Senator Aminu Tambuwal (PDP-Sokoto) has called on Nigerians to support youths to occupy leadership positions and ensure selfless leadership to overcome the country’s political and social challenges.

Mr Tambuwal, who is a two-term governor of Sokoto State and former Speaker of the House of Representatives made the call during an interview with journalists at the end of special prayer for his 60th birthday on Friday in Sokoto.

He said Nigeria remained a great country with enormous potential but required a new wave of selfless and inclusive leadership to overcome deepening political and social fault lines.

He thanked the organisers of his 60th birthday prayer which allowed him to reflect on Nigeria’s journey since independence, noting that though progress had been recorded, it had fallen short of expectations.

“Nigeria is a great country. It is still a work in progress. Some achievements have been recorded, but not as expected. Much of the work rests on the shoulders of the leaders of the country,” he said.

Mr Tambuwal described human capital development as central to nation-building and argued that youth empowerment should be at the heart of public policy.

“Our focus was on growing the youth, investing in their education, healthcare, and future. We need to do more in identifying young people, moulding them, and mentoring them for leadership,” he said.

Mr Tambuwal stated that Nigeria’s diversity was not a weakness but required understanding and responsible statecraft to manage effectively.

He criticised what he described as the current  administration’s of peddling ethnic decisions and political victimisations.

Mr Tambuwal called for rethinking of allocating more resources and attention to a particular region or states which he described as cleared undemocratic sentiments by some present leaders.

According to him, cajoling governors to decamp to a single political party was a democratic robbery started after election as judicial processes where influential  personalities entered into agreement with selected elected leaders.

He said the scenario became a manoeuvre to ensure election victory at all costs, stressing that political coalition which he was actively involved had prepared to withstand all forms of election rigging in the future.

Mr Tambuwal assured Nigerians that the coalition was to ensure that the country returned to the right track on transparent leadership with viable democratic alignment for the nation’s economic and social progress.

 (NAN)