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ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA – The Ogun State Governor; Prince Dapo Abiodun has appealed to youths in the State and the country as a whole to shelve the planned mass protest across the country, “being sponsored by faceless elements and embrace dialogue.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun made this known at the Governor’s office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta during an engagement with the coalition of youth organizations in the state on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, appealing to youths in the state “to be calm and not to cut the head to cure an headache.”
Abiodun who further called on the youth coalition in the state to always engage him by putting their burning issues before him, also urged them to be civil, objective and constructive.
“I want to plead with you that yet again there are calls for mass protest, across the country, and the first thing that agitates one’s mind is, is that the way to present your case to government?.
“Is that a way of constructive and objective engagement with government by advertising and planning a protest, is there something else behind those calling for the protest, is this another plan by those that have tried their luck and have lost?
“Young men and women, we have no other country than this country, let me assure you, there is no other country in the world where you can walk like you own that town, like you own Nigeria, their is no other place, we have no other country but this.
“If their are issues, let us discuss them, let us find a way around them, let us manage them, let us correct them, don’t let us cut off the head to cure an headache”, he said.
Governor Abiodun also disclosed that his administration since it came on board had ensured that the youth constituency in the state were engaged by appointing some vibrant and brilliant youths into government positions, adding that the state government under his watch also created a job portal and enacted a local content law where a.large number of youths in the state has gotten employment opportunities till date.
Speaking further, Governor Dapo Abiodun said that he had to sign an executive order to split the Ministry of Youth and Sport into the Ministries of Sport Development and Youth Development to create an avenue for the proper development of the youth constituency and sport in the state, assuring that the Ministry of Youth Development would soon get its own Commissioner who he said would be young, brilliant and vibrant.
“I believe that it took us a bit of time to formalize the creation of that ministry, when you create a ministry, you must have a Permanent Secretary and other paraphernalia of office for it to be a Ministry.
“Not having a Commissioner for Youth Development is not deliberate or intensional, I want to promise you that you will get that Commissioner and that Commissioner will be one who will be able to relate with you and also transmite the needs of your generation to the cabinet,” he said.
Speaking about the criticism he has faced in the last few weeks, Governor Abiodun said that he is not disturbed by the various attacks coming from faceless people on social media, saying that he will continue to work towards moving the state forward without getting bothered by the faceless attacks.
Abiodun while noting that his administration has done brilliantly well in all the development pillars it has earmarked for itself, said that his administration welcomes objective criticisms.
Earlier, the state Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN); Comrade Kolawole Soremi and a Royal Youth Ambassador; Comrade Habeb White who commended Governor Dapo Abiodun for his giant strides in the state, also urged the Governor to appoint a Commissioner for the Ministry of Youth Development in the state.
