Punch News reports that President Buhari recently expressed concerns of his age being a limit to peak performance after the African Union Summit’s closing.
“I wish I became head of state when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do,” he said.
This has sparked public concerns within Nigeria, despite the President’s assurance after cited statement was made of his government’s plans for change.
In an official press release, Ahmed Adamu, the Chairperson and President of the Commonwealth Youth Council had this to say to Buhari:
The recent proclamation by the Nigerian president about his age constraint has justified more on the inevitability of youth participation in governance. At an old age, Mr President cannot do so many things he is expected to do, but he can make use of the excessive vigour in the young people to move his administration faster.
President Buhari was reported to have confessed that sometimes his age can get in the way of getting the job done, and that he wished he became president at a younger age. He was perceived to have missed his active energy when he was a young governor. He said, at the age of 72, there is a limit to what he can do. Mr President does not have to worry about his limitations as long as he knows how to make best use of the young people in his administration. The current young generation have more energy than he had as a young governor, and therefore he can balance it up by bringing young people very close to his administration.
There have been huge expectation on Mr. President, and if he has to rely on the low pace energy of the old, he could not catch up half way to the expectations. We understand that governance needs careful thoughts and plan, but young people can think and plan carefully as well. Young people are active partners of today’s progress. Mr. President should reckon young people as partners not only as children. The young people are the ones to live and immortalise his legacies, and without them being drawn closer, his legacy will go down with him.
The legacies of Ahmadu Sardauna live in our time because of his legacy of empowering the then young people, who as a result became leaders of this nation. What legacy is Buhari preparing to live behind? The answer lies in the youth. We want to see many younger Buharis in our generation.
We as young people, we will continue to support his administration in any way possible, because we are equally responsible for the success of this administration.
Signed
Ahmed Adamu
Chairperson/President, Commonwealth Youth Council
