By Ibrahim Kegbegbe
Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) senatorial candidate for Oyo Central Senatorial District, has urged youths in Oyo State to take active part in politics and play a greater role in determining the leadership of the country ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Ajadi made the call on Friday while speaking with journalists at a Youth Stakeholders’ Engagement organised by the Agency for Youth Development for representatives of about 900 registered youth associations across Oyo State. The programme was held at the Ministry of Local Government Training Hall in Ibadan.
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The engagement was designed to provide a platform for youths across the state to articulate their needs and aspirations, identify challenges affecting youth empowerment, skills acquisition and employment, as well as develop practical, community-driven proposals. It also sought to strengthen collaboration between the government and youth stakeholders and establish a sustainable feedback mechanism for youth participation in policy development and implementation.
Speaking on the importance of the programme, Ajadi said the engagement should serve as an opportunity to reorient Nigerian youths and encourage them to become active participants in politics rather than leaving the political space to older generations. He argued that youth participation was essential to changing what he described as the negative narratives surrounding governance in Nigeria.
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According to him, “Over the decades, what we have been seeing is bad governance, and part of the reason is that Nigerian youths have failed to join politics. Because the youths refuse to participate, the old cabals and some of the bad eggs that have been in the system since the return of democracy in 1999 have continued to dominate the political space.”
Ajadi said the negative perception surrounding politics should not discourage young Nigerians from participating, stressing that youths possess the energy, ideas and capacity required to contribute meaningfully to national development. He therefore appealed to them to join political parties and use their numerical strength and collective voice to influence positive change.
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“The youths are the vibrant ones. They are the ones that can do something and contribute to the total development of our nation. That is why I am calling on them to come and participate in political affairs and change the bad narrative to a good one,” he said.
Ajadi declared: “Presidential candidate of APM, Engineer Seyi Makinde, all our Senate candidates, all our House of Representatives candidates, State House of Assembly candidates, our governor, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, and our local government chairmen and councillors are going to win the elections. We are taking it all, by the grace of God.”
He further described himself as a friend of the youths and urged participants at the engagement to translate the discussions into concrete political and developmental action. He maintained that greater youth involvement in governance would not only improve political representation but also create opportunities for young people to influence policies affecting education, employment, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and economic development.
The engagement provided an avenue for youth stakeholders to interact around issues affecting their communities, while reinforcing the need for sustained communication between young people and government institutions. For Ajadi, however, the central message was that Nigerian youths must move beyond complaints about poor governance and become active participants in the political process that determines who governs the country.
With the 2027 general elections approaching, the APM candidate said youths must recognise their numerical strength and use it responsibly by participating in political parties, voting for credible candidates and demanding accountability from elected representatives. He said the future of Nigeria would depend significantly on the willingness of young Nigerians to take ownership of the country’s political process.
