News
Youth Confab Is A Plan To Compensate Seyi Tinubu’s Friends, Not Nigerian Youths – Sowore
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticized the Federal Government’s proposed National Youth Conference, calling it a ploy to favor President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, and his associates.
Speaking during an interview on Lunchtime Politics on Wednesday, Sowore alleged that the conference is unlikely to address the real issues facing Nigerian youths. Instead, he described it as a politically motivated initiative aimed at rewarding select individuals.
The current administration is trying to reward the youths who are aligned with them, particularly the President’s son and his associates,” Sowore said, branding the initiative as unproductive.
President Tinubu, in his Independence Day broadcast on October 1, announced plans for a 30-day National Youth Conference. He highlighted the need for a platform where young Nigerians could discuss challenges and opportunities.
“In light of this, I am pleased to announce the organization of a National Youth Conference. This conference will serve as a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who make up over 60 percent of our population,” Tinubu stated.
Sowore, however, expressed skepticism about the conference’s intentions and outcomes. He argued that the initiative is unlikely to yield substantial results and accused the government of deliberately excluding genuine youth voices.
These young people being invited to the conference are likely Seyi Tinubu’s friends, not the actual representatives of Nigerian youths,” Sowore alleged. “They cannot allow genuine, critical youth voices at the table. If I were invited, I would decline because I already know this is a charade. Nothing meaningful will come out of it.”
He further criticized the initiative as an attempt to create the illusion of inclusivity. “The whole idea is to make young people feel involved—like they belong—while livestreaming the event and compensating select individuals. But in the end, it will achieve nothing,” he said.
Sowore emphasized that Nigerian youths do not need a conference to take meaningful action. Instead, he urged young people who are serious about governance and leadership to unite and work collectively to achieve their goals.
“The real transformation will come when serious-minded young people join forces to take over power and implement their vision. That is how change will happen—not through superficial conferences,” Sowore concluded.
This critique highlights the ongoing debate about youth participation in governance and whether government-led initiatives genuinely address their needs or serve as political tools.
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 24.23% in March 2025, according to the official government data source, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The rise in the country’s inflation rate, from 23.18% back in February 2025 to 24.23% in March 2025, reflected a major increase in the rising commodity and energy costs in the last few weeks.
According to the March 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report which measures the inflation rate released by the government agency on Tuesday, the country’s food inflation rate was 21.79% year-on-year in March 2025.
The food inflation rate, however, showed a decrease compared to the food inflation rate of 23.51% recorded in February 2025.
Economists had predicted that the country’s inflation rate which decreased minimally in February would rise when the Dangote Refinery and the state-run NNPCL got entangled in a petrol price war that culminated in the temporary termination of a naira-for crude agreement between the two oil companies and the subsequent increase in the pump price of petrol.
Some observers had also said the minimal reduction in the prices of food commodities experienced earlier in February was not sustainable, attributing the temporary decline in the prices of food to the importation intervention of the Federal Government.
Food and commodity inflation have skyrocketed as Nigerians battle what can pass for the worst cost of living crisis since the country’s independence over six decades ago, a development that economic wizards have attributed to President Bola Tinubu’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the forex rates.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has apologised to the people of Bassa Local Government Area (LGA) for the failure of government and security agencies to protect lives and properties.
Fifty-one persons were gunned down early Monday in the Zikke community of the LGA, with houses razed and many displaced about two weeks after a similar attack led to the killing of scores of persons in Bokkos Local Government Area.
Less than two days after the most recent assault, Governor Mutfwang apologised for the government’s inability to protect the people.
Fifty-one persons were gunned down early Monday in the Zikke community of the LGA, with houses razed and many displaced about two weeks after a similar attack led to the killing of scores of persons in Bokkos Local Government Area.
Less than two days after the most recent assault, Governor Mutfwang apologised for the government’s inability to protect the people.
The governor said this on Tuesday at the palace of the Paramount Ruler in Miango.
“I will tell you the truth: I have been crying since yesterday because I had trusted God that all the arrangements were put in place, that this will not happen again. We have made investments in security,” he said.
But like all human arrangements, sometimes they fail. I want to admit that on Sunday night into Monday morning, we failed you. Please, forgive me.”
He urged the people not to relent in their efforts to secure their communities and ensure that they complement security agencies’ efforts by providing vital information for intelligence gathering and expose the antics of the criminals.
Governor Mutfwang, in the company of security chiefs and members of the state executive council, was in Zikke community to commiserate with the people on the death of over fifty persons killed in Monday’s attacks.
The Paramount Ruler of Irigwe land, Ronku Aka, who is the Brangwe of Irigwe, urged the government to come to the aid of the communities with the provision of social amenities in the area.
The governor and the entourage also went to see some of the families who lost their loved ones in the attack. The victims have been buried just as members of the community demanded action to stem the rising wave of insecurity in the state.
Plateau State has been a hotbed of attacks, but the renewed spate of attacks adds a fresh layer of twist to the decades-long crisis rocking the North-Central state.
After the most recent assaults, President Bola Tinubu ordered security agencies to fish out the masterminds, describing the attacks as condemnable.
While experts have linked the lingering Plateau crisis to farmers-herders tussle for resources, Governor Muftwang said it was sponsored and genocidal.
According to him, over 64 communities in the state have been taken over by gunmen.
-
News11 hours agoSHOCKING! One month after giving birth, woman discovers another baby in her womb
-
News11 hours agoTears, anguish as Plateau Community buries 51 killed by bandits
-
News9 hours agoCBEX: 60 fraudulent Ponzi scheme operators to avoid in Nigeria
-
News11 hours agoAngry investors raid CBEX office, loot assets in Ibadan after digital Platform crash
-
News17 hours agoPeter Obi speaks as Benue govt. blocks humanitarian visit
-
Politics11 hours agoIgbo Youths Set To Mobilize 5 Million Man-March In Support Of Tinubu, Kalu
-
News18 hours agoFUOYE VC suspended over sexual harassment allegations
-
News11 hours ago‘Not something I’d wish on anyone’ — Melinda Gates opens up on divorce