Money has become a barrier to youth leadership – Onyeizu

Chinedu Onyeizu is a youth leader and once a senatorial candidate for Abia South under the All progressives Congress (APC). The Sloan Fellow of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an expert in Youth Empowerment and Governance. In this interview, he talks about youth unemployment and challenges of youth participation in governance.

With unemployment rate at 23.1%, what do you think Nigeria should prioritize to empower its youth?

I think our leaders should go back to the drawing board and start putting together strategic plans that will create millions of jobs for our teeming youths. As a country, we still fall in the bracket of countries that depend on agrarian produce at subsistence level to sustain its economy. Apart from crude oil, the next major sector that makes up our GDP is the Agricultural sector. However, a sector that needs to be given priority attention is the industrial sector, which the present government is beginning to embrace. In my view, it is the right move for job creation.

Attracting foreign direct investment in the agrarian, manufacturing and services sector will translate to the creation of millions of jobs for our hardworking youth population.

You lost a Senatorial ticket as the youngest aspirant then, does that affect your conviction that youth should reach for higher goals?

I lost due to avoidable reasons, but I believe as we mature in our democracy, most of those factors that affected me wouldn’t be there to limit the generation coming after mine.

I think aspiring for the Senate was the best gift I could give millions of Nigerian youths who have given up on our democracy. I challenged the resolve by many that the office of the Senate was only meant for retired generals or past governors. I may have lost the primaries on their papers but I won resoundingly in the minds of ordinary Nigerians that came out in their numbers to vote for me on that day.

Elections are known to be highly monetized, how can youth overcome this?

I tell people that the major barrier to youth leadership and empowerment in Nigeria is either economic or financial barriers. Unfortunately, the increasing number of unemployed youth has become willing tools for social vices. On the other hand, some of them that are well educated and exposed don’t usually have the requisite amount of funds to risk for election purposes. The highly monetized nature of our politics has remained the major barrier to youth participation in our democracy as candidates of political parties. They are often considered for votes and not as candidates. Thus, a way of solving this problem of youth exclusion in politics is by reducing or eliminating the compulsory monies that an aspirant must pay for party nomination forms.

What sort of leader do you think Nigeria needs to secure the future?

Nigeria needs a patriotic leader who knows the problems that have limited this country from greatness but more importantly understands what it takes to assemble a good team to help him find solutions to our problems.

Is the country ripe for a young president with the Not Too Young to Run Act?

Yes, I believe the country will need to elect a very competent and patriotic youth President by 2023 if it must stay competitive and stand out in the League of Nations. I emphasize competence because bulk of the heavy lifting can only be reduced if he demonstrates the capacity to transform key areas of the economy.