A Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief J.S. Okutepa, has urged Nigerian youths to reject political violence, electoral malpractice, criminality and manipulation by politicians, warning that they risk destroying the very country and future they are expected to inherit.
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Okutepa, in a statement titled, “Nigerian Youths: Do Not Destroy The Future You Are Destined To Inherit! An Appeal To The Conscience Of Nigerian Youths,” said young Nigerians must resist attempts to recruit them as instruments of violence, intimidation and oppression for temporary financial or political benefits.
The senior lawyer said he was addressing young Nigerians with a “heavy heart” but remained convinced that they possessed the capacity to rescue themselves and contribute to building a better country.
According to him, Nigerian youths should see themselves not merely as future leaders but as custodians of a future that must not be sacrificed on the altar of greed, criminality, political manipulation and temporary material gains.
“My dear young Nigerians, how can you inherit a nation you are being encouraged to destroy? How can you become tomorrow’s leaders if you allow yourselves to become today’s instruments of violence, intimidation, electoral malpractice and criminality?” he asked.
Okutepa expressed concern that young people blessed with intelligence, energy and enormous potential were sometimes persuaded to surrender their dignity and future in exchange for money, political patronage or promises that might never be fulfilled.
He said some youths were recruited to intimidate citizens, disrupt elections, attack political opponents and undermine democratic institutions, describing it as a tragedy when those who should be building the future were instead encouraged to destroy it.
The senior advocate particularly warned youths to consider the disparity between their own circumstances and those of the people who recruit them for political violence.
“The children of those who recruit you for political violence may be studying in prestigious institutions abroad, preparing themselves for leadership, while you are encouraged to carry weapons, shed innocent blood and risk imprisonment or death,” he said.
Okutepa warned that when the consequences of such actions eventually arise, the youths involved could be abandoned to face prosecution, imprisonment, injury or even death without the protection of those who initially recruited them.
“Never allow anyone’s political ambition to become the graveyard of your own destiny. Your life is worth more than any politician’s ambition. Your conscience is worth more than money. Your future is worth more than temporary political appointments or patronage,” he said.
He maintained that no political party, politician or political interest deserved the blood of young Nigerians or the destruction of their character and future.
Appealing to youths as a father and concerned Nigerian, Okutepa urged them to reject criminality, political thuggery, violence and corruption and to refuse to become instruments of oppression against fellow citizens.
He said young Nigerians who aspire to future leadership must begin to demonstrate the qualities they expect from those presently occupying positions of responsibility.
“You must demonstrate the character of the leaders you aspire to become. Cultivate integrity, discipline, courage, compassion, honesty, industry and respect for the dignity of human life,” he said.
Rather than being drawn into violence, Okutepa urged youths to acquire knowledge, develop relevant skills, embrace innovation, demand accountability and participate peacefully and intelligently in the democratic process.
He acknowledged the economic and social difficulties confronting many young Nigerians but cautioned that poverty and hardship should not be allowed to destroy their humanity or conscience.
“Do not allow poverty to rob you of your humanity or hardship to extinguish your conscience. Difficult circumstances may explain your struggles, but they must never become a permanent justification for destroying yourselves or others,” he said.
Okutepa stressed that Nigeria belonged to young people as much as to every other citizen and that they were entitled to demand good governance, employment opportunities, quality education, security, justice and equal opportunities.
He, however, said those rights also came with a responsibility to future generations to build a country founded on moral values, respect for the law and responsible citizenship.
According to him, the future desired by young Nigerians cannot be achieved by destroying the present but must be built through character, sacrifice, courage and a commitment to lawful civic participation.
“When tomorrow comes, let history record that you refused to be bought, refused to be used, refused to be silenced by fear and refused to surrender your country to lawlessness,” he said.
He urged the younger generation to aspire to be remembered for protecting peace rather than unleashing violence, strengthening institutions rather than destroying them and rebuilding the country rather than wasting opportunities available to them.
“Let your generation be remembered not for the violence it unleashed, but for the peace it defended; not for the institutions it destroyed, but for the institutions it strengthened; not for the opportunities it wasted, but for the nation it rebuilt,” Okutepa said.
The senior lawyer further urged youths to rise above ethnic and religious divisions, political manipulation, criminality and the temptation of easy money.
He said the potential and future of young Nigerians were too valuable to be sacrificed for the ambitions of politicians or other individuals seeking to exploit them.
“Your destiny is too precious to be sacrificed for the ambitions of others. Nigeria needs your brains, not your blood; your creativity, not your criminality; your courage, not your violence; and your character, not your compromise,” he said.
Okutepa concluded by urging Nigerian youths not to destroy with their own hands the country their children would ultimately inherit, expressing confidence that a better Nigeria remained possible if the younger generation committed itself to building it.
“The Nigeria of your dreams is possible. But you must first become the generation worthy of building it,” he said.
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