ROLE OF YOUTHS IN GOVERNANCE - Irabor Reuben (el_reuben)

  

Have you ever thought of the fact that the African system of government is usually gerontocratic- (a form of government by the old ) in nature,

I'm sure you havent ; as a result of the gerontocratic system of government ,Africa continues to be faced with a myriad of governance issues emanating from poor leadership across most parts of the continents ,as a result of these issues and plights, things dont run smoothly as they should in the country. At the heart of these development challenges are the youths who continue to bear the full brunt of these governance issues.

The youths have a very pivotal role to play in good governance and they include ;exercising their political franchise which means right to vote and to be voted for ,the youths in the continent should not evade or run away from participating In political activities in the country ;in some cases voting doesnt count and it could be as a result of  rigging ,irrespective of that ,we the youths should still exercise our political power by registering and voting during elections in the country ,if they dont let us rule at least  we should select who will rule us .

Another role of the youths in good governance includes ;rendering social services to the society  ,the youths will indeed spread a positive vibe all around the country ;small or menial things like cleaning the  environment ,stopping people from urinating on public walls and so on and what have you ,though not fast ,but one  will slowly witness changes in the heart and mind of the  people. This is definitely possible if the youth today offer their full participation. And of course one cannot preach godliness if one is not godly, to tell others what to do and what not to do is easy. Looking at others and criticizing them  is even easier ,but what is difficult is realizing ones flaws and rectifying them. 

Flowing with the wrong trends, the youth of today tend to adopt some habits which are not at all inspirational  or motivating .you cant preach change if you yourself cant change from your obstinate and destructive ways ,what good can they impact to this democracy when they cannot do any good to themselves ? .with great power comes great responsibility ,for every single responsible citizen is what makes a country a better place to live ,as one should not shy away from ones responsibilities. 

And as food cannot be cooked without fire ,the government should also empower the youths of a country in order to carry out their activities and also participate in political activities of the country .In conclusion we cannot always build the future for our youths ,but we can build our youths for the future by encouraging and empowering them .for the youth of today is the driving force of tomorrow