APC’s Under-40 Agenda: What is PDP’s Response?

By Abdulsalami Ajibola

Let us get it clear from the beginning. I am a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). I am one of the youths who have been working hard to keep the party united, strong, and virile. Thus, anything you read here is from a partisan and an interested party.

Having seen the list of nominees submitted by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to the State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation as commissioners, I have realised one thing. The governor and his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) have made it clear that they want to use the administration of the state to appeal to the youths in the state and build solid support within that constituency.

To have a list of 18 nominees and almost 16 of them are in their 30s or just under 40 is a conscious effort being made to hand over the state to the youths and put the younger elements in the drivers’ seats in the administration of the state.

The APC has realised that the demographic statistics in Kwara State are highly skewed in favour of the youths. The younger ones, they calculated, form the very good majority among the voters that decided the outcome of the 2023 polls. I believe the statistics will continue to turn out higher in favour of the youth. So, any focused political party should take the youth seriously and court them in terms of office sharing, positioning, policy formulation, programming, and branding.

The Kwara APC has by the composition of its next cabinet made a strong statement that the youths, not the elderly ones, delivered victory for the party in the last general elections. The young people who made the victory possible are now being compensated. When you have young people as commissioners, you are creating a constituency that will almost be impregnable. A solid one. The APC is seeking to prepare for the future and that is a smart political move.

However, the crux of my article is to raise the question: Is the signal being sent by the APC clear to and decipherable to our party, as the main opposition platform? What are the responses of the PDP to this APC’s new strategy? How will the PDP ensure that it does not get worsened in the impending battle for the minds of these youths?

In my view, the PDP has no option. It must give a good battle to the APC in the area of fighting for the support and backing of the youths. The PDP is the party that is ordinarily known for bringing the youths into prominence and giving them positions. However, today, the PDP seems to have been seized by the older elements.

The APC under-40 agenda has now made it imperative that the PDP should not leave this critical constituency to the party in power to ride roughshod or dominate unchallenged. The PDP’s response should come in the form of giving critical positions to youths in its executive offices at the state, local government, and ward levels.

This response should start with the replacement for the vacant office of State Secretary. The next scribe of the party should be a person who is under-40. We must hand over the running of the party’s secretariat to a youth who can lead the party into the next election with new ideas that can help win the support of the youths.

We should also ensure that just as we have it at the national level, the PDP should make it compulsory that every occupant of the office of the youth leader at the state, local government, and ward levels should not be more than 30 years in age.

The PDP should also ensure that more young persons that are under the age of 40 years should be given vantage positions in the party and nominated to key positions at the national headquarters when there are vacancies or when the opportunity arises for them to serve in national committees and bodies at the national secretariat.

PDP should now be very sensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the youths in taking decisions. PDP should let it be known that it is a party that is ready to listen and attract the youths whose voices are now so loud in determining the trend of politics, even nationally. I hope leaders of the party will see the sense in this suggestion. Any attempt to ignore this development being dictated by the APC strategy will bring disaster.

PDP must compete favourably, keenly, and honestly with APC in winning the support, minds, and favours of the youths. This critical section of the populace is set to determine the future of any political party in Kwara State and Nigeria as a whole. Since it is our prayer that our party should have a good future, we need to also be forward-looking and creative. The youths are the future and the present, today and tomorrow of our dear state.

The signal should be clear to PDP.

Ajibola is from Adewole ward in Ilorin West LGA.