Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday urged young Nigerians to get involved in politics in order to make the desired changes in government.
Osinbajo, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, made the call during a virtual interaction with Nigerian Fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
The Vice President said he would not have made changes in government, if he did not occupy a public office.
He noted that nations cannot afford to have their best brains and committed social activists remain in the civil space without being involved in politics.
Osinbajo said: “You need to go the extra length if you are not already involved, get involved in politics—while a lot can be achieved in civil society, the government still holds the ace in terms of capacity and resources to bring social goods to the largest numbers.
“Besides, being deciders instead of pressure group at the table in policy formulation are hugely different positions. The consummation of our great ideas to transform our societies ultimately will depend on ‘those politicians’ as we sometimes derisively describe them.
African nations and especially our country, cannot afford to have its best minds and most committed social activists remain only in the civil space. No, we simply can’t afford it, you have to get involved in politics. You have to be in the position to make the difference on the scale that is required.
“Of course, there are many who will not be involved in politics but those that are inclined should, and there will be many challenges even in the winning or getting heard in politics. But I want to say to you that it should be an objective that you should set for yourselves, to get involved at whatever level of politics so that you can make the difference on the scale that is required.
“It took public office for me to be able to get the scale of change that is required to make a difference.
Without a public office, I would have remained a pressure group activist, I would have done some nice things, but I wouldn’t have been able to make the changes that my country required.”
