Electing a youth president will be dangerous for Nigeria - Itse Sagay warns

macfranc007 February 13, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Kess Ewubare

- Itse Sagay dismisses suggestions that youths would perform better in positions of authority in Nigeria

- He states that Nigeria may regret having a youth as president

- The PDP national chairman says some APC governors are poised to join the PDP ahead of 2019

The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Itse Sagay, has warned that Nigeria would be embarking on a dangerous journey if it elected a youth as president.

Sagay who gave the warning in an interview with Daily Independent, on Monday, February 12, argued that there was no evidence backing suggestions that youths were better than elders in leadership.

He described those thinking that youths would perform better in positions of authority in Nigeria as being shallow-minded.

“Number one: it is shallow-thinking for anyone to think that if a youth becomes president, he will do better than the older one,” Sagay said.

“It is very shallow thinking because, as I see it, it is the youths of Nigeria today who believe in overnight wealth, who want billions overnight, who don’t want to work for their living and gradually build up their assets and business.

“That psychology of overnight wealth is almost exclusively a youth attribute.

“Number two: who is stopping the youths? All these people who are advocating that the youths should take over are in essence saying the older ones should just call the youths and say ‘come and take power.

“If you want power, you work for it. You are not going to sit down in your sitting room and somebody will bring power to you. Let them join the fray.”

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He noted that young leaders in the world such as Emmanuel Macron of France, Sebastian Kurz of Austria and George Weah of Liberia, stepped out of their comfort zones, campaigned for votes and were voted for by the electorate before assuming the mantle of leadership.

He, however, said Nigeria may regret having a youth as president as the preponderance of evidence points to the fact that it is riskier to have a youth at the helm of affairs of Nigeria.

The senior lawyer therefore, advised Nigerians to maintain the status quo, which implies allowing President Buhari to continue for another term in office.

Meanwhile, Uche Secondus, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that some governors in the north-central zone elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will soon join the opposition party.

Secondus made his comments in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, during his one-day working visit to the PDP’s State Executive Council (SEC).

NAIJ.com gathers that the PDP chairman disclosed that the APC governors were already in talks to join the opposition party, and would be welcomed very soon.

All the six states in the north-central zone - Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau - are currently governed by APC governors.

Governor Fayose warns Nigerian youths ahead of 2019, tells them what to do on NAIJ.com TV