The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi has accused politicians of abandoning the youths at the grassroots while they enjoy luxury in the cities.
The Ooni of If said this at the opening of a special summit on national security, organised by the House of Representatives, yesterday in Abuja.
The summit, organised as part of the House’s response to the country’s security challenges, was to provide a platform for discussions by security stakeholders and other Nigerians in order to make far-reaching recommendations to the executive arm of government.
While delivering his keynote address, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi said insecurity could not be solved without youth involvement.
He said lawmakers should engage the youths rather than hold such meetings and repeating what has been said a lot of times.
He said, “It is very idiotic and stupid for us to be doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. We will continue to get the same results.
“Let us be very truthful and honest to ourselves in this country, we all know the problems. How well are we carrying along these people in that age bracket. But whenever we want to go for political posts and appointments, we go back to them. We know the good, the bad and the ugly in their category.
As traditional rulers, they are the most active in our system. Let us tell ourselves the truth, they are hungry and they are angry. I repeat: they are hungry and they are very angry. All of us that are here, I will be very happy if anybody can raise up their hand and say ‘I can go to my constituency, my local government area, and I can stay there in peace for one week.’ Who can do it here? Including our gatekeepers, who can do it here? Including the Senate president, including the speaker. But you left the traditional rulers; you left district heads, the baales to continue to stay there. And you are saying all will be well in this country.
“Let us change our style. You leave this age bracket. If there will be problems, you give them guns to start to move around. You will never see anybody above our age in our comfort zone here that is really ready to face the music.”
