Politics

Senate Inaugurates Parliamentary Forum For Not Too Young To Run

Published

5 years ago

Oct 23, 2019.

The Nigerian Senate has inaugurated Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) to encourage young Nigerians to participate in politics.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, inaugurated the forum on Tuesday in Abuja.
He also presided over the election of principal officers of the parliamentary forum.
Lawan noted the the aim of the parliamentary forum was to promote good governance as well as deepen the tenants of democracy in the country by giving young people opportunities to participate in decision making.
He said “The idea of the YPF is to give emphasis on inclusion of young parliamentarians across the world, and particularly in the National Assembly.
“The young anywhere in the world provide new energy for development. They represent the future and the promise of any nation. The young are the hope of tomorrow and the group around which leadership would revolves,” Lawan said in his remarks at the event.
Lawan stressed that it was vital to accord the proper preparation to the youths in order to have a secured future.
He said “If you want to see the future of a nation, look at what it is doing with the young; that will tell you whether that country or society has a future.
“What we have to do is to ensure our young ones, whether they are parliamentarians or not, receive the kind of attention that is needed to prepare them for tomorrow. Our tomorrow is prepared today with our young parliamentarians.”
He further said “understanding the youth is eventually made easier when we have a good number of them in parliament.”
The Senate President however, urged youths to take advantage of the Not Too Young To Run Act by participating in elections every democratic dispensation.
He said “The outcome of the 2019 general elections and the inauguration of the unprecedented number of young persons in the National Assembly and 36 state legislatures, we can say we are making progress with youth participation in Nigerian politics.
“The inauguration of the YPF of the 9th National Assembly is one big step we are taking to sustain the forum through which young persons across the nation have not only found a voice, but an instrument to be part of the decision-making process in the National Assembly.
“This is to make the voice of Young persons at the grassroots to count. It is also to ensure that they are part of decisions that affects them today and in the future. I want to assure the Forum that the Senate is ready to provide the needed support to achieve the concept of inclusion across Nigeria.
“These roles of the YPF are indeed very timely. It is a fact that we need to stabilise our democracy. It is also a fact that democracy is a system, requiring involvement and participation of all.”
“We have made the point that the 9th National Assembly has taken off on the high. We are determined to pass the budget in record time, so we can eliminate our undesirable budget cycle. We have set up our committees in both chambers, just as we have also passed our legislative agendas.
“With these activities, we have built a new momentum, preparatory to delivering our mandate of good governance. With the imminent inauguration of the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF), we have also begun another phase.”