A group under the aegis of Pitapwa Unity Football Competition has decried the marginalization of youth in the proposed Adamawa State executive council.

At a press conference in Yola, Friday, the group accused the governor of ditching the youths after he substantially used them to attain his succession bid as governor of the state, noting that the situation is unacceptable.

Convener of the group Pitapwa Vokito counsels the governor to make a detour in order to correct the ill feelings harboured by a large creame of youths in the state.

During the gubernatorial campaigns, governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has promised to carry along youth and women if elected.

But Vokito noted that Fintiri only fulfilled that promise in the breach.

“Our gathering here today is not on the premise of any particular Political Party but this is a gathering of Adamawa Youths with a deliberate drive to hold our leaders whom we’ve given our mandate accountable for their Political decisions, in particular the State Governor H.E. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.

“May we start by commending the Governor for kicking off his second term on a good note, most especially by his constant show of interest to further development of our dear state and to make life better for all.

“We will however not hesitate to state unequivocally that some of the Governor’s take offs are not commendable particularly the recent list of commissioner-nominees submitted to the Adamawa State House of Assembly for screening and subsequent approval.

“It is worthy of note that the desire of all well meaning Adamawa Youth is the Progress and Prosperity of our dear State and the country at large.

“But this cannot happen without the Government’s deliberate and conscious involvement of the Youths in policy making and policy execution. With over 60 percent of its population being youths, Adamawa State is among Nigerian states with the youngest population. In 20 years from now, the youth population will rise by 20.

“This demography, when spiced with the right responsibilities for long enough, will be a huge advantage for not only the state but the Country at large. But what we are seeing today is unfortunate as it marks an attempt to deliberately exclude Youths by the Government of the day under H.E. Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri who got into power by the sole mandate of the Youths.

“It is of utmost importance we remind H.E. Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri that the Youths of Adamawa State will forever be the backbone of this State.
Their physical and intellectual energies matter to the growth and development of this state. One way the government can leverage the manifold talents in its youth is through meaningful engagement, dialogue and participation in policy making.

“Prior to the elections, the Governor just like all othe Candidates went into social contract with the Youths of the state to offer a significant recognition his Government by way of involving them in
decision making via appointments.

“The failure of the state Governor to keep his part amounted to the breach of contract which may not go down well with his Peers if he’s known for not keeping up to his promises. Those who cannot honor their words do not qualify for Leadership.

“We took a research to look at nominees in others states such as Yobe, Kaduna, Kebbi and even our neighbouring state, Taraba to mention but a few. From our discovery, all these states aforementioned all have youths within the age bracket of 33-38years.

“It is important to state here that in order to carry this important group along, even President Tinubu has included a number of youths in his cabinet.

“We respectfully call on the Governor to the fact that he has highly productive and constructive youths, too numerous to mention in the state that cannot serve in Commissioner capacities but whose intellectual and vigour can drive more fortunes to the state. We dare say, if we the Youths can be instrumental to political victories, we sure can hold political offices and change the narrative of the state for the better,” Vokito said.

Vokito observed that when young people are deliberately excluded from partaking in the governance process, the remaining portion of the population will have little or no voice to influence decisions that affect their lives and the larger society.

“This explains why it is essential that young people are engaged in formal political processes and to also have a say in formulating state policies that are beneficial to all strata of the society.

“We hereby suggest that it is not too late to withdraw some of the commissioner-nominees and replace them with the Adamawa youths who were on the verge of being marginalized.

“We hope that while the government sees reasons in this submission, we also implore it to ensure that rooms are not given to errors in the subsequent moves for Political appointments by ensuring that a significant percentage of youths occupy such offices,” he said.

But responding to the outcries of the youths, the chief press secretary to governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, Humwashi Wonosikou expressed dismay over the allegations adding that there is no way Fintiri who himself is a youth could deliberately disenfranchised youth from partaking in his government.

He noted that from his name, the convener of the youth is a man from Numan federation noting that both the commissioner nominees from Numan and Demsa local governments are youths.

“I don’t really understand where the convener is coming from because from his name it is apparent that he is from Numan federation and the commissioner nominees from both Numan and Demsa are youths in their prime.

“May be Vokito is not happy with those nominees from his own enclave otherwise his outcries are misplaced in view of the fact that the commissioner nominees from his own constituency are all youths,” he said.