The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President, Atiku Ababakar, has assured Nigerian youths of his commitment to enthroning an enduring legacy to them if he is entrusted with the mandate to preside over the affairs of the country.
Atiku gave the assurance on Wednesday when he received a delegation of the executive members of the PDP New Generation, led by its Director-General, Audu Mahmud, at his residence in Abuja.
The candidate reaffirmed his commitment as contained in his policy document to 40% inclusion of women and youths in government positions if elected, even as he noted that with the 35% affirmative action on women, as contained in the Beijing Conference document, that he would make the needed adjustment to accommodate the youth and the women segments of the Nigerian population.
Atiku, the Wazirin Adamawa, also recalled that it was only in the PDP era that the 35% affirmative action plan on women was implemented in the country and that the APC administration never honoured that policy.
He decried the vulnerable situation of the youths today even as he promised to remedy it.
To this end, he said, education would be an integral pillar of his policy agenda to empower the youths and advance the practice of democracy in the country.
He regretted that the institutions and policy frameworks the PDP government put in place have been mismanaged by the APC administration.
While recognising the place of youths in nation-building, the candidate stressed that he would, in tandem with the needs of the times, run an inclusive government that is sensitive to the nation’s diversities in all ramifications.
Mahmud, the leader of the delegation, noted that Atiku was a veritable source of inspiration to the youths of the country, and expressed confidence in his ability to fix “the broken socio-economic and political fabric of the country to the benefit of all Nigerians.”
