By Seyifunmi Odunuga
The Accord Senatorial Candidate for Oyo South, Mr Kolapo Kola-Daisi, says he will prioritise youth empowerment for economic emancipation and nation-building if he is elected.
He gave the pledge on Thursday evening in Ibadan while featuring on the ‘The Podium’ a personality forum of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), Oyo State Council.
Kola-Daisi said that he ventured into politics to contribute to nation-building and give the much-desired quality representation to the youths.
“As far as I am concerned, we need to realise as a nation that we have to start prioritising our young people.
“I am getting into politics not only for myself, but to be an inspiration for young people.
“I hope when I get there, I will be able to provide that role model type inspiration to young people,” he said.
He lamented the negative effects of the lingering industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) on the youth population of the country, urging the government to quickly salvage the situation.
Kola-Daisi described the teaching profession as the most important profession in any country and should not be taken for granted.
“I am not saying that particular demands have to be met, but we are saying is that we need to try and redirect a lot of our resources as a nation to start focusing on what is important.
“We need to look at this resource allocation and dedicate a lot more of our budget to help those children be in school,” he said.
The renowned banker said that an addition of the jobless youths with students who are not going to school would no doubt bring lot of unrest to the nation.
“As a government, I think that it is high time we start looking at how we allocate resources when we do our budget.
“Find those things that are unnecessary and redirect them to ensuring that we keep our children in schools. Let them have education.
“Let them have the best education. Let’s give our teachers also what they need to be able to teach our brothers and sisters the best,” he said.
He said that such was the only way the students can graduate to contribute meaningfully to human capital development and nation building.
Kola-Daisi promised to ensure that his experience and professional prowess would be brought to bear in his a activities as well as nation building.
The renowned banker said that his target was to also ensure bills aimed at empower
Ing youths in the country were adequately and quickly passed into law.
“I have experience in fund raising, I have experience in mentoring, I have experience in working with young people to help them achieve their goals.
“And these are some of the things we plan to do when we begin to serve our constituents,” he said.
Kola-Daisi described Accord as the only progressive party in the state, saying that it had gradually grown to become a main force.
He explained that himself alongside Chief Adebayo Adelabu, the party’s governorship candidate and others left APC due to lack of fairness as well as internal democracy.
“The predominant party in Oyo State at the moment is Accord.
“Anybody who wants to participate on a fair, responsible, welcoming, open, progressive platform which does not discriminate on age, tribe, gender should come to Accord,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Ademola Babalola, the State NUJ Chairman, congratulated Kola-Daisi for being the first to appear on the new platform created by the NUJ ahead of the forthcoming 2023 Ggeneral elections.
Babalola assured politicians that journalists in the state were for all the parties and candidates, adding that the platform was opened to all.
“For us in the exco of Oyo NUJ, we are planning a special programme ‘The Podium’ for the 2023 general elections.
“This platform is available to all candidates from the 18 registered political parties to showcase their manifesto irrespective of their gender and age,” he said.
The maiden edition of the programme was widely attended by media houses in the state.
