe in the power of young persons, that they have a voice which can be heard.
“So my own thematic focus is governance and my topic is ‘Promoting the Inclusion of Young Persons in Active Politics’.
“This means they have to, first of all get the voter’s card and get registered with a political party.”
Emmanuel said that the SUSU programme was to aid collaboration between young people and decision-makers to address pertinent issues affecting them and various communities .
This she said could be done by using four thematic areas such as governance education, employment, peace and security .
She said that the measure had become necessary as her NGO had observed that young Nigerians were increasingly becoming aware of the issues facing their communities and Nigeria at large.
The SUSU official said that while a lot of action and speaking out had been online, little have been done on ground to drive policy change, support interventions and promote collective responsibilities.
Emmanuel said that was what SUSU was working to change because youth’s participation was much needed aid essential for a democratic society to function .
The Guest Speaker at the ocassion, Mr Abe Fisayo encouraged youths to always speak out and demand accountability in order to reap the dividends of democracy.
Fisayo also urged youths to join political parties and set agenda for politicians and refused to be used as thugs during elections.
According to Fisayo, the will not be able to change the political process without being a part of it.
Chief Danlami Cheta, the Village Head, Lubge Dalcachi community, thanked SUSU for the initiative and for engaging the youth .
Cheta also called on youths to fight for the development of their communities through active participation and demand for accountability and transparency.
Mr John Bawa, the youth secretary of the community, said that youths were being faced with a lot of challenges.
Bawa said that the challenges ranges from difficulty in registering for voter cards among others and appealed to INEC to open up the registration centres .
He thanked SUSU for opening their eyes to some gimmicks of political participation, adding that the group would hence forth mobilise youths to join political parties and be active. (NAN)
