Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Youths in Parliament, has reassured Nigerians of the House’s commitment to reestablishing Nigeria’s international standing.
In order to inform and educate peaceful relationships among youngsters in Parliament across the nation, Hon. Alao-Akala, who provided the guarantee during the Committee’s inauguration, announced plans to organize the first annual youngsters in Parliament conference.
He claims that the Committee is tasked with “initiating good policies on parliamentarian research and documentation and ensuring efficient databank of youths in national and state Assemblies; oversight and monitoring of youths in Parliament; ensuring harmonious relationship between the young legislators in the national and state Assemblies” in accordance with the provisions of the 10th Assembly’s Standing Rules.
In addition, the Committee is expected to suggest to the House that any youth Parliamentary groups be formed, organize national and international conferences, workshops, and other forums for the education of youth in Parliament, and advise on whether the House should send a youth delegation to particular inter-parliamentary events.
Noting that voters supporting youths in Parliament represent a wide range of age groups, he gave his guarantee that the youthful lawmakers would prioritize issues affecting the country’s growth.
“The youth that we represent are a highly influential group of individuals, and they look up to us since the candidates we voted for are young people. What will they do? How do they effectively represent us? I keep telling them that even though we represent a sizable community, it was just the youths who did not vote for us.
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Speaking about the Committee’s intention to host conferences for aspiring legislators in the State Houses of Assemblies of all 36 States of the Federation, he declared: “We are Representatives with a difference; Nigeria should know that we are ready to put Nigeria back on the map in every manner possible—economically and in terms of infrastructure.
“If we wait for other people or at an other moment, change won’t happen. According to US President Obama, we are the ones we have been waiting for, the change we so desperately need.
“We are the change we want to see; no one else can make it happen for us.”
While pointing out that youthful lawmakers have a wealth of chances ahead of them, Hon. Ojotu Ojeme (PDP-Benue) said in his remarks that “so many people that struggled to be in the National Assembly that struggle for the whole of their lives to achieve this.”
Some people arrive here when they reach the age of our grandfathers. And at an early age in our lives, we succeeded in doing this. We should be pleased to remind Nigerians that we are young people and walk with our shoulders held high as we show them how much God has done for us by giving this Committee our all.
According to Hon. Sesi Oluwaseun (APC-Lagos), entering the holy chamber at this age is no laughing matter. And given the number of youthful lawmakers in attendance today, I believe it is critical that we take advantage of this and unite in our individuality and harmony.
Nobody is aware of tomorrow or our future. However, the bond we are able to forge here might endure for a very long time, if not the rest of our lives. Thus, this Committee is crucial, especially for upcoming legislators. It gives us a platform to get together, converse about ourselves and our progress, and then start forming partnerships.
“I have no doubt that this fantastic Committee will produce many wonderful things. Unless we wish to fool ourselves, age is on our side. We own the future, and this nation’s future is ours. The majority of the decisions made by our leaders in positions of authority today are made for us, not for them.
“As I mentioned earlier, those who are concerned should be aware that there will soon be changes in Nigeria’s political landscape behind the scenes. If you take a step back and observe the individuals in charge of affairs now, you will quickly realize that most of them will grow weary and eventually take a seat to gaze back at us. And then we would have to shoulder the burden of governing a nation the size of Nigeria.
“Although we are leading at this point in our journey, I think there are still a lot of great opportunities and things we need to accomplish before we can truly say that we have accomplished much.”
