Former governor of Cross
River, Donald Duke, has called for independent candidacy in the Nigerian
electioneering process.
He expressed this notion while speaking at
the Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders held at the
Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Mr. Duke highlighted the need to review
the Nigerian Constitution regarding independent candidacy in order to
encourage young and competent Nigerians to run for political office.
“Nigeria’s democracy is growing,
but the country will fare better if young Nigerians play active roles
in determining governance. The situation in Nigeria will not change
unless the youths are actively invested in moving the country
forward. Youths need to stop asking for things and start making
demands,” Duke said.
Supporting his position, Ambassador
Dayo Israel, Chairmanship Aspirant for Lagos Mainland, emphasised
that young and versatile Nigerians have important roles to play in
the long-term development of the nation.
“A system that consciously subverts
merit, competence, ability, capacity and hard work cannot progress,”
Israel said. “This is the tragedy of the Nigerian system, and if
our democracy must grow, we must ensure internal democracy and
independent candidacy form a part of our electoral process. Africa
must open its space to emerging leaders.”
Powered by The Future Project in
partnership with National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and
Y!/YNaija.com, the Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders
brings together leaders in politics, business, media, and more to
discuss issues and challenges of open government and active
citizenship.
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