Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has charged young Africans to engage in activities that would change the continent’s narrative by participating fully in all socioeconomic and political activities that would guarantee a better future.
Obasanjo made this charge in his opening remarks at a Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat 3.0 organised by the Youth Development Centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library and Youth Bridge Foundation, held at the OOPL, Abeokuta, on Thursday.
The theme of the retreat is “Removing Barriers Against Youth,” which has participants drawn from different parts of the country.
The former president was represented by the Deputy Promoter of OOPL, Dr. Ayodele Aderinwale, who admonished the youths never to allow anyone to dictate their space in society.
He submitted that the youths must not allow those that would mess up their future to succeed in any way.
“You must never allow another person to determine or shape your space in society because if you do so, the space they will allocate to you might simply be in the ghetto or in the bush as hewers of wood and drawers of water or as cannon fodders.
” To undergird this, it is imperative that we build a community of shared values. A networking arrangement builds around a set of positive core values. Those values will be the compass as you seek to navigate.
“Youths must also accept as their responsibility the need to act as catalysts for improving and changing the system through massive participation in all political processes, including voting solidly for men and women of character, probity and integrity.
